Chapter 3 #2
Ally hopped up and joined me and Gordain at the door. He stood shoulder to shoulder with his brother, not matching Gordain’s height but still half a head taller than me. “Stay, Els. The three of us will have a blast, aye? Gordain will take you out in the car. G, you will, right?”
Awkward city. There was no way Gordain wanted to—
“Sure,” Gordain replied. “I’ll stay.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You have plans. You said so yourself.”
He shrugged.
“Perfect!” Mattie said. “Everyone’s happy.”
The conversation continued behind me, holiday fever growing.
The two brothers regarded me. Gordain’s features were unreadable, Ally’s the opposite.
“Why the long face?” Ally reached out and patted my cheek. He pushed his way past into the great hall. “You love it here, and you’ve got two of the best McRaes to take care of ye.”
Yeah, but one was only here because he felt obligated. Well, fine. I’d just have to find a way to make friends with him again. Whatever his problem was, I’d work it out.
“It’ll be great.” I lifted my chin, my smile directed at Ally but my attitude all for his brother.
The next day, Callum, Mathilda, and Beth left for Belvedere. Wasp stayed at the castle, planning to catch an early flight from Inverness to meet them at Heathrow in the morning.
Weird, though it was only a week, I had a small sense of abandonment that took a little while to shake. But I had plans, and they didn’t involve sitting around a mostly empty castle feeling sorry for myself.
I needed to make things normal with Gordain again.
During the night, I’d lain awake and tried to work out the point I’d been weird around him. Because if I could find it, then I could fix it.
But it was no good. No single event stood out, and the conclusion I’d reached was I just needed to talk to him. He was staying, I was staying. We’d be spending a whole lot of time together. I didn’t want a cloud hanging over us.
With my resolve in mind, I set out to find him.
He wasn’t in any of the main rooms, so I stepped out of the front door into the mild Highlands afternoon.
The loch glinted, reflecting back bright sunlight, so I raised my hand to shield my eyes.
My ears served me better, picking up a thud-thud of someone chopping wood.
I followed the sound. The McRae brothers had a thing about never letting the fire in the great hall go out.
With the twins being night owls and their older brothers always up and out early, someone was generally around to throw an armful of logs into the flames.
I’d taken to doing it myself, last time I was here.
An ever-burning fire meant a constant supply of wood. I took the corner to where the garages and the woodshed lay and spotted movement. Bingo.
Gordain swung the axe in a precise arc, cleaving a log in two. Then he repositioned the stump and swung again, cutting the pieces into chunks.
I’d like to say his proficiency with the weapon was what stopped my mouth, but no. Gordain’s half-naked body won that award. His bare torso was on display, his t-shirt discarded. Dressed in just a pair of jeans, he worked his bulky shoulder muscles, bringing the axe down, twisting his neat waist.
With his back to me, I had an excellent opportunity to stare.
And so I did.
My mouth dried. I knew he was tattooed. I’d seen them peeking out under the sleeves of his t-shirts. But I’d never seen the detail. Across his back were three bold lines, black and blue slashes. Over his biceps were patterns and, as he turned, a few bled onto one side of his chest.
In all my eighteen years, I’d never seen anything as hot as Gordain McRae in a sweat.
My sexual frustration hit the roof.
“Ella?” His voice roused me from my gaping.
I blinked. “Oh! God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stare.” I snapped my hands to cover my eyes. “I can come back when you’re, you know…”
“Don’t go. Let me put my shirt on.”
I peeked between my fingers to see him grab his black t-shirt from on top the pile of logs. He wiped his brow with his forearm then dragged the shirt over his head.
Pity. I missed the view already.
His gaze met mine again, and humour danced in his grey eyes. His lips tweaked with amusement. I dropped my hands and blew out a breath, relieved he could still smile at me.
“It’s safe to look,” he teased. “What do ye need?”
“A minute of your time?” I asked, not sure why I’d made it into a question.
Advancing, I mustered my courage. “With us being here together for the week, I wanted to clear the air.” His brow furrowed, but I rushed on, my cheeks already warm.
“I think I annoyed you when I was here before. I want us to be friends again. Whatever it was I did, I’m sorry. ”
“What? Wait.” Gordain reared back.
“No, it’s okay.” I cast around for the words to explain myself. “It was a difficult time, and I was reeling from one disaster to another. You’re my brother’s best friend. Even if you don’t like me, I still like you. Can we start over?”
Gordain groaned and smacked his face. “No, Ella. Just no.”
I paused, my mouth open. “No?”
“No to us not being friends. No to you pissing me off.”
He moved closer, and I tilted my head to gaze up at him. Heat radiated from the man. Tendrils of it touched me, and I couldn’t help leaning in.
Goosebumps raised on my arms.
Confusion marred his handsome face. He heaved a sigh. “You’ve got it wrong. Before, I was—”
“Ella? Ella! I know you’re here!” A voice halted us both, the sound coming from the front of the castle.
A voice that shouldn’t be within five hundred miles of this place.
“Taylor?” I whispered and spun around.
At the corner of the castle, my former friend stood, Wasp by her side.
My calm emotions—though heated from the sight of a half-naked Gordain—vanished.
“What are you doing here?” I stared her down. My tone came out flat, but under my skin my blood slowly boiled.
Taylor stepped forward on expensive shoes until she was a few meters away, Wasp trailing behind her. He exchanged an oh-fuck glance with Gordain, but I barely cared that we had an audience.
“You wouldn’t answer my messages,” Taylor replied. Her iron-flat blonde hair fell in a shimmering sheet, and she had on one of her power outfits—a ruffled purple blouse and a pin-striped skirt, like she was going to a business meeting, not seeing a friend.
A former friend.
“And why was that?”
She opened then closed her mouth. “I know. Okay? I know it sounds bad. But if you’d been in my shoes—”
“Huh.” I folded my arms. “Would that be when you walked the information I gave you right up to my brother’s house? Or when you used it to tried to sell yourself to him?”
Taylor recoiled as if I’d slapped her. “It wasn’t like that!”
“It was exactly like that. You’d never met him before, but you knew…” I paused and changed tack before I said too much. Gordain was close to my brother. I didn’t want to spill all my worry and confusion about ever having a happy relationship with James. All the fears I’d confided to Taylor.
“You were one of the only people I trusted. In the whole world. At the house, I saw you there and I thought you had come to see me.” I shook my head. “Why am I explaining? There’s nothing more to say.”
“Can we talk in private?”
“No.”
Taylor gave an exasperated squeak. “I got on a plane from London to see you. Tomorrow, I fly back to the States and I don’t know when I’ll be here again. I want this over with. I want my friend back. I don’t have anyone else in my life as close to me as you are.”
“Neither do I. But the difference is, I would never have done what you did.”
“So what, I just go?”
“Sounds like a plan.” I shrugged, hating every second of this.
“No! I’m not going to leave. I’m willing to wait it out.”
She raised both eyebrows like I was being unreasonable. Which I probably was, though I couldn’t see my way through it.
At school, I’d seen her do this—mask her emotions with a steely resolve. Taylor could play the ice queen when needed. In doing it now, she was showing me she meant business. Her stubborn streak was even wider than mine.
“Do you want her here?” Gordain’s words, meant just for me, had me swinging around.
“Do I?” I repeated. Then I registered the look on his face. Pity.
Oh hell. This was a disaster.
“Hold up,” Wasp said.
Suddenly, I was glad for the two men being here, interrupting before I told Taylor to get the hell out of here. This wasn’t my home, I couldn’t kick her out. It wasn’t my right.
“Let’s all cool off a minute,” Wasp continued. “Taylor, come inside, and I’ll get you a drink. You’ve travelled a long way.”
Taylor gave him an ultra-polite smile. “You’re so kind. Is it Alasdair or William?”
“William. Everyone calls me Wasp.”
She tilted her head, taking him in. “What should I call you?”
“Whatever you like,” he replied, blindsided. Men usually were.
She threw a glance my way, but her gaze settled on Gordain. “And the big guy is Gordain. Ella’s hero, right?”
“Taylor!” I spluttered. I’d met Gordain after she’d blown up our friendship, but for the two years previous, I’d had this little fantasy about the guy who had befriended my brother. Who’d given James a path to freedom and had inadvertently turned my family around. Taylor knew all about that.
Taylor stared at me for a moment, then she turned a cool shoulder and strode away. Wasp gave me a questioning look, like I should stop him if I didn’t want this.
I had no idea what I wanted right now, apart from to bury my hot head so nobody could see me.
They vanished, leaving me with Gordain.
I swivelled on my heel and walked the other way.