4. Chapter 4
Chapter 4
The Other Woman
What a crazy evening. Lachlan sat on the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees, fist in fist under his chin, and he just stared blankly with the events of the past couple of hours replaying in his mind. He wondered if he could have done more to help the lass. It all happened so quickly. What could he have done to prevent it? He couldn’t have known it would happen, but it still felt like he should’ve been able to do more. It was not the first time in his life that the what-ifs had haunted him. He ran his hand through his hair, tension still filled him. It was all too similar to a life-changing event of his past. Those memories felt eerily fresh.
When the ambulance arrived tonight, Lachlan told the two medics all he knew, which wasn’t much. The pair, one younger woman with tattoos and a lanky middle-aged man, took charge with practiced efficiency. As relieved as Lachlan felt knowing they were taking good care of the lass, he didn’t like how quickly he felt as useless as the grass she sat upon. And then, before he knew it, the male medic told him they were taking her, and Lachlan realized that was apparently his cue that he could leave now, too. The ambulance crew had taken over, and he was no longer needed. As they whisked her off to the hospital, Lachlan had stood there for a time, wondering if he should follow them. Everything felt very undone.
Lachlan thought about the way Violet Munro had looked at him. Her deep moss-green eyes were so confused and lost. She looked into his eyes as if he were her only lifeline. It made him think, even now, that he should go to the hospital, be there for her. He felt inexplicably connected to her.
His phone dinged. He glanced down at it and raked his hand through his hair, blowing out a breath before opening the text.
Anna: Still hate France. It is nice to see Liz happy, though. Not so keen on her friends from New York, but I suppose I’ll have to suffer through. Only a couple of days, thank God. How was your meeting? Did you land another client?
Lachlan stared blankly at his phone for what seemed like an eternity. He didn’t feel like talking with Anna right now, but he supposed he should message her back.
Lachlan: Maybe it’ll get better. Glad Liz is happy. Meeting went well. Client landed. Night x
Lachlan hit send, feeling exhausted. A moment later, his phone dinged again.
Anna: When I get back, we should go out and celebrate! You should book a reservation at Skye’s. We can get dressed up and go all out, champagne, all the courses! Ooh maybe you could rent a limo too, really top off the night.
The last thing Lachlan wanted to think about right now was making arrangements for a limo and a Michelin-starred restaurant. It was not that he was opposed to taking his girlfriend out for a special evening, but his mind was completely preoccupied with things much more important than a night on the town.
Lachlan: We’ll sort something out when you’re back. Have a lovely time, say hi to Liz. I’m off to bed. Early morning for me x
Lachlan dropped his phone on the bed and strode into the bathroom to wash up. When he came back, his phone was lit up with messages from Anna.
Anna: I think we need that night out. Definitely look into getting it booked for us.
Anna: Skye’s has long wait lists, so you need to reserve ASAP.
Anna: A spa day would be great too!
Anna: I’m going to need pampering after this hen weekend. These women are crazy, and I’ll need to detox France from my system when I'm back. How people think French is a beautiful language, I’ll never know. It’s horrible. Can’t wait to get back to the UK.
Anna: Biggg kiss, good night xxx
Anna: Ps. hope you are thinking about that thing we talked about … xxx
Reading Anna’s texts made Lachlan feel even more exhausted. He definitely was not thinking about the thing . He had no desire to think about it. That morning, Lachlan had driven Anna to the train station—it felt like a lifetime ago now. She was headed to Marseille in France for her best friend’s hen do. She’d kissed him in the car before getting out and hinted again about her moving in with him. He’d smiled at her at the time, but he couldn’t deny the uneasiness he’d felt.
As soon as he drove away from the train station, a lightness seeped into his mood. He felt free and was content not questioning it. He had been pleased at the prospect of a few days to himself, but he hadn’t realized just how good it would feel. All day, he felt energized like the hit of a coffee on a sunny Saturday morning. He had purposely avoided analyzing why and instead soaked in how good he felt. But now, as he sat here reading Anna’s texts, it forced him back to a reality he wasn’t sure he wanted anymore.
Lachlan rubbed his temples. God, it had been a crazy evening, and he felt exhausted. Now was not the time to start contemplating things with Anna.
Turning off the nightstand light, Lachlan lay back in bed with a groan, feeling his body sink into the mattress. He pulled in a deep breath and released it. His thoughts settled back on Violet Munro.
It bothered him how confused she had been. He couldn’t help but think the worst. What if she’d injured her brain? What if her memory didn’t return? He rolled over, trying to clear his worrisome thoughts. Fretting about it was not going to help her. Lachlan eventually drifted off to sleep, but the night was restless, with disjointed dreams, tossing, and turning. Dreams of the past intermingled with snippets of the evening. It felt like he’d barely slept, and then it was morning.
Opening his eyes, Lachlan’s first thought was of the lass. He rubbed his scratchy eyes with the palms of his hands and sighed. He was not usually a worrier, nor someone who got anxious about things. This was all very new for him and rather uncomfortable. In reflection, he realized the events of the evening before were intense and bore similarities with his sister’s riding accident. Perhaps his anxious reaction was a normal one, but it still bothered him. He couldn’t seem to stop stewing.
He glanced at his phone and felt relief that there were no more messages from Anna. That was something he should be thinking about—his relationship with Anna. She’d more than hinted about taking it to the next level, but Lachlan struggled to think about Anna moving into his home. He’d known Anna, or at least known of her, for many years. The MacDonalds were an influential, wealthy family, and they'd met each other at various events over the years. They had a couple of mutual friends who eventually set them up.
Lachlan had shied away from dating with his life being so busy, but on that first date with Anna, he enjoyed himself and decided maybe he could fit dating into his busy world. In those first few dates, he found himself liking her clever humour although now found it to be often more snarky than clever. Anna MacDonald was a confident, independent woman. Beautiful. Sociable. A man should be so lucky to date her. Never mind live with her. Possibly marry her. Even his mam was not so subtle in encouraging his relationship with Anna, not that she knew her overly well. Lachlan suspected it had more to do with the fact that she was a MacDonald—her family had a good reputation.
Lachlan sighed, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about the boxes she ticked, and wondering why in the hell he wasn’t jumping at the chance to have Anna MacDonald move in with him. Pushing thoughts about his relationship with Anna aside, he got up out of bed and padded to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
As he got ready for the day, he found that more often than not, his thoughts turned to Violet and not Anna. A concern for the lass sat heavy in his chest. Not knowing how she faired bothered him. He tried to tell himself that he needn’t worry, as she was in the best place possible. Surely, the hospital staff were doing everything they could to take care of her. It was not like he could do anything to help her. Why couldn’t he just let it go?
She’d haunted his dreams in the night. It bothered him that his dreams were so disjointed, although he couldn’t recall much. There was one part of a dream that was incredibly vivid and real. Not only could he remember every detail, but he couldn’t forget it if he tried.
In the dream, Violet was talking to him, her green eyes so intense. They were on the beach. He let his eyes drop to her lips, which smiled teasingly at him. The need to kiss them and taste them was overpowering. It was like he knew that kissing them would unlock another world. The dream was so intense, and the sensations were so real. He desperately wanted to kiss those lips that promised something magical, and as he leaned in, desire like he’d never known singed him. But right before their mouths connected, he’d awoken with a start. His heart was pounding, and his cock was painfully hard.
As the dream replayed in his mind, he wondered what the hell was wrong with him. The content wasn’t the worst, but it was how he felt. Crazy intense off the fucking charts arousal. Not that he could control his dreams per se. But Christ, he shouldn’t be having dreams like that.
For one, he had a girlfriend. It damn-near felt like cheating, and Lachlan found cheating repugnant. Two, why would the anticipation of a mere kiss make him off-the-charts aroused? And three, the worst reason of all. He was having dirty dreams about a lass who was in the hospital with a head injury. Lachlan groaned, unimpressed with himself. Very gentlemanly , he thought sardonically. Thank God it was just a bloody dream.
Lachlan was planning to go to the distillery to do some paperwork for the deal he’d made last night with his new client. His admin, Iona, would take care of most of it after the weekend, but he wanted to get things started. After a quick lifting session in his home gym, he showered and dressed, got into his car, and headed for work. Violet was still very much on his mind, though. Normally, he wasn’t the easily distracted type. He was usually very focused, probably one of the traits that had made him so successful. But today, he was mightily distracted.
Accepting that he was not going to get anything done until he knew how the lass faired, he pulled a U-turn. It was apparent he’d never get the lass off his mind until he checked in. He’d get some flowers, go check on her, and then go to work and move on with his life. Then perhaps his mind would be clear enough to figure out what he was going to do about Anna.