53. Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Whispers in the Bedroom
"What is it, love? Ye look a thousand miles away.”
She felt petty bringing it up, but if they were going to move forward, she needed to know. "How did Anna get my note?"
A slight tick in his jaw made her almost wish she hadn't brought it up. "I'm sorry. I don't want to make you angry, but if there is going to be an 'us,' I need to know.
A lazy grin spread across his face. "Always apologizing, my little Canadian, with absolutely nothing to be apologizing for.”
She couldn’t help but smile. He laid his big hand over hers, warm and comforting. "I promise ye, lass, I will never intentionally keep anything from ye, and I want ye to ken that ye can ask me anything. I want ye to ken my soul."
Violet nodded, overwhelmed and so relieved by his response.
"Anna and I dated for about three months. That night of your accident, when ye and I met, we were still a couple.”
Violet suspected as much, but it still made her gut churn.
"Anna was in France that weekend.”
"Why didn't you just tell me then?" She thought back to that day and night they'd spent together. "You had every opportunity to tell me you were in a relationship. God, Lachlan, I even kissed you.”
"I ken, and Christ, how I wanted to kiss ye back," he said.
She stared at him as he utterly missed the point. She rolled on her back, and he propped his head in his hand and used his other hand to lift her chin to look at him.
"I ken it was wrong of me not to tell ye about Anna. And I struggled that night with my own morals. It was not a situation I'd ever found myself in before. I was already realizing that I didn't want a relationship with her anymore. And then ye fell into my world, and it was like a piece of me I didn't ken existed came alive. I dinnae how to explain it. It’s like I'd been living my life in a steady hum drum state of black and white, and then ye pulled back the curtain and revealed the most vibrant, beautiful colours. Ye showed me a world I didnae ken existed.”
Violet's eyes felt misty as she listened to Lachlan finally talk openly with her.
"Anyway, the day ye left, I made the decision to end it with Anna. I didnae expect her back so soon from France, but she showed up unannounced and apparently came up here to surprise me, but she must have seen your note. When I got to the room, she basically accused me of cheating, which physically I had not, but I ken that my heart had."
He stroked his fingers over her collarbone, and Violet could barely breathe, never mind speak. It was a lot to take in. There was something gratifying in knowing she hadn't been wrong—he'd felt something that first night together too..
"There was a part of me, though, that also understood that Anna never had my heart in the first place. I realized that what we shared was surface level—there was no depth to it. Anyway—either way—I should huv been honest with ye that night and told ye about her."
Violet wondered what that night would have been like if she had known about Anna. Would it have changed the connection she'd felt with Lachlan? "You should have told me," she said.
"Aye," he agreed.
"But.."
His eyes snapped to hers. "But?" he coaxed her to continue.
"I understand why you didn't and—this may be wrong—but a little piece of me is… glad I didn't know." Violet squeezed her eyes shut, a wave of guilt washing over her at her confession.
She felt Lachlan trace her lips with his finger and she opened her eyes to see his gaze fixed on her mouth. "I doonae think ye would huv put these lips on mine if ye'd known, and that, V, would huv been tragic."
Violet warmed at his words. "So you approved of that kiss? The one where you didn't kiss me back?"
"Och Christ lass, that kiss…" His voice trailed off, and he closed his eyes as if replaying it in his mind's eye. "That kiss is burned on my soul for all eternity. Not Kissing ye back was probably the hardest thing I've ever done."
"I'm actually kind of impressed that you didn't," she chuckled. "At least you tried to do the right thing—sort of."
"Och, I fought against myself, believe me. I ken I shouldnae huv wanted ye so badly, but I did. I felt things fer ye I had no business feeling, but I couldnae help it—ye bewitched me."
Violet giggled. "Cast my spell, eh?" She nipped his finger playfully.
"Aye, ye did." He stroked her cheek, then after a moment, continued telling her what had happened with Anna.
"She assumed I'd been unfaithful, and in a sense, I felt like I had." He sighed. "She took the opportunity to confess that she'd cheated on me while she was in France.”
"Nooo." Violet was shocked. "That's awful.”
"Ye'd think so, but the irony of it was that I really didnae care. When I look back, I dinnae even ken how we had a relationship at all. It was just a parade of restaurants and dinner parties. She didnae ken me at all, and I didnae ken her. It was like we were just going through the motions of being a couple. There was no substance.”
Violet had had a couple of boyfriends, although nothing serious, but she could understand the sentiment of what Lachlan was saying. She'd never felt anything toward those men that even came remotely close to what she felt for Lachlan.
"Anyway, Anna somehow considered us to be even and decided that we should move forward and 'take our relationship to the next level.' I'm tellin' ye, V, it was unfathomable to me. I thought she was half crazy. Anyway, it didnae go well. I waited downstairs for her to come down and leave.”
"And that's when she took my note," Violet finished.
"Aye, she must huv. I should huv contacted her to get it back, but—"
"I wouldn't have either," Violet cut him off. "When you close a door like that, you don't want to crack it open again for anything.”
He smiled down at her. "Aye. But I confess, I wondered many times what ye wrote me.”
She grinned. "Nothing all that exciting, but I did leave you my number. I hoped that I would see you again." She sighed and bit her bottom lip. "Why didn't you try to connect with me again? Especially since you'd broken it off with Anna. I know you didn't have my number, but you knew where I was staying.”
Lachlan ran his finger slowly along her chin, looking down at her lips like they might provide an answer. "It is a fair question. I did think about it. The thing is, ye literally rocked my world. Ye changed it. I felt alive again, inspired again. It was why I got things moving with opening Highland Haven. It's like I was finding myself again. And then there ye were again, back in my world. Ye found me.”
"I did, didn't I?" She grinned up at him.
He kissed the tip of her nose.
Then she recalled one more thing that she'd been wondering about.
"On the night of the gala, I saw you dancing with Anna.”
Lachlan sighed and rolled onto his back, pulling Violet in against his side. She nestled there, knowing full well, that no matter the past, he was hers.
"Trust me, I dinnae want to.”
Violet smiled. "Orlagh said as much.”
"Aye, Orlagh has a very keen sense of things. Anyway, ye are aware the MacDonalds have generously donated to Highland Haven.”
"Everybody knows." She quipped.
"Aye, well, Anna gave us a cheque at the gala for a rather large sum. To be honest, given that we hadn't spoken since breaking up, I didnae expect she would show up at all. Maybe I shouldnae huv been surprised. She was never one to miss an event, especially where her generosity could be put on full display for everyone to fuss over her."
"I gather she likes attention?"
"Aye, she does. Anyway, when she sought me out and asked me to dance with her the first time, I thought it was perhaps a peace offering, and then, given the circumstances of being the host and her being a donor, I didnae think I could huv gotten around it. It seemed easier to agree. Thinking we could be adults and leave the past in the past, I danced with her.”
"The first time?" Violet eyed him, wondering just how much time he'd spent dancing with his attention-seeking ex.
"Aye, I got stuck dancing with her twice. Believe me, I didnae want to.
"It looked cozy," Violet hedged, remembering their smiles.
Lachlan looked at her like she'd sprouted the horns of a highland cow. "I assure ye, it wasnae cozy . I suppose if ye saw the first dance, it was more amiable than the second, but definitely no' cozy ."
"What happened during the second dance?" Violet was almost afraid to know, but at the same time—she needed to.
"Good question. I truly didnae want to dance with her again. In fact, I'd just spotted ye and was intending to come whisper in yer ear what a tempting goddess ye are—when Anna approached me."
Violet laughed, "Damn her!" She joked, but his words sent a little shiver of delight down her spine. She snuggled in closer to Lachlan's warm muscled body, savouring the feel of being there with him.
"So what happened with Anna then?"
"Well, I tried to keep it pleasant, but then she went down the weird rabbit hole of wanting to get back together or something like that—I dinnae really ken—I was too busy watching ye with some guy," he said pointedly looking down at her.
She furrowed her brow raising up onto an elbow. "What guy?”
"He was wearing a kilt and jacket."
Violet laughed. "You just described every guy at the gala.”
"Fair point," he conceded. "I saw ye go to wait for the whisky tour with him.”
"Oh, Andy." It dawned on her who he was talking about. "Andy is just a friend.”
"That's good to ken." Lachlan stoked her arm that lay over his chest as she settled back against him. "I suspected as much. Ye didnae look at him like ye look at me,” he said rolling her onto her back and gazing down at her. He leaned in, brushing a soft kiss over one eyelid, then the other. She sighed, relishing in his affection.
"So ye forgive me for not connecting with ye after we first met?” he asked.
“Well, in fairness, I wouldn't have wanted to be your rebound girl.”
"Trust me, lass, ye would huv never been that." He slid the sheet away from her breasts and glided his hand between them, making her breath catch.
"I almost became the one who got away," she confessed, taking his big hand in both of hers and pressing it against her heart.
Lachlan cocked a questioning brow.
"I was so mad at you yesterday before we met up at the bar—I had planned to leave.” She toyed with his fingers as she thought back to how angry she'd been the night before—it felt like a lifetime ago now.
"As in the sanctuary?" He straightened up, and concern marred his handsome features as he looked down at her.
"As in Scotland," she said soberingly. So much had changed since then—she couldn't fathom leaving now.
"Och, God, lass.” He scooped his big arm under her neck, so she rested against his bicep. He wrapped the other arm around her waist and pulled her body to him like if he clung on tight enough, the idea of her leaving would cease to exist. "Dinnae leave. Dinnae ever leave.”
She laughed against his big warm chest. "Okay, okay," she said, as he squeezed her to him. "I won't go anywhere.”
"Promise me, V." He squeezed her again, causing her to let out another squealing laugh.
"I promise. I promise.”
He pulled back. His eyes twinkled, and then he dropped his sexy mouth to hers, capturing it in a kiss that felt heaven-sent. He moved on top of her and then broke the kiss. "Good," he said against her lips. Then he lifted his face from hers. "Now then. We have some business to discuss." He kissed her lips again, just long enough to leave her breathless and wanting more.
"I'm going to make love to ye all day and likely all night. Aye?”
"Aye," she agreed, leaning up to slide her tongue over his lips.
"Mm, lass, I'm no' done yet," he said, pulling his mouth away from hers.
She lifted a hand to his hair, gently twisting her fingers through it, and his eyes rolled back in bliss.
"I'm listening," Violet purred, knowing she was driving him to distraction.
"Right." His eyes opened on hers. “Well, firstly, effective immediately, ye are no longer an employee at Highland Haven.”
Violet's hand dropped, and she stared at him. She loved working at the sanctuary. Oh God, she understood. It would look very bad for him to date his employee, and as they'd already clarified, she knew Lachlan was a good man. An ethical man. If they were going to be a couple, then of course, he couldn't let her continue to work for him.
"You're firing me?" she asked, her voice shaky.
"What?" A crease appeared between Lachlan’s dark brows. "No, no, of course no’. I'm promoting you. I want you to be my business partner. And not just at the sanctuary—at Cailleach too.”
"You do?" She blinked.
"Aye, I do," he said a little softer. "Do ye ken how many business coaches I've hired, how many assistants? Too many, and I ken from that very first day ye walked into the back office wanting to tell me yer ideas that ye were the business partner I'd always wanted. Yer ideas and the way ye understood things, V… Ye challenge me but make me so much better with business. I've always loved my work, but with ye involved, it is a thousandfold better, and it's no' just my opinion. The accountant has been beside himself excited at the last quarter's numbers.”
Violet could hardly believe what Lachlan was saying. Her heart felt ready to burst. "I bet those numbers would have been amazing anyway," she said humbly.
Lachlan shook his head. "Trust me, love. Ye had much to do with it. Right, now where was I?”
"Business partner," Violets supplied, grinning from ear to ear.
"Aye, Effie and Iona are working together to draw up the papers so we can make it official.”
"Really?" Violet was floored.
"Really." He stroked a strand of hair away from her forehead and bent to kiss her lips softly.
It was crazy how instantly his lips could melt her senses.
"There is one more thing." His voice had gone ragged, and she could feel the thick column of him pressed against her core, making little heated tingles fire off low in her belly. "I love you, Violet Munro."
His blue eyes looked into her soul, and she knew her world was forever changed.
"I know." Her voice cracked. "I love you, too. I felt it the first moment you looked in my eyes. You were my lifeline.”
"Aye, and ye were mine."