Chapter 12
LACHLAN
The Cromarty Bridge sat low on the firth, and on a cold, dreich spring day where the water reflected the weariness in the clouds, it felt almost as though the wheels of my SUV were touching distance from it.
The softly rolling farmland on the opposite side of the water was a lush green or hay gold on a warm summer’s day, yet today, I could barely make out the land through the constant misty haze that hovered over the banks of the Cromarty Firth.
Mac was finally being discharged from hospital, and I was on my way to collect him.
I wanted to bring Mac to the estate where my staff could look after him, including the security team.
But, as always, my friend was a stubborn bastard, and he wanted to be taken to his cottage, where he had no help while he recuperated.
I hadn’t given up trying to convince him otherwise. I’d give it another go once I reached the hospital. Part of me just wanted to drive the mule to the castle despite his inevitable protests.
The drive from Ardnoch to the hospital in Inverness was a straightforward journey following the A9 road almost the entire way.
Still, I would be glad to have Mac back at Ardnoch.
Not just for the convenience of it but because it unsettled me to have the man so far away with no protection.
Mac would chafe if he knew I worried about him.
Until now, I thought sourly, I’d never had any cause.
Part of me had almost believed my ex-bodyguard was invincible.
A little under twenty minutes from the hospital, my phone rang through the car system.
The screen in the middle of the dash told me it was Leighanne.
For a second, I considered not answering because I was so distracted.
Then it occurred to me that I’d been distracted for weeks, and if I was abiding by that rule, I’d never answer the phone again.
I hit the answer button. “Leighanne.”
“Hi, you. I haven’t caught you at a bad time, have I?” She had a light, high voice that always sounded on the verge of laughter.
“I wouldn’t have answered if you had,” I replied honestly.
“True. I was just calling to see if you had time to visit this weekend? It’s been awhile, and I … well, I’m horny as hell.” She laughed.
I smiled. “As much as I’d like to help you with that, I can’t leave the estate anytime soon.”
“Oh? Problems?”
My hands tightened around the steering wheel.
Our relationship was casual. Sex only. We’d both gone into it knowing that.
And I barely trusted anyone with the personal details of my business, or my life, for that matter, let alone a woman I only met up with to fuck in a five-star hotel on weekends. “No. Just busy.”
“Too busy to get off with something other than your right hand?”
“Who said I’m not?” I wasn’t, but that wasn’t the point.
Leighanne hesitated and then chuckled. It sounded fake. “Right.”
Irritation and guilt filled me. The guilt only made me feel more irritated. Why did women do this? They agreed to the rules and then got hurt when I stuck to them.
“I’ll just go out on the prowl,” Leighanne said with forced levity. I knew it was forced because her voice rose an octave. “Find someone else to keep me company this weekend.”
Tone friendly, reflecting that I had no issue with her doing so, I replied, “You should do that. Be safe, though. Go with some friends.”
Her burst of laughter sounded disbelieving. “Right. Of course. I guess … I guess I’ll call you later, then?”
“Have a good weekend. Bye.”
“Bye, babe.” She hesitated again.
I frowned at the awkward silence and then tapped the button on my wheel to hang up.
I could do with some stress relief, and sex was my favorite tension reliever.
Wasn’t it for most men? There was no one I could fuck at Ardnoch except Lucy, and I would never go back down that road.
Her friendship meant too much. Every other option was too close to home, and a liability. Especially now.
Robyn’s face flashed in my mind, and I tensed.
The woman had been on the estate every other day for the past week, either working out with Eredine and Lucy or touring the place.
Everywhere I turned, I caught glimpses of a defiant chin and hair of indiscriminate color.
It bothered the fuck out of me that I was being chased around my own castle, hiding from a mere slip of a woman.
But I was doing it for Mac’s sake. Robyn agitated me, and I was likely to say something to upset her that would get back to Mac and cause problems between me and my friend.
The woman wasn’t worth that.
However, she was worth something to Mac. So I would continue to avoid her, even in my own home, if it meant playing nice for my friend. No one could blame me for finding her abrasive. She was cocky and superior and looked down her nose at me.
I sighed. Heavily. Okay, so sometimes she wasn’t all that. She could be funny. And the last time we’d spoken, she showed a side of herself I wasn’t expecting.
A vulnerability.
If I was honest with myself, that’s when I’d decided to avoid her.
So lost in my thoughts, I realized I was already on the Kessock Bridge and a mere ten minutes from the hospital.
Shoving thoughts of large, hazel eyes (Were they even hazel?
Why was everything about the woman so bloody contradictory and changing?) out of my mind, I considered the best way to convince Mac to stay at the castle.
By the time I arrived, I’d still hadn’t thought of anything that might persuade Mac. All I had left was brute force and the fact that I was the one driving the damn vehicle.
A woman strode out of the main entrance and gave me a double glance, her lips parting in surprise.
Used to people recognizing me, I offered her a tight-lipped nod of acknowledgment while her cheeks flushed with the thrill some people seemed to get at crossing paths with a famous person.
Before she could whip out her phone and ask for a selfie, I marched inside the hospital.
I was lucky to call Ardnoch home. It was a place where people thought of me as an Adair rather than an ex-Hollywood actor.
Venturing farther afield wasn’t so bad these days. Not like it was at the height of my career. Back then, I couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized. Now I could. But the fame still lingered like a vulture I couldn’t shake off.
Nodding to the hospital staff who had come to expect my visits this past week, I almost missed her.
Robyn.
I slowed to a stop. Mac’s room was straight ahead. Robyn stood at the bottom of the corridor to my left, back to me, phone pressed to her ear. She kicked a foot gently at the wall, her head bent so her ponytail hit between her shoulders instead of the middle of her back. She had a fuck ton of hair.
My breath quickened for a moment before I controlled it.
There was something about her posture that was off. Her shoulders were hunched. Robyn was usually straight-backed, her body language betraying her innate confidence and sense of self.
If she were any other woman, I would think her sexy as hell.
I strolled toward her, drawn despite myself. I hadn’t seen her in days.
Should have anticipated she’d be here, though.
Maybe I already had.
“I told you.” Robyn’s voice carried to my ears, and I heard the defensiveness in her tone. “It was a heart scare … Mac’s doing okay. I just want to stick around a little longer … I know. I know, I should have called sooner … Mom, I told you I’m sorry. How many more times do you need to hear it?”
I stopped a few feet away. She’d lied to her mum? Good.
“I’m not taking a tone with you … no, it’s not Mac’s influence.
I’m here, I’m on the phone, aren’t I? … Oh, so now we actually get to the reason you’re pissed …
No … Absolutely not … Because she’s a grown-ass woman, and she can do whatever she wants …
I’m not acting like a child. I have my own stuff going on, and you’re her mother …
As far as I’m concerned, she can do whatever she wants.
I’m done running after her. Look, I have to go …
no, I have to. Talk later.” She hung up and growled, “Fuck!”
“That sounded like a fun conversation.”
Robyn whirled, those big eyes round with surprise. “Jesus, you scared me.”
I smirked. “Sorry.”
“Oh, you sound it.”
I gestured to the phone clasped in her hand. “Mum?”
“Yeah.” She slipped the phone into the ass pocket of her jeans. “Don’t worry. I didn’t tell her anything. Made up some stuff about Mac having heart issues.”
Seeing how disgruntled she was about lying, I found myself offering, “Well, it’s appreciated.”
“I gave you my word, didn’t I?”
She had.
And she’d upheld it.
My gaze dropped to her mouth. She had a natural pout that lent itself to her current discontentment. Dragging my attention to her eyes, I said, “Sounds like you’re needed at home.”
Her upper lip quirked before she replied, “Trying to get rid of me?”
Maybe.
I shrugged.
Robyn crossed her arms, studying me as she might an opponent. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Never said you were.”
“You didn’t tell me you discovered someone hacked your security system.”
I didn’t know what to be more bemused by: the randomness of the subject change, or her belligerence. “I would have eventually. I haven’t seen you.”
“I’ve been on the estate plenty.”
I shrugged.
Her arms dropped to her sides in obvious irritation. “I swear if you shrug at me one more time …”
“You’ll what?” I taunted.
Her eyes narrowed, her lashes flicking dramatically out at the corners. “Why didn’t you tell me about the hacker?”
“I was going to when I saw you next.”
She relaxed marginally. “Any leads?”
I shook my head. “My man is working on hacking the hacker. And I had Lucy spread it around the estate that the system can no longer be compromised.”
Robyn considered this. “So whoever it is knows that whatever they do on the estate, it will get caught on camera now.”
“Exactly.”
“That will only run them to ground for so long.”