Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Becca arrived home after running errands to find the lights on inside her house and Ian’s SUV parked in the driveway. The headache that had just started receding was starting to reappear.
“This isn’t happening.” She let out a resigned sigh while pulling out her cell to call her sister. Quinn answered on the third ring.
“Hey, nut. Have you killed him yet?”
“What’s it going to take to call off your guard dog?”
“You’re mistaken if you think Ian listens to me.”
“Well, aren’t you a lady or something in Scotland? Doesn’t that equate to royalty? Can’t you just proclaim it into law or something?”
Quinn’s chuckle raked down her spine like the sight of Ian leaning against the door frame. His tall, muscular body blocked out the room behind him. His intense gaze traveled down her body and back up, as if he were checking for proof of where she’d been.
“Suck it up, Becca. He’s like family.”
“But see,” Becca said, slamming her car door, “he’s not. He’s not Collin’s relative, and he’s not ours. He’s like a stray dog that followed you to the States. We don’t even know if he’s had his rabies shot.”
“Did you just equate me to a dog, lass?” Ian asked as she approached the door.
Becca covered the phone with her hand. “If I say yes, will you leave me alone?”
“Nae, I’ve been called worse,” he said, shutting the door behind them both.
“Let him help you, Becca. Ian can be a bit aggravating, and you might want to shoot his balls off—”
“That would be you, Lady Menzie,” Becca argued. The smell of Italian food drifted to her nose. Her stomach grumbled in pleasure. The sound annoyed her even more.
“Oh…you’re right. Look at it this way. It’s either him or I’m calling all the sisters and we’re raiding your house until we figure out how to fix you.”
“I’m not broken,” Becca answered, following the delicious smell.
“Of course you are, Becca. You’re a Thatcher. We’re all broken and a little nuts. It works for us.”
“Speak for yourself.” Becca paused at the threshold to her dining room. The table was set. Candlelight twinkled off the walls, and roses filled her normally empty crystal vase.
Ian slid the phone from her hand and held it up to his ear. “You’re ruining the romantic evening that I planned. She’ll call you later.”
Becca grabbed the phone and pressed it to her ear to tell her sister that she’d rather have her sisters fix her than Ian. Her sisters she could handle, but a sweet, sexy, pushy Highlander was out of her realm of expertise. Quinn had already hung up.
“How did you get back into my house after I locked the door when we left? Did you break in? If so, I need to amend my restraining order.”
Ian slid his hands into his pocket with a sheepish look on his face. “Each of your sisters has a key. I might have talked one into letting me borrow it.”
“You’ve been busy.”
“You needed tending. This is how my ma taught me to tend.”
“I thought you Highlanders beat your chest and carried maids over your shoulder into your chambers.”
Ian’s brows dipped. “Nae, lass. But if you’d rather I do that than eat, I’m willing.”
“Oh no, you aren’t sleeping in my bed again.”
“Yet.” Ian stepped around Becca, pulled the bottle of wine out of the ice bucket and poured them each a glass. He handed one to her. “Donae worry, lass. I dinnae cook, and it is vegetarian lasagna.”
Becca’s lips twitched at the thought. “Did someone tell you I was vegan?”
“No, I just assumed from the tofu and other natural stuff in your cupboards that you probably donae eat meat.”
She patted his chest. “You know what they say about assuming. There’s a reason that stuff is in there. It’s because I haven’t touched it. My sisters and mom keep bringing me that stuff.”
“Thank God.” Ian saluted her with his glass before he drank the entire contents. “I wasnae sure how you’d survive in Scotland.”
Becca sat down in one of the chairs and waited for Ian to sit in the other. She laced her fingers together as she studied his face. He was really a handsome guy. Sweet, a bit overbearing, but most women would find even that endearing. Becca wasn’t most women.
“Ian, I understand your need to want to please your mom. Really I do, and I’ll even help you find the right girl. Grace’s best friend is a matchmaker. I bet we could find you someone in no time.”
“I donae want another girl, Becca. You’re the mind reader, you ken that.”
“And I don’t want to get married, Ian. So we’re at an impasse. You’re wasting your time with me. We won’t ever be more than good friends.”
Ian sat back in his chair. His shoulders deflated. “Becca. I can find an easy lay if this was just about sex. I have access to plenty of woman, including maids who would lie, cheat, and kill to marry me. I’m what you call, in the States, a good catch.”
“I’m not even on the playing field, much less interested in the game.” She smiled and laced her fingers together.
“I’m good looking.”
“And full of yourself.”
“I hae money.”
“So do I.”
“I hae a castle and servants.”
“I have my sisters and a company.”
Ian picked up his fork and cut a little vigorously into his lasagna.
“The problem isnae with me finding a willing woman. It’s with me finding the right woman, and that woman is you.
I’ve kenned it since the day we met. So we’ll table the discussion for now, and I’ll work at earning your trust. Only when that happens will you open your heart to the possibility that I’m the man you need. ”
Becca’s mouth parted. Words escaped her as Ian’s deep analysis sank into her mind.
“You’ll learn to love me. Everyone does,” Ian said before taking a bite and making a face after swallowing his first bite of vegan lasagna.
Becca’s reality had turned back on its axis. “Trust, okay. That might take some time and some effort. Don’t you have that castle and those servants waiting for your return?”
Becca took a sip of her wine. Even though she’d sworn off alcohol, she was going to need it tonight.
“They’ll have to wait. I’m up for the challenge. You’re my future, Becca. You just donae ken it yet.” Ian shoveled another hefty bite of lasagna into his mouth. The face he made was comical, as if he was trying to decide if it was better than eating grass.
“Trust is a good place to start, but from the sound of it, you’re expecting to walk through a wind tunnel and have your kilt to stay down. You do realize that I’m a Thatcher.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. I happen to admire you Thatchers, so I’ll start with slaying your demons,” Ian mumbled before changing the topic to lighter conversation.
They’d eaten with easy conversation and finished off half the bottle of wine when the doorbell rang.
Becca excused herself as Ian rose to start carrying the dirty dishes into the kitchen. She pulled the door open to find Danny standing on her stoop.
“Hey.” Her brows dipped. “I wasn’t expecting a visit from you.”
“We need to get a statement from McDougall to mark you off the suspect list. He wasn’t in the parking lot when Martinez went looking for him. Do you have an address for him? We can’t find him in any of the local hotels.”
Becca said, moving out of Danny’s way to let him pass. “It’s your lucky day. He’s here.”
“He is?” Danny asked, stepping into the living room.
“We just finished dinner.”
Danny rested his warm palm on her arm. “If you’re dating this guy, how come I’ve never met him?”
“She likes to keep me her dirty little secret,” Ian announced as he entered the room while tossing a kitchen towel over his shoulder.
“We’re not dating. We’re friends.”
“If you let friends sleep in your bed,” Ian added.
Becca tossed her hands up and shook her head. “There’s a difference between making yourself at home while I was inebriated and being invited.”
“Did he?” The muscles in Danny’s face hardened.
“No. Quinn would have kicked his ass. He didn’t take advantage of me, just made sure I got home, and then he didn’t leave.”
“Do you want me to make him leave?”
“If you’re man enough to try, lad,” Ian said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Enough.” Becca stepped between them and held out her hands.
“No one is breaking my furniture.” She turned to Ian.
His entire body was rigid and his look unconvinced.
If she was smart, she’d just walk away and let the two go at it.
At least then Ian might be hauled off to jail and out of her hair until he could make bail.
Her momma and Quinn would kick her ass. Just be polite, she reminded herself while plastering a smile on her face.
She could do that. At least she could pretend.
“Danny is a good friend and here to ask you some questions.” She turned to Danny, who had his gaze locked with Ian’s. The pissing contest was about to commence if she didn’t stop it now. “Ian here….well, he’s just being Ian. He’s a family friend, so just ask him what you need to know.”
Danny flashed his badge and announced who he was to keep the rest of the questioning professional. “Where were you yesterday?”
“A wedding, why?” Ian answered him and raised his brow while settling his gaze on Becca.
“And after the wedding?”
“I brought Becca home and then stayed the night. We dinnae leave the house until this morning when I took her back to get her car.”
“I’ll need you to come to the office to make a formal statement tomorrow, so we’ll have a record of Becca’s alibi.”
Ian crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at Danny. “Why does Becca need an alibi?”
“I’ll explain later,” Becca said, trying to usher Danny from the room. Danny shooed her hands away and remained unmoving.
“She didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
Danny’s lips twitched.
“He knows I’m psychic. He knows I see things in my dreams.”
Danny reluctantly dropped Ian’s gaze to meet Becca’s. His eyes searched hers and held a tinge of disappointment. “You told him about the dreams?”
“I told him a killer comes in my dreams. That’s all.”
You didn’t tell him about the murder? she heard Danny ask.
“No,” she answered out loud.
“Donae be a wanker. Whatever you’re saying to her in your mind that she’s answering, you can say out loud.”
Danny’s mouth parted. “You told him you could read minds, but you didn’t tell him about your connection with the killer, and how he killed that woman last night?”
“I had too much to drink last night. He figured out my mind reading when I was answering his unasked questions.” Becca rested her fists on her hips. “I hadn’t told him much about the killer, but you just blew that out of the water.”
“Becca, I’m sorry.”
Aggravation settled in the pit of her stomach. She wasn’t sure who she was more aggravated with: Ian for being Ian, and now knowing her secret, or Danny for being the one to fill in the blanks. “It’s fine.”
Becca sidestepped everyone and opened the door. “Thanks for coming by.”
Danny walked to the door and stopped. “Remember your promise.”
“I know. If he stalks anyone else, I won’t go after him myself, and you’ll be the first one I tell.”
“You knew the killer had picked a victim? You could see her?” Ian asked.
“Yeah, and she tried to stop him. She could have gotten herself killed,” Danny said, walking out the door. He glanced back. “Sweet dreams, Becca.”