Chapter 4
4
Holly
I feel a gentle nudge on the back of my thighs. You know back in school when the person behind you would bump you gently at the back of your knees and it would make your legs collapse, so you’d be off balance? Well, that’s exactly how it felt. My knees buckle slightly, and I lurch forward on the soggy, uneven ground.
For the second time today, I let out an embarrassing squeal as my foot lands in the mud and my arms flail desperately as I try to maintain my balance. Of course, the only thing this achieves is to mess with my equilibrium. My torso bends forward, causing my other foot to join its mate, and I collapse straight into the mud on my knees.
Oh my god, I can’t believe this is happening. I hear a chuckle and whip my head around to glare at Aaron, but the suction from the thick mud under the thinner body of water skimming the top of the puddle pulls me even more off balance. I flail and scream in a desperate attempt to remain upright, but eventually gravity wins out, and I faceplant into the water.
The moment my face hits the mud, I’m up like a jack-in-the-box with new springs, coughing and spluttering. I frantically wipe the mud from my face and whip around. You know how it is, when you trip or fall, your first instinct is to see if anyone witnessed the whole mortifying act. My eyes land on Aaron, doubled over with laughter, tears streaming down his face. “Are…you…okay?” he asks between huge gulps of air as he wipes the tears from his eyes. Yep, freaking tears. He holds out a hand to help me up.
I look at his hand, then turn a glare on him. I can’t believe he let the sheep butt me into the mud and didn’t even try to help. He can take his help and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine. I wish Celine was here. She would’ve given me a heads-up that I was about to get a mud bath, but more importantly, she’d finally be able to see there was absolutely zero chance of me fulfilling item three on my list with Aaron. Not after this.
He’s hasn’t taken me seriously before, and I doubt he will now. I’m so humiliated, and that humiliation turns into anger.
“Screw you, Aaron. Your time for helping was before that…that”—I point at the sheep grazing as though his job for the day is done—“ savage shoved me in here.”
I scramble to get up, but the mud is slippery, and I keep falling back on my butt.
“You’re really going to be stubborn again? Suit yourself.”
He puts his hands in his pockets and stares at me with a smug smile on his face.
Ooh, I’d like to wipe that smile right off his face. After the third attempt to extract myself from the mud, I reach my hand up. “Well, are you gonna help me or not?”
Aaron looks at Basil. “What do you think, should we help her?”
“You know what? Forget it.” I try once more to free myself from my muddy confines.
Aaron holds out his hand. “Okay, I’m sorry. Here, please let me help you, Holly.”
I swallow my pride and hold my mud-caked hand out. He grips my wrist to get a firmer grip and pulls me out the mud. I crash into him, and he puts his arm around me to steady me.
“I’m sorry, Trouble. You were right, I was a jerk.”
We’re so close, I can feel his warm breath on my face. I don’t know if he notices it too, but our eyes lock and the thundering of my heart drowns out all other sound. I scan his face. His deep chocolate eyes, straight nose—despite the many times he got banged up on the field—and strong jaw have me enthralled. I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to Aaron. He licks his lips, and I track the movement with my eyes. I swear I hear his breath hitch. It would take the smallest of movements to close the gap and press my lips against his. One of the sheep bleats and startles the crap out of me, and I hop onto Aaron, wrapping my legs around his waist.
He grips my hips and smirks. “Want me to carry you now?”
I slap his chest and scramble down. Jerk! Please, God, just end me now . I used to pray a lot until it felt like everything I prayed for was the baseline for the opposite to happen, so I stopped. But maybe this one time God will have mercy on me and answer my prayers.
I close my eyes, waiting for the lightning bolt to strike me down, but when nothing happens, I blink. Aaron is staring at me in amusement. Oh well, I better just go with it.
“Can you just take me to a cliff so I can throw myself off it please?”
He laughs at my expense for what must be the tenth time today, but it hits me a little different now. It brings out that familiar pull deep in my belly. Why does everything about him have to be so sexy? I shiver, and Aaron takes it to mean I’m cold, but really, my body is just reacting to how insanely perfect he is.
“C’mon, let’s get you home. You must be freezing.”
“How far is it?” I ask.
He frowns. “About five minutes, but don’t worry, I’ll put the heat on. The seats are heated. You’ll warm up in no time.”
I shake my head and take a step back. “You must be crazy. I can’t get into your car like this. You’ll never get it clean again. If it’s only five minutes, I can walk.”
“You’re not walking to the inn, Holly. You’ll get hypothermia. Get in the car.”
“I’m not getting in your car like this.”
Aaron scrubs a hand over his face. “Jesus, were you always this infuriating? Is this what the next six weeks is going to be like? You arguing with everything I say?”
“I hadn’t thought of it but since you brought it up…”
He shakes his head and holds out a hand to me. “C’mon, let’s go.”
As I reach the passenger side, I glance at his pristine leather seats. They have those tiny holes all over. If I sit on it, the mud caking my ass is going to seep into the miniscule holes and be impossible to get out. “Look, I’m not trying to be a pain in your ass here. I just really don’t want to mess up your car. You will never get it clean again.”
Aaron walks to the back of the car without a word to me and takes a banket out of the boot. After laying it on the seat, he turns to me. “Problem solved. Now can we go? My mother will kill me if I get you sick.”
“What’s she going to do when she hears you let Basil push me into a puddle?”
“I tried to warn you.”
“Ah, but will she believe that? I seem to remember her taking my side over yours and Spence’s nine times out of ten.”
“So, it’s going to be like that now? You’re going to turn my own mother against me?”
I laugh, my earlier humiliation and anger forgotten. It’s like we’ve slipped back into how things used to be when he still lived in South Africa. “Fine, it will be our secret, but you owe me one.”
“Still playing dirty, I see, Trouble.”
I wiggle my eyebrows. “Is there any other way?”
As soon as I say the words, I realise the double entendre. He must as well, because his eyes widen, and he swallows hard. Huh, I just unintentionally flirted with Aaron. I duck and get into the car, hiding my smile.
I flirted with Aaron Walker. Me.
I may be covered in mud, my bags might be misplaced, and today didn’t turn out the way I’d imagined it, but I’m in Scotland, and the next six weeks are going to be incredible.
I can feel it.