7. Alex
Ihadn’t actually meant to kiss Ciara. But I was so fucking relieved to have tracked her down, and I’d seen her facing off with this arrogant bam she clearly wanted nothing to do with. I just hadn’t been able to help myself. Even then, I’d meant for it to just be light and easy. A casual claiming that the other bloke couldn’t misunderstand.
But the moment my lips brushed hers, the attraction and tension that had been building between us all day detonated. Ciara’s hands fisted in my jacket as she lifted to me, her mouth opening under mine. With a growl, I hauled her closer, needing to feel her against me, to reassure myself she really was here. That I’d found her. I wanted to drown in the sensation, in the tart, sweet taste of her against my tongue. It took all the strength I had to remember we were in public and pull away rather than allowing the kiss to spin completely out of control.
The blue of her eyes was almost completely swallowed by her pupils, and the heat in her gaze was nearly enough to have me diving in again. Instead, I made myself turn toward the other guy. Or, at least, where the other guy had been. Evidently, at some point, he’d walked away.
Right then. Mission accomplished.
But I couldn’t seem to make myself let Ciara go. “Sorry about that.”
Her brows drew together. “For kissing me?”
“Definitely not that.” No reason to lie. “It’s just… you had that handled without me coming in and… well, handling you. But I’ve spent the last hour and a half regretting not doing that on the train, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
Her lovely face relaxed. “Well, I’m not sorry, so can we both agree that wasn’t a mistake?”
“Hell, yes.”
She wasn’t pulling away. Instead, her fingers curled into the belt loops on my jeans. “I can’t believe you’re here. How did you find me?”
As my cheeks heated, I was grateful the lighting in the pub wasn’t exactly stellar. “Oh, well, I overheard your phone call when you got on the train this morning, saying you were meeting your friends at T and B’s.”
“Have you been here before?”
“No. I did a search of the restaurants and bars in the area. There were a couple of others that might have fit the bill, but I was banking on where you were going being somewhere closer to one of the universities, so I took a chance.” If I’d been prepared to do more than that—well, I hadn’t needed to resort to my other skills.
Ciara appeared suitably impressed. “Solid logic. So, why did you track me down? Just to satisfy your curiosity?”
What was it with everybody asking me questions I didn’t know the answers to? But I’d give her what honesty I could.
“Look, I still have to be in Inverness tomorrow, but I couldn’t resist coming to find you. Today was… unexpected, and I didn’t want that to be the end of things.” It was maybe more honesty than I’d given anybody in longer than I cared to remember.
“Neither did I.”
Her voice was so soft I barely heard it, but those words were everything. Maybe not a promise, but a possibility we clearly both wanted to explore. So much of my life was up in the air that I wanted to grab onto this, to her, with both hands. Maybe that was crazy. But here I was.
Ciara swallowed. “So… you found me. Now what?”
“Well, I was hoping you’d be willing to hang out with me until I have to catch my train in the morning. I thought maybe you could show me your city.”
Beaming a smile, she reached out and snagged her glass, draining the last of whatever she’d been drinking. “Let’s go.”
As she towed me toward the door, I hesitated. “Wait, weren’t you here to meet someone?”
“They ended up going elsewhere because they thought I wasn’t coming. I’ve got no other plans. Have you eaten?”
“Not since the snacks we had on the train.”
“Me either. Come on.”
As she led me out of the pub, I thought I’d happily follow this woman anywhere.
We ended up at a chippy several blocks away. The neon sign above the lintel read Calypso. When we strode inside, the man behind the counter looked up with a smile that flashed white in his medium brown face.
“Ciara, my love. Who have you brought me today?”
I couldn’t quite peg the accent. North African, perhaps? Moroccan? There was a hint of French, muddied with plenty of time in the UK.
“We’re in need of sustenance, Maury. I promised to introduce my friend here to the best fish and chips in the city.”
Maury laid a hand over his heart. “And you bring him here to me. You honor me. Will it be the usual?”
“Absolutely. Two, please.”
As Maury moved about behind the counter, sliding generous portions of battered fish into oil, Ciara chatted easily with him, asking about his wife and how his children were faring in school. They laughed and joked with the ease of friends, and I found myself a bit envious. She wasn’t from here, but she’d made connections. Done the thing I was so intimidated by. It was fascinating to watch.
Ten minutes later, we carried two piping hot bags of takeaway out the door, with Maury’s cheerful goodnight ringing in our ears. When I started to peel back the paper, Ciara reached out to stay my hand. “You’ll blister your fingers. I speak from the voice of experience. Give it a few minutes to cool. It’ll be ready to eat when we get there.”
“Get where?”
“You’ll see.”
She casually took my hand again, linking her fingers with mine as if she’d been doing it for years. Why should that small gesture make me feel so grounded and happy?
As we strode down the block, I caught sight of a wiry man with a beard, his eyes on Ciara. I automatically tensed as the guy approached, bracing myself to shield her, but when Ciara saw him, she beamed. “Hey, James! Aren’t you missing someone this evening?”
“Och, I’m on my own. Richard took Bob to his knitting circle meeting tonight. I think they’re making him jumpers.”
Ciara laughed. “Do you think they’ll be better than the gloves they tried at Christmas?”
“Aye, well, if Bob gets hold of the efforts and tries to ‘eat’ them, Richard willnae be the wiser, will he?” James said this with air quotes in a tone that suggested that the efforts of this knitting circle were less than perfect.
“You’re a brave man, James. Tell Richard I said hello and give Bob a kiss for me, aye?”
“I will. Will you be by at your usual time next week?”
“Should be. See you then.”
“We’ll all look forward to it.”
As the other man strode away, Ciara tugged me into motion again.
“What was that about?” And who the hell was Bob?
“That was James. He owns the laundromat I use. He and his partner, Richard, are the proud owners of Bob, who’s the sweetest little English Cocker Spaniel rescue who ever did live. We have an arrangement. I’ll toss in my laundry, and they’ll keep an eye on it while I take Bob out for a walk to get my dog fix. It’s a win-win for us all.”
“It feels like you know everyone.”
“Not everyone. But Edinburgh is really a big small town in a lot of ways. You have a routine, you see the same people. If you make an effort, people respond to that. I come from a small village originally, so it’s normal for me to make conversation and get to know people.”
I liked the idea of that. More, I liked the idea of being part of this community she’d built for herself. I was surprised by how much I wanted to latch onto her. Not just because of the attraction that had struck me like a mortar round, but because she quieted the vague sense of panic and paranoia. She made this transition feel possible. Which was maybe kind of crazy, but I hadn’t felt this kind of connection with someone in… well… ever.
She cut through an alley and down another side street, making her way to a set of narrow stone steps that wound up between two buildings. They took enough turns that it challenged even my natural sense of direction.
“Are you dragging me off to your lair to have your wicked way with me?”
Ciara snickered. “You wish.”
Aye, I absolutely do.
“We’re almost there.”
A dozen feet later, we emerged into a little walled courtyard garden. The space wasn’t huge. Maybe twenty feet by twenty, hemmed in by old stone buildings on all sides. The clear night sky stretched out overhead, a blanket of stars. A quartet of stone benches were set at the compass points, surrounded by lush vegetation I wouldn’t have expected somewhere in the city.
“Wow. This place is something. What is it?”
“I don’t know. I got lost down here a couple of years ago and stumbled upon it. I’ve never seen another soul, not even someone to ask permission to be here. There’s no other entrance but the gate there. But it’s never been locked, so I keep coming when I need to get away and have some privacy in the city.”
She dropped onto the northerly bench and patted the space beside her. “Come, sit. And tell me about your dreams.”
Well, how could I turn down an invitation like that?