16. Locke
LOCKE
Iwoke to the smell of dog breath.
Wait, what?
I cracked one eye open, getting my bearings. Last night surged back in flashes of color. The inn. Me. A very naked Isla.
White light bled around the drapes in Isla’s bedroom, allowing me to make out Ranger’s fluffy ears and his giant brown eyes staring at me from the edge of the bed. I groaned and shoved at his cold nose as it nuzzled my hand. “Go back to sleep.”
He huffed at me, tongue lolling as he slobbered his way up my forearm. He made a low whine, and I propped myself up on my elbow.
“Is it urgent?”
He cocked his head.
“Okay, fine,” I whispered, sitting up on the edge of the bed, trying not to wake Isla.
At some point last night, she must have let Ranger in.
I spotted his corner—consisting of a large dog bed and a basket of toys.
I stood and pulled my pants on. He waited for me at the door.
“You know, you’d be a lot cuter if you weren’t waking me up at the crack of dawn to go outside. ”
Ranger gave me a look as we slipped into the hall.
His energy was very get used to it. I supposed he was right.
I was about to be a dad. The days of late nights on the town followed by long, uninterrupted lie-ins were about to disappear.
Ranger led me down the hallway and into the kitchen where he pawed at the back door.
I let him out and stood in the doorway while he did his business.
When he was finished, he returned, woofing at me to move out of his way.
“It’s too early for your sass,” I mumbled.
He flicked his tail and headed off for the lobby, probably to wait on Maisie’s arrival. According to Isla, the woman absolutely doted on him, stuffing her pockets with treats she snuck to him every chance she got.
“Mm-hmm, good talk,” I said, leaving Ranger to his patrol as I took myself back to Isla’s room. I closed the door behind me softly before kicking off my pants and crawling back into bed, hoping not to disturb her.
“Thanks,” she murmured, rolling toward me. Her eyes were still closed as she pressed her hand to my bare chest. “He gets moody when his morning routine is disrupted.”
I tugged her close, my hand falling to her naked hip. I squeezed gently, thumb sweeping over soft skin. “I could tell. We had a good chat about me being a dad soon and having to get up early. He’s helping me get used to the routine.”
Isla snorted. “Ranger dropping the wisdom, huh?”
“He thinks highly of himself since he has an inn named after him, that’s all I’m saying.”
Isla gave me a sleepy blink, then smiled. “I think it was actually named after his great, great, great granddog or whatever.”
“Still, all that notoriety’s gone straight to his head.
” I kissed her temple, and she snuggled into me.
Warmth bled across my body, and I felt content.
I tried to think back to the last time I’d felt such comfort with someone and drew a blank.
I’d had my share of romances—maybe more than my share—but they’d all been blips.
After that relationship with Claire, I’d never let myself get too invested in a woman again. Never let feelings cloud my judgment. Never let another relationship stand between me and the business. Romance was fleeting, but the work would last. The work was my legacy.
And I still believed that. But I was also aware that this situation with Isla was different from anything I’d experienced before.
With her, I was building a whole new legacy I’d never imagined.
One I wasn’t sure I knew how to handle. And it wasn’t just about being a father.
It was about Isla herself and the way she made me feel.
Some part of my brain flashed a warning, red lights whirring and sirens pinging, telling me to pull back.
Don’t fall too hard too fast. If it all fell apart—the way relationships always had for me before—the landing would be rough, and that was something we couldn’t afford as co-parents.
But another part of me, the one that yearned to hold her tightly, protectively, wanted something more. Something risky.
Something that might lead to loss and ruin. That was a risk I couldn’t take.
Or could I?
I swallowed hard, pressing my lips to Isla’s forehead. She sighed happily, and my chest clenched. How could I turn away from something that felt so right?
“Do you want some coffee?” she asked, stretching before snuggling that sexy body closer against me.
“Mm-hmm. I could be tempted. Though,” I stroked her, “I’m also tempted by the beautifully naked woman in bed with me.”
She tilted her head back, grinning at me. “I am both beautiful and naked, you are correct.”
I leaned forward to kiss her, but before our lips could meet, her stomach growled so loudly it startled us both. “You’re also apparently starving. Or gestating a dinosaur.”
She pressed her hand to her belly, laughing. “My vibe is that it’s a boy the way this baby is sucking the nutrients out of me.”
I let my hand drift down her front, thumb stroking her belly button. “I’ve been imagining a little girl.”
“Well, good news,” Isla said, flashing me a cheeky grin. “One of us is definitely right.”
“How about I get you and our hungry child breakfast?” I suggested.
“I thought you were hungry for something else?” she teased, pressing against me in a very, very enticing way.
My hand automatically found the back of her thigh to pull her even closer, and she came willingly, rocking against me once before her stomach gave another angry gurgle. We both laughed. “I think we have to sate your growing appetite first. What do you have in the fridge?”
“Ooo.” She propped herself up on her elbow, intrigued. “You’re going to cook for me?”
“I’m not just going to cook. I’m going to give you a Lachlan Fraser fine dining experience,” I said, patting her butt. “C’mon, get some clothes on so you don’t traumatize the guests.”
Isla waggled her eyebrows. “Don’t lie, you’d love to see me naked in the kitchen.”
“Aye, woman. Though I fear for those five-star ratings of yours.”
She shrugged, rolling over and climbing out of bed. “Could go either way, honestly.” She did a little shimmy, and I sat up, admiring her in the soft light. “Might be a pleasant surprise for some of the guests,” she teased.
Over my dead body, I thought, a different sort of growl crawling up the back of my throat. I distracted myself by finding the rest of my clothes and following Isla back into the kitchen.
Ranger came to join us, sniffing around for his own breakfast. Isla fed him a meal from his drawer in the fridge while I worked on the scrambled eggs and diced up some mushrooms and peppers to fry with the veggie sausage I’d found.
“Chef Locke, huh?” Isla said, coming to stand at my elbow. “At least one of us can cook.”
“Wait until you get a taste of my bangers and mash.”
“I think I got a taste of your banger last night,” she quipped.
I tossed my head back and laughed so hard it made Ranger bark. God, this woman.
When everything was hot and the eggs were fluffy, I plated our breakfast and placed it on the table. Isla had made toast, poured my coffee, and gotten herself a glass of orange juice.
I slid into the chair across from her and picked up my fork, realizing I was hungrier than I’d thought. Isla just stared at her plate.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, worried I’d messed something up.
The corner of her mouth twitched. “Nothing. Breakfast just feels…domestic. It’s nice,” she clarified before my doubts had a chance to kick in. “I just sort of figured that, well, we’d be staging a breakup by now.”
“I suppose that was the plan,” I agreed, biting the corner of my toast. There was really no need to fake a relationship anymore now that the deal was done.
This hotel was happening, regardless of what anyone else said now.
Though the thought of ending things made my stomach churn.
My breakfast wasn’t looking nearly as appetizing now.
“How would we even go about it?” I asked, trying to shake the unease off.
Isla hummed. “We could go to Cat’s when it’s busy and make a big fuss. Then I could sic one of the kittens on you.”
“Oh, yes, a ball of fluff will really stick it to me. Not sure that would be enough, though. I think Jo would expect something a little more creative from you. Wouldn’t make a good story otherwise.”
Isla piled her toast with eggs and mushrooms. “She’s totally going to rake you over the coals when she hears.”
I grimaced, thinking of Declan. I didn’t want to be lumped in with the likes of him.
“Unless, you know, we make it sort of amicable so I don’t come off as a total arse,” I reasoned.
“Which I’d prefer since I’m going to be seeing plenty of these people from now on.
” Unlike Declan, there’d be no running away for me.
Not with the property in development and the baby on the way.
“Maybe we can have a fight about the fact I can’t stand your snoring,” Isla said. “I can say it’s driving me mental.”
“Except you’re the one who actually snores,” I pointed out.
“I do not!”
“Like a Highland coo with a cold.”
Her jaw dropped in mock offense. “Now I know you’re lying. If I snore, it’s adorable.”
“I, on the other hand, sleep like I’ve been sedated.”
She pursed her lips. “That’s true. And worrying. You should get that checked out.”
I shook my head and sipped my coffee, amused. “We could say you hate my cooking.”
Isla caught a piece of egg as it slipped from her mouth. “At the rate I’m shoveling this food back, I don’t think that’ll work either.”
I sighed. “Should we just say we fight constantly?”
“Oh, sure,” she quipped, “everyone will totally buy that the way we’ve been in their faces about being all lovey-dovey for the past weeks.”
I huffed a laugh. When I first proposed this idea, I hadn’t actually expected this part to be so difficult. I’d thought that by now, we’d both be scrambling to get away from each other.
But that simply wasn’t the case.
“What if,” Isla said, awkwardly playing with her napkin, “we just…don’t break up?” Her eyes flicked in my direction then away quickly.
My heart kicked against my ribs. I could feel a smile trying to spread across my face, but I did my best to bite it back.
“I suppose we’ll have to, since it seems there really is no way to stage this fight that feels believable,” I said, knowing it was a total lie.
If we wanted the town to believe we’d broken up, we could make it happen.
But was that what we wanted? For my part, the answer was no.
“Exactly,” Isla said. She propped her head on her hand, grinning at me. “I guess we have no choice but to stay together.”
“That seems to be the case,” I said, relieved.
I didn’t want to stop holding her hand when we went out together.
I didn’t want to have to keep my distance in public—and definitely not in private.
Maybe this wasn’t how we’d planned for things to go, but the best plans left room for improvement, didn’t they?
“The one benefit is we don’t need to make such a show of our relationship now,” Isla reasoned, sipping her juice.
Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, and I couldn’t help staring at them.
“That means we don’t need to worry about going out all the time and can spend more of our time staying in… together.”
“I like the sound of that,” I agreed. I really liked the sound of that. “And I plan to take you up on that offer. Even more when I get back from Edinburgh.”
Isla’s face fell. “What do you mean when you get back?”
I swallowed hard, wincing as the edge of the toast scratched the back of my throat.
Why did she look so upset? “Well, now that the property has passed hands and the announcement is live, I need to get the ball rolling. You know, meet with the architects, lock down the contracts.” I’d hesitated to invest too much of my time planning while the project was still unconfirmed.
But now, I was eager to break ground on construction.
“That means heading back to the city even though I’d love to stay longer,” I wiggled my eyebrows, “and stay in with you.”
Isla’s eyelashes fluttered, lines crinkling across her forehead. Not quite a frown, but close. “I thought you were going to be sticking around.”
“I’ve been here for weeks,” I pointed out.
“And you’ve been doing all right working remotely, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” I agreed. “Though most of my contacts are back in the city. It’s just easier to arrange meetings and such there.”
“But you just signed up to help with the summer festival,” Isla argued. “And now you’re leaving?”
Unease coiled through me, tingling in my hands. I curled them over my knees, squeezing. She wasn’t trying to get between me and my work, was she? Because I knew firsthand that that led to failed deals and embarrassment. I had no intention of venturing down that road again.
I looked into her eyes and brushed the idea aside.
That’s not what was happening here. She just wanted an explanation, nothing more.
“I’ll make sure that I’m back here in time to fulfill all my duties to the festival,” I assured her, trying to get her to smile.
“I’d never cross the council after they were so good to me. ”
Isla pressed her lips together. “Right.”
“Hey,” I said, nudging her leg under the table with my own. “I’ll be back and forth plenty. You’ll see. It’s not like I’m going to up and disappear. There’s a lot in Braeburn worth coming back for. Trust me.”
Her lips curled like a bow, her cheeks pinking. “Like…Hamish’s pies?”
“Well, yes, obviously.”
She huffed a laugh. “That’s good,” she said, more reassured. “And it’s not like you’re planning to leave this minute, right?”
“I do have some things to finish up before I head off,” I agreed.
She stood, abandoning her breakfast, and took me by the hand. “I have something you need to finish.” She flashed me a positively wicked grin, and I let her drag me back to her bed to show her just how good I was at finishing things.