“Oh no,” Claire groans. “Not poker, please.” Lily laughs, squeezing her hand in support.
“You might as well get used to having him dropped on your doorstep in the middle of the night completely soaked in alcohol,” she says to Claire. Christ, how crazy are these poker nights? The rest of lunch turned out to be really nice. I enjoy visiting with Matt while the ladies catch up on the latest drama with their friends.
That evening we arrive at Grayson’s new house to cheers. After thanking everyone for their support, I leave Claire with her friends, wandering over to accept a beer from Grayson.
They are an interesting group of men with some very valuable skills. Colin gives me a heads-up on loopholes to watch for in the contract, offering to review it for me. He reminds me that I’ll be working with British law now which will be different than my last contract.
Grayson suggests several ideas for investing my salary in Europe, including making a note to send me the names of several investment councilors in England he knows.
“So is Claire going with you to England?” Marcus finally asks me.
“I dinnae know. I’ve asked her tae,” I say when they focus their attention on me. “I’ve fucking begged her tae, actually. But I dunno know whit she wants tae dae.”
Grayson squeezes my shoulder, “She’s worth the fight you know.” I nod at him before looking over at Claire. When she winks at me, I grin back. “But,” Grayson continues, pulling my attention back to him. “If we hear you aren’t treating her right, we will have no problem finding you. Wherever you are, however big you get, we will beat you to a bloody pulp. Understand me?”
“Perfectly,” I answer with a tight smile. There is no doubt in my mind, after hearing the horror stories, that they would do exactly that. But they have nothing to worry about, I would never hurt Claire.
“Good, now I think we could use another beer. Colin, when are we playing poker next?” he asks, turning me loose. When the night is over, I offer to take Teddy’s poster with us to have the rest of the team sign it. As we walk to our car, I turn to Claire.
“Did Teddy just call me a ‘fucking brilliant wanker’ for getting his poster signed?”
“They’ve been working on his language but I think it’s a lost cause.”
“Okay, because being called a wanker is naw a good thing.”
“In his world, he probably just paid you the highest compliment. You should hear the things he calls Grayson.”
“Speaking of Grayson, he did threaten tae end me if I ever do anything tae hurt ye.” She stops, waiting for me to open her door.
“I’m sorry. He’s everybody’s big brother. I think it would probably be Colin beating on you with Grayson, making sure it didn’t go too far. That’s how it happened with Matt anyway.” When she is comfortably seated, I close her door, walking around to the driver’s side.
“Oddly enough, I’m okay with that. Ye should have someone who comes tae yer rescue if I go crazy. I think my family would get there tae work me over before Colin could, however. Mam would probably dae way more damage than Colin ever could.” I smile at her when she laughs.
Pulling away from the curb, I reach for her hand. “The only problem I’m having is figuring oot who tae ask permission from tae marry ye. Is it Grayson or Colin or who exactly?” Claire grows very still as she stares out the front windshield. “Dinnae freak oot on me. I’m naw talking aboot getting married tomorrow.”
“Aiden,” she blurts out, turning to me. “You should ask my brother, Aiden. He’s the closest thing to a real Dad I have. My stepdad is nice, but Aiden has always been my rock in that family.”
“Okay, then. When the time comes, I’ll ask Aiden.” We finish our drive in silence, but it’s not as uncomfortable as I think it should be. I do know we will need to get married and not just to maintain my own sanity.
If my very traditional parents found out we were living together, there would be hell to pay. Even at twenty-nine, I have no doubt Mam would sweep in like an avenging angel to save Claire’s virtue from me. If she only knew that ship had sailed!
The next morning I’m woken by the phone ringing. Looking at the display, I quickly slip out of the bedroom into the sitting area in my hotel room before answering it.
“Hullo, George?” My oldest brother is the local veterinarian covering half of the northern Highlands. It’s odd that he would have the time to call me in the middle of his day. “Dae ye naw work anymore?”
“It’s Saturday, ye arse. Even I get tae take a day off occasionally.” I grin, listening to George. He was the joker that originally signed me up as Xander to play football. “Listen, I’m giving ye a heads-up. It’s made it through the line that ye have a serious girlfriend.”
“George, ye already know that. I told everyone before it got back tae Mam.” I don’t understand the problem, not only did I call my parents to tell them, but I also sent a long email telling them all about her.
“Rory found oot aboot yer indiscretions in the library from Finlay. She told Mam all aboot it. She also told her ye two are shacked up together in Texas,” George says.
Finlay is my younger sister by a year. Along with my twin sister, Rory, they have given me more grief through the years than the rest of my family combined. At this point, my plan is to kill Finlay first then work my way to Rory. Damn it, Tim must have told Fin.
“George, can ye head off my arse chewing for now. I’ll call in a couple of days with, whit I hope, is some pretty big news. I can get it all then.”
“Bigger than sex in a library with yer new girlfriend? I cannae wait tae hear this. I’ll calm Mam down but ye better call next week. I’ll talk tae ye later. Bye, Xan,” he answers.
I smile, hanging up. George still insists on calling me Xander. He claims it’s better than Alex. It could be worse, if Robert had been there to register me instead of George, I would have been known by the Scottish version of my name. I could have spent most of my time spelling Alasdair. He calls me Ali most of the time.
