“One of your mates came out to check on you and forgot his shoes.”
He considered. “Peter?”
“Possibly,” she said thoughtfully. “He looked at me, squeaked, then bolted back inside.”
Oliver smiled. “He didn’t.”
She smiled in return. “He did blurt out a very polite greeting with my name attached, but there was definitely squeaking. Perhaps he was eager to return inside to their plots and schemes.”
He felt his smile fade. “They’re very good at this sort of thing,” he said quietly.
“I’ve seen them,” she agreed, “but I’ll pretend I don’t know anything and just enjoy your parley.”
Considering the discussion would center around how he was going to get back to her time, avoid a trio of his own eejit selves, and manage to get her to the future before she was slain, he couldn’t imagine she would enjoy it much. He took a step backward and made her a low bow.
“I won’t fail this time.”
“Oliver—”
“You don’t need to spare my feelings,” he said simply. He paused. “I was impulsive.”
“And you’re never impulsive.”
He lifted his eyebrows briefly. “Not usually. Then again, I’ve never been trying to get anything I’ve wanted quite this much.”
She waved him away. “Get on with you, lad, and be about your business.”
He smiled and nodded toward the door, setting aside thoughts of proposals for a more auspicious moment. “Come with me? I’d like to introduce you to my terrible friends. You’ve already met my laird.”
She nodded, then walked with him to the front door. He opened the door, ushered her inside, then paused for a moment to take the measure of the situation that lay in front of him.
First was the absolute splendor of Cameron Hall. The place had been, as they tended to say on the telly, sympathetically updated and expanded over the centuries until it had its share of homely comforts without having lost any of its medieval glory. Hecould remember with perfect clarity the first time he’d walked inside and wondered, unironically, if he’d stepped back in time hundreds of years.
Second and perhaps more importantly was the collection of Cameron’s modern-day clan clustered around the hearth. There was Cameron himself, of course, and Sunshine, along with Derrick and Samantha and Peter and Ewan. Madame Gies was there, no doubt making certain everyone was comfortable and fed, along with her granddaughter Emily, she of the excellent taste in absolutely everything.
He looked at Mairead, had a nod in return, and walked across the great hall to join them.
He was very grateful that Sunshine immediately came to meet them halfway.
“Mairead,” she said with a welcoming smile. “I hoped you would come with Oliver. Why don’t you come with me and I’ll introduce you to everyone?”
Oliver watched as his self-appointed older sister took his lady in hand—figuratively, for the moment—and led her over to that collection of souls he had to admit he was somewhat fond of. He would be fonder of the men once he’d repaid them all for their part in his holiday, though perhaps his vengeance would be tempered with a bit of gratitude that their actions had led in a fairly roundabout way to his encountering…
He had to take a deep breath at the thought of how easily he could have missed meeting a woman he thought he just might love.
He watched that collection of souls welcome Mairead into their midst—even Peter, who only gulped, then put his shoulders back and got on with business.
He watched the ladies there gather Mairead up and bundle her off to the kitchens where he suspected they would at least try to make her feel as though she could enjoy a cup of tea. He, onthe other hand, was abandoned in the spot where he’d stopped. Unfortunately, he was soon joined by a pair of his mates who seemed not in the slightest bit concerned over the fates that awaited them.
“You’re still a dead man walking,” he reminded Derrick.
Derrick pursed his lips. “I promoted you.”
Ewan stuck his head between theirs. “He did? You did?”
Derrick flicked Ewan between the eyes without looking, which Oliver appreciated. He also supposed it might be considered a mercy to keep his boss at arm’s length instead of in an inescapable headlock, so he stepped aside and allowed Ewan a bit of room.
“What’s your new title?” Ewan asked.
