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“Not by blood necessarily. Back in the auld days everyone had a leader. A clan chieftain. And all in that clan would take the chieftain’s name as a matter of loyalty. Started back in the eleventh century.”
“Eleventh century,” Kris repeated. She couldn’t imagine. She had no idea when her ancestors had come to America or where they’d even come from. “You’ve always lived here?”
“I have.” He lifted his big shoulders, then lowered them. “Where else would I go? Why would I want to?”
The mind-set was so foreign to Kris, she wasn’t sure what to say. He could go anywhere. Do anything. The idea of staying in the same place as her parents and her parents’ parents and their parents for all of her days made her twitchy. Sure, she’d been in Chicago since she was twelve, but if she couldn’t travel, she’d go mad.
“If you’ve always lived here, then you must know everyone.”
“Everyone who lives in the area. But we get so many tourists or folks who stay awhile, then go.” He glanced at her. “Like you.”
“What about a guy who’s my height, maybe one seventy-five? Long, black hair.” Kris indicated a length near shoulder level, then frowned.
She couldn’t say if it had been curly or straight since it had been wet and slicked back from his stunning face. And why was that?
She’d never asked. Her tongue had been occupied with better things.
“Blue eyes,” she blurted. “Brogue. About twenty-five.”
“That describes a good portion of the village.” Alan Mac laughed. “Ye’d best give up that ghost.”
But Kris never gave up on anything once she set her mind to it. If she had, she wouldn’t be here.
A heavy splash sounded from the loch.
“What was that?” she asked.
“Nessie.”
“You said she was only seen in the daytime.”
Alan Mac returned his gaze to the loch. “Just because ye cannae see her doesna mean she isnae there.”
CHAPTER 3
Liam watched from the trees, moving along slowly, silently, nearly parallel to their path.
Though the moon was rising, it was still very dark. But the flare of Alan Mac’s trusty flashlight surrounded the two figures in an eerie yellow glow.
Their voices carried in the still, chill night; Liam heard everything. Her name was Kris, and she was here to write about Nessie.
He didn’t believe her.
However, he didn’t think she was here to hunt the thing. He’d met hunters, and she wasn’t the type. For one thing, she was a terrible liar.
She asked about the man in the ruins again. What did Liam expect when he’d kissed her like that? He knew better. His talent at kissing was second only to his talent for everything that came afterward.
Liam had been born for seduction. Seduction was what had gotten him into trouble in the first place.
Kris disappeared inside the cottage. Alan Mac turned and headed right for Liam, pausing a few yards away. “I didnae think she believed me when I said you were a ghost.”
Liam didn’t think so, either.
“You should stay away from her.”
Liam should, but he wasn’t sure that he could.
The constable walked on, leaving Liam to stand in the trees and watch the full moon rise over the loch.
