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“Do you think Nessie exists?”
His smile faded, and his deep blue gaze held hers. “I’ll not lie to ye. I’ve lived here all my life,” Liam continued, “and I have never once seen Nessie.”
Usually when someone said they wouldn’t lie, it was right before they lied their butts off, yet, strangely, she believed him.
“You’d be the one of the few in Drumnadrochit,” she said. “Or one of the few who admits it.”
“Aye,” he repeated, but she wasn’t sure which part of her statement he was agreeing with. Reaching out, he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Best get inside before ye freeze, Kris.”
Her name, uttered in that low, sexy burr, made her shiver again, and she lifted her hands to rub at her bare arms. “Aren’t you cold?”
“Not anymore.”
“You could…” She paused. “Come in.”
He looked at the loch, a quick, sharp glance like he’d heard something, although she hadn’t. “I have to go.” He turned away.
“Wait.” Kris reached for his arm but let her hand fall back to her side before she touched him. She’d never been clingy—had learned long ago that clinging only made
people run away faster—and she wasn’t going to start now.
Liam turned with a lift of one dark brow.
“Where do you live?” she asked. “What do you do?”
“Do?” he echoed.
Was that expression too American?
“For a job,” she clarified.
“Whatever comes along.”
Before she could ask what that meant or point out that he hadn’t answered either of her questions, he jogged down the shore, disappearing into the sudden darkness caused by the fall of the moon.
The eastern sky had begun to lighten. She should really go inside. Instead, Kris stayed right where she was, hugging herself for warmth and watching the sun rise.
As it burst over the horizon, all red and orange and yellow, a distant splash echoed across the murky expanse of the loch.
This one didn’t sound anything like a sturgeon.
CHAPTER 7
Kris had stayed up all night in the past. Studying. Working on Hoax Hunters. Talking with Lola. Crying because what was left of her family ignored her.
The latter hadn’t happened in quite a while. Neither her father nor her brother ever remembered her birthday; they seemed to have completely forgotten Christmas. After the third time June 8th had passed with no call, no card, no damn e-mail, Kris had snuffled through a bottle of champagne and vowed never to shed a tear over them again. So far she hadn’t.
It was a new experience, however, to remain awake all night because she’d found a dead body. She’d have to rank the experience just above the crying-over-Daddy episode.
Kris considered trying to sleep, but with the sun up and the birds tweeting and the loch lapping she doubted she’d have any luck. Instead she made a pot of the coffee she’d bought from Jamaica yesterday and sat in front of her computer to work.
She typed up what she’d learned so far, which wasn’t a helluva lot more than she’d already discovered from books and the Internet. Sure, she’d heard a few Nessie-sighting stories, but there were thousands of them. Besides, she’d come here to debunk the myth, not add to the lore that perpetrated it.
How was she going to catch the hoaxer in the act of hoaxing? With all the extra interest that would soon be focused on the loch now that two dead bodies had been found, she doubted anyone would be out and about creating mischief.
Although … she wouldn’t put it past the hoaxer to attach the blame for these drownings to the monster. What a perfect way to draw attention to their little lie. And if the deaths were later proved to be caused by something else, the doubt would always be there and the publicity would already have been had. The idea that Nessie had pulled a few unsuspecting folks to their deaths in the depths of the chilly water would only increase the whole “monster” cachet.
Kris sighed. She was going to be here a lot longer than she’d originally thought. She’d bet the rest of this fabulous coffee that until the drowning hoopla settled down there’d be no Nessie sightings. Luckily she now had enough money, courtesy of Edward, to remain here until the hoaxing started up again—then she’d pounce.
