‘You had a fight with them in the middle of the night. Don’t worry. I didn’t look.’ He grabbed her camisole and draped it over her head, a desperate attempt to remind her who he was: a friend with terrible jokes, not someone who would take advantage of her. ‘I texted your dad, too, just to let him know you were safe.’
‘Bet he was hoping I’d fall into the loch,’ she muttered, tugging her shirt on.
‘Oi.’ He pinched her thigh, and she kicked him lightly from under the duvet in response. ‘You know that’s not true.’
‘I would, if I were him. I came home, started taking over the farm without anybody asking, and to top it all off, interrupted his rendezvous with Myra.’
‘Myra?’ Struan echoed in disbelief. Cam’s mum had been working in the farm shop for a while now, but he hadn’t realised that Doug had set his sights on her. Then again, they made sense, both of them hardworking single parents.
Rae nodded gingerly. ‘Did I leave out that bit?’
‘Aye, you might have.’
‘I walked in on them kissing last night. Hence the long, long walk.’
He frowned, sidling closer. He couldn’t keep his hands off her, yet she didn’t seem to mind, watching his touch trail with groggy confusion, as though she hadn’t yet processed any of it. He couldn’t blame her. He remembered the first time he’d met Mum’s new boyfriend, Michael. The entire lunch he’d felt a wrongness crawling all over him for the man who wasn’t Dad. He was his polar opposite, in fact, quick to ramble about subjects without caring if others were listening, and had more negative things to say about people than positive. His own children barely stayed in contact.
‘How do you feel about it?’
She shrugged. ‘I think I’d be happy for him if he’d told me, but after the argument, it just feels like another way he’s shut me out. Like maybe he doesn’t need me in his life anymore.’
‘He’ll always need you. He’s your dad,’ he said softly.
‘Yeah, but I’ve been a crappy daughter.’
‘Rae—’
She cut his protest off quickly, tucking her hair behind her ears. ‘Anyway, no more pity parties. Can I make you breakfast as a thank you for not leaving me out on the street last night?’
He glanced at his smartwatch, shoulders sagging. He wanted nothing more than to soak up every second of her, but his tour was due to start in less than half an hour, and he was already running late. ‘How bad for business would it be if I didn’t show up for my own hike?’
‘Very bad, I think.’ Tentatively, she took his hand, and he felt the world around him hold its breath – or maybe it was just him, frozen as warmth gushed like a waterfall over him, from the crown of his head all the way to his toes. ‘I should get back to the farm to grovel, anyway. Let me just get my skirt on.’
‘I mean, you don’t have to…’
She rolled her eyes, duvet pooling away as she collected her clothes. ‘I suppose it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.’
Now that she was sober and most definitely aware of what she was doing to him, he couldn’t help but watch her bend over, a soft moan falling from him at the gorgeous dimples and silver stretch marks of her plump arse. The underwear she had on today was pale pink, still in that practical high-waisted style. God, he wanted to sink his teeth into her – gently, of course. Wanted that supple flesh to remember the shape of his fingers as he buried himself inside her. How would she sound? How would shelook? How would she feel, with all that soft warmth pouring out of her the way it had amid the fruit trees?
His tongue swiped across his teeth as he said, ‘So, you’re not still pretending it didn’t happen?’
Before she covered herself, concealed the prettiest sight he’d ever seen, he grabbed her hand and tugged her back to him, her bare legs between his as he looked up at her from his seat on the bed.
‘Struan,’ she whispered.
Their fingers interlaced at her side, eyes darkening when she saw the outline of his hard cock against his jeans.
‘I need more of you. You’re all I’ve thought about, Rae.’
‘It’s not a good idea.’
‘Why? I could talk to Martha, if that’s what you want.’
‘And tell her what? “I want to fuck your best friend. Is that okay?”’
That word, spoken so bluntly, made him recoil. Was lust all this was, or worse, did she think it was all he was capable of?
Whatever he felt for her went beyond the physical, even if it was currently all he could think about. Being around her made him feel a little more human again. She brought something gentle out in him, a need to satisfy her, take care of her in every way he could think of. He’d stumbled across a new path, rocky and winding, and all he could do was follow it to see what waited at the end.
