She didn’t turn around but she heard him move. “Then he is a fool. If he were here now, I’d knock his teeth out for hurting ye.”
She snorted a laugh. “I’d like to see that.” She turned and found him standing behind her, closer than she expected. Thefirelight caught the contours of his muscled chest visible through his half-laced shirt. “So now you know. I was desperate to escape, to find Charlie. She was always the one I went to when things got bad. So I did this ritual and Irene MacAskill showed up. Said I had some choices to make and showed me an arch. When I walked through it I ended up on that island. That’s it. Now you know everything.”
Evan’s eyes sharpened. “Irene MacAskill?”
“That’s what she said her name was. Old. Short. Eccentric. What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Evan’s nostrils flared. He muttered words under his breath in Gaelic. They sounded like curses. Then he looked at her. “Irene MacAskill came to me too.”
Ruby blinked. “What?”
“At the inn,” he said. “Before ye arrived. An old woman called Irene MacAskill. Sharp eyes. Said I was wandering too far from my true path.”
Ruby stared at him.
“She told me I’d soon be given a choice,” he went on quietly. “And that I ought to be brave enough to take it.”
A shiver ran down Ruby’s spine. “Then it’s all linked. Maybe Charlie was right.”
“Charlie?”
“She thinks Irene sent me to bring you here,” she said softly. “To help your family heal.”
Evan snorted faintly. “Aye, well it would definitely take magic to mendthatmess.”
Slowly, almost hesitantly, he reached up and brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “Ye drive me mad,” he murmured. “And yet...” His thumb lingered against her cheek. “Ye make me feel like I could conquer the world. Ye make me almost believe I could be a good man.”
“Youarea good man, Evan Campbell,” she said softly. “Maybe it’s time you realized it.”
He stared at her. Ruby stared right back, her heart fluttering against her ribs like a bird in a cage.
Then he leaned down and kissed her.
It was gentle at first, hesitant, as if he wasn’t sure of her reaction, his lips soft and warm as they pressed against hers. But this is what she’d been waiting for. Hoping for. Before she knew what she was doing, Ruby was wrapping her arms around his neck and going up on tiptoes to meet him. His restraint broke. With a groan, Evan’s hands swept down her back, pulling her hard against him and Ruby was suddenly all too aware of his semi-naked form pressed against her. His lips crashed against hers, his tongue slipping into her mouth, and Ruby responded in kind, not caring what came after, not caring for anything outside this room.
But too soon for Ruby’s liking, Evan broke the kiss and pulled back. Ruby steadied herself by grabbing the front of his shirt, breathless and flushed.
“Ye have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” he breathed, eyes fixed on hers.
“Oh, I think I do,” she replied. “Probably as long as I’ve been waiting for you to do it.”
He grinned and Ruby found herself grinning too. She suddenly felt light, like she could float away on the breeze.
“I’ve been thinking,” Evan said slowly. “I might stay here for a while. If...if that’s all right with ye.”
Joy flared in her chest, fragile and bright. “Yes,” she whispered. “That’s all right with me.”
He smiled—truly smiled—and for the first time since she’d found herself in this time, Ruby felt as though perhaps neither of them were running anymore.
