“Yes. I have such good grandsons. Have you met Graham yet?” Effie directs the question to Maisie, but before she can answer Callum is inserting himself.
“She doesn’t need to meet Graham,” he snaps and I can see the wheels in Effie’s head turning. I haven’t outright told him she’s on a mission to pack these two Omegas up and get them to stay in Scotland. It would only piss him off even more.
Something tells me the younger Agnew brother isn’t going to be safe from his nan’s meddling either.
Effie looks around and then grabs Callum’s hand. “I forget where to get the best apples. Lead the way.”
Callum looks at me and Maisie with his typical ire, but goes off with his grandmother.
“So, is his brother as grouchy as him?” Maisie says, and I shake my head with a laugh.
“No, actually. The Agnew brothers are about as different as they could possibly be.”
“I get that,” she says and I arch a brow at her, then take her bag so she doesn’t have to carry it.
Her cheeks flush a delicious pink as she lets me.
“I mean, I really only have two nights to go off of, but you and your sister don’t seem worlds apart.”
“Really?” Maisie says in an almost hopeful tone.
“You’ve both certainly caught Alan’s eye,” I joke, and she bumps her shoulder into my side. “What are you up to today?”
“Alan and I have a date, obviously.”
She glances up at me from her glasses and I’m fully on board with Lain. Who cares if this ends in disaster? It’s worth finding out.
“I think I’d be a much better date than Alan, if you’re keen?”
“Don’t you have a business to run?”
“Ah, see, there are these people called employees. They make sure the place doesn’t burn down when I’m not there. Unless you’d really prefer Alan’s company, I’m not one to stand between an age-gap romance.”
“It depends. What do you have in mind?”
“Well, it’s a secret spot. You wouldn’t be able to tell a soul about it or else the fairies would be pissed.”
“The fairies?” she says deadpan, and I cover her mouth with my hand.
“Don’t even think about bad-mouthing them. They can be quite vindictive.” I can feel her smile under my palm and I slowly remove it. “Have you eaten?”
She shakes her head no, and we make haste through the market, picking up all the things for a picnic. Maisie hums and questions some of my choices, but doesn’t ask again where we’re going.
Until we’re in the car and the drive is longer than she expected.
“This isn’t a murder plot, is it? Take me out of town so that you can leave my body in some remote place where no one will find me.”
“Fuckin’ hell, Mais. You need to chill out on the murder pods,” I joke and she laughs.
“You’re probably right. You know, I thought the same about Lain. It’s not personal.”
“I’ll try to not be so soft-hearted about it. We’re here, anyway,” I tell her as I pull the truck into the designated parking spot. It’s the start of the week and there’s no one here. While tourists are a huge part of our local businesses, it’s nice to have some local spots that haven’t been overrun.
I grab the tote from the truck and blazingly grab Maisie’s hand, making my intentions perfectly clear. She’s a little sheepish as she laces her fingers with mine, a pretty blush taking over her face.
Bonnie. Absolutely fucking bonnie.
“So, where exactly are we?”
