Page 40 of Journey to the Scottish Highlands

I realised with an odd stab that I suddenly didn’t want to participate in this verbal critique of Evan. It didn’t feel right. Ok, so Evan had received a call from Sacha last night, which had thrown me, but talking about him this way and seeing his own brother mock him? It felt wrong. Deceitful.

I switched the conversation to Dane’s music. ‘So, you write all your own material?’

‘Oh yeah.’ Dane gazed across at me. His gravelly, Scottish accent carried. ‘I’m very creative, especially when I see something beautiful.’

I smiled. ‘Talk about having the gift of the gab.’

‘It’s true,’ he laughed. ‘We all need to get our inspiration from somewhere.’

I stifled an amused smile.

Yes, he was a little over the top, but he was fun and creative; not like some men I’d met recently.

We moved off, crunching our way over the strewn twigs and bark. The air was heavy with the sweet, tangy scent of damp moss.

‘So, you’re an actor?’ asked Dane, his light, icy eyes scanning my face and coming to rest on my lips. He was a born flirt. He did it as easily as breathing.

‘That’s right. I trained in Glasgow, got my degree and have worked in a lot of theatre productions. Then I got the part of Tammy in that ITV drama Sinister…’

‘I saw that! I thought it was great, actually.’

‘Really?’ I was oddly touched; with so much on TV these days, I wasn’t sure whether many people had actually seen my show.

‘Absolutely.’ He smiled. ‘Me and the guys are performing at a local pub tonight. Fancy seeing me in action?’

I considered his question. ‘Is Evan going?’ I asked as airily as I could.

Dane laughed. ‘No. He never comes to see the band play. Our sort of music isn’t his thing.’

A night out of The Ramblings, not having to see Evan. That sounded like a plan. ‘Ok. Thanks.’

‘Great. It’s a date then.’ He grinned down at me as the sun shimmied through the trees. ‘Come on. I’ll show you this special place – I think you’ll love it.’

Dane suddenly took his cue and moved off in big, long strides, leaving me staring in his wake. I watched him hurry on ahead. ‘Hey. Hold on a sec. Let me catch up.’

I picked up speed, feeling the sun tickling my back through my T-shirt.

Dane, however, was focused on his destination and was walking even faster now. All I could see was the back of his black T-shirt and glimpses of his swinging ponytail. ‘Dane. Can you wait for me, please?’ I called.

His faint voice echoed back. ‘Come on, Daisy. Let’s get there before the light changes. I want you to see it.’

In my hurry to catch up with him, I’d not been looking where I was going and planted my foot down on something hard. ‘Argh! Shit!’ A burning pain shot up my leg. I’d twisted my right ankle on a jutting rock.

I hopped about on my left foot on the path, still swearing. ‘Dane!’

From the ether, I heard an irritated voice. ‘Yeah. What is it?’

‘I’ve just twisted my ankle.’

‘Och, you’ll be fine. Come on. You need to see this view.’

What?! I waited to see if he might dash back, just to check that I was alright, but he didn’t. Instead, I caught a glimpse of him taking his phone out of his combat trouser pocket and recording the view.

Frustrated, I set my right foot back down on the path, but a few indignant throbs from my ankle soon made me lift it back up again. ‘Ow!’ I glowered into the distance. ‘Dane? Dane!’

But he didn’t reply. He’d gone off without me.

I hopped on my left foot, incredulous. The sun was warming my skin even more through my cotton T-shirt, and I had no clue where I was.