Page 26 of Chasing a Highland Dream

‘Sorry to interrupt, Bella, but I spotted you from over by the bar and thought I’d appear rude if I left without saying goodbye.’

Bella looked up to be met by the smiling brown eyes of Sergeant Donaldson. ‘Oh, hi… erm… s-sergeant.’ Oh god, why didn’t I call him by his proper name?

The tall, well-built man glanced at the other women briefly. ‘It’s Harris, remember?’ he said with a smile. ‘I trust your granny is okay after her ordeal?’

Skye’s eyes widened. ‘What ordeal? What happened? Is Isla okay? Please tell me she’s okay?’

‘Oh yes, she’s fine. She called the police on our new neighbour when she thought he was breaking in.’

Skye almost choked on her drink. ‘The writer? So that’s why you didn’t want to talk about his arrival!’ She laughed. ‘That’s hilarious! Isla’s such a star. Gangsta Granny strikes again!’

Bella felt sure her face was bright red enough to light a room. She realised she hadn’t answered the sergeant’s question. ‘Ahem, yes, sorry, Harris, she’s fine, thank you for asking.’ She turned to see the other two women grinning at her. ‘This is my friend Skye, and of course you know Olivia.’

Harris smiled at the other women. ‘Of course. Hello again, Olivia. Good to meet you, Skye.’

Bella felt a little awkward. ‘So, what are you up to? I see you’re off duty today.’ She glanced at the black crash helmet tucked under his arm, with a red and yellow lightning strike printed on it, and noted the black leather biker jacket he wore. He looked quite handsome in his civvies, in a serious, rugged kind of way.

He nodded. ‘I am indeed. Out for a lunchtime lemonade before I go for a ride. I’m heading to the Merkinch Nature Reserve to do a bit of walking and a wee bit of bird watching. The weather’s just right, bright but not too warm.’

‘Sounds lovely,’ Skye replied. ‘I’ve never been on a motorbike before, have you, Bella?’ she continued with a pointed glance.

Bella frowned. ‘Erm… no, I can’t say I have,’ she replied, fully aware of what her friend was doing.

‘I shall have to take you for a spin sometime,’ Harris said.

Bella swallowed nervously. Being pillion on a motorbike wasn’t exactly on her to-do list, much like wrestling a lion or jumping into a pit of rattlesnakes didn’t appear on there either.

She smiled self-consciously. ‘Oh… I don’t know. I’d probably be a terrible passenger.’ She felt sure her face was heated to egg-frying level by now, to add to her increasing embarrassment. ‘I’m more of a four wheels kinda gal.’ She gave her two friends a flared-nostrilled, wide-eyed glare she hoped spoke volumes.

Harris shrugged. ‘You’ve nothing to be scared of. You’d be in very safe hands,’ he said. ‘You can trust me, I’m a police sergeant.’ His eyes seemed to twinkle with humour in the overhead lighting.

Good grief, he has a nice smile.

Bella shook her head to dislodge the thought. He wasn’t her type. He might ride a motorbike and sing and play in a band, but he was otherwise rather dull from the things her granny had said. And she wasn’t keen on his beard. Feeling a little put on the spot, she gave a nervous laugh. ‘O–okay then, maybe one day.’ She felt a little safer by adding the vagueness to her reply.

Harris grinned, showing a set of perfect white teeth. ‘It’s a date. Or at least it will be. I’ll check my diary and pass a message on with Mrs Douglas next time I see her at the day centre.’

‘Lovely,’ Bella replied, unsure of what else to say and thinking quite the opposite.

‘Right, well, I’ll be off then. See you soon. Enjoy your lunch.’ And with that, he left the restaurant. Bella watched him leave and tried not to notice the way his jeans stretched across his thighs as he walked.

Stop it, Bella Douglas. You’re being bloody ridiculous. He may have nice legs, broad shoulders and a lovely smile, but he watches birds, for goodness’ sake. He doesn’t drink. He’s too serious. And did I mention he watches birds?

After a few moments of making sure the man was out of earshot, Skye and Olivia squealed, causing all heads to turn in their direction.

‘Shhh!’ Bella said, glancing around the place with an apologetic smile. ‘You’ll get us chucked out!’

‘Bella’s got a date, Bella’s got a date,’ Skye chanted in a sing-song voice like a nine-year-old schoolgirl.

‘Not really. It was a bit too ambiguous to call it a date,’ Bella insisted.

Skye scoffed. ‘You’re kidding right? He actually used the phrase, “it’s a date”.’

Bella scrambled around her brain for a suitable retort but came up blank.

‘He definitely likes you,’ Olivia said with an excited grin. ‘I could tell that last night, though. He kept looking at you. And he’s rather gorgeous, don’t you think?’

‘I agree,’ Skye said. ‘Very handsome and that deep voice… yum.’