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‘Try me.’ His hand hung on his knee close to her. Touch her arm? Could he? Should he?
‘I already have.’
‘Try again. Please.’ He flexed his fingers.
Her lips curled up, dimpling her rosy cheeks and the glint returned to her cornflower blue eyes. Carefully, she laid down her trowel and swept a strand of hair behind each ear, opening a curtain on her beautiful face, and smearing mud across it. ‘I was showing him the remains of the hearth. Seeing it makes it real. I can see the people and sense their lives like they’re still here. A couple starting out, building a home and making it their own.’ She stopped talking and the scene seemed to play in her bright irises. ‘It was very gender defined back then. She was out gathering. He was fishing. But they were both building and creating their home. When darkness fell, they were together, keeping warm.’ Her cheeks tinged a deeper shade of pink than usual and she dragged a finger through the muddy pit she’d dug, tracing what looked like a heart shape. ‘It’s all romantic nonsense. Those days were like living in a developing country with the constant threat of war, poverty and barbarism.’
Calum pulled a face. ‘I liked your first image better.’
‘Exactly. Softening the reality works wonders. They were highly skilled people. They built, carved, wove, made metalwork, so it wasn’t all bad. But it would have been harsh. Summers here are warm enough but the other seasons would have been as wet and windy as they are now.’
‘And that’s the life you wanted to recreate in your bivvy?’
‘Yes, but only for a night here and there – with plenty of blankets.’
‘You have some funny ideas.’
‘Oh, come on. Even you must see the appeal of this spot.’
‘I do. That’s why I bought it.’
‘Areyougoing to live here?’ Her eyes grew even wider.
He dragged his hand down the back of his neck and drew in his lips. ‘I don’t know. I thought about it. But I’m not sure. I’m working on a project with a friend to provide affordable housing for locals.’
Rebekah. The friend he’d met last year and they’d fallen into a safe friendship. He’d quickly given up on chasing anything else. On paper, she seemed perfect. If anyone could have forgiven his history, it was her. She understood what it was like to fight demons from the past. But she was better with Blair.Anyone who saw them could work that out for themselves. When it ended, bitterness had seeped in, resentment maybe. But now he was cool about it. She hadn’t set an all-consuming fire raging in his gut… like the one kindling right now.
He cleared his throat. ‘Land for sale on Mull is limited and not always suitable. This is a big plot and I was considering donating it to the project. But I suspect that’s not feasible now. It’s so remote and I’d have to reapply for planning permission, which would by no means be guaranteed, and now you’ve unearthed this, there’s every likelihood more treasures are waiting to be discovered.’
‘You got that right.’ Rhona wiped her palms on her jeans. ‘I didn’t know you were involved in community projects.’
‘I don’t shout about it.’ Of course, she was surprised. Her parents painted him as a monster, so the poison would be through their daughter.
She drew up her shoulders as if she was cold, then wrapped her arms around herself. The urge to hold her bit into him again, pushing him closer to her. How did she manage to smell so captivating covered from head to foot in mud? The light floral aroma suited her to a T. She was a summer garden personified.
‘It’s great you’re involved with things like that,’ she said. ‘Such a thoughtful thing to do. But I agree, this land isn’t right. You’ll definitely get conditions again even if your planning permission is granted in principle. So why not build the house you planned here and live in it? It’s perfect.’
‘Yeah.’ What a lovely thought.
She swept away a stray curl from her cheek. If they could sweep away the family history as easily, he’d ask her out, and take things from there. Maybe things would develop, they’d get serious, build this house together and recreate a modern version of her Iron Age fantasy. His parents’ faces swam before him.Jeez, what am I thinking?What about the anguish it would cause Rhona if her parents disowned her? How could they live in a house just over a mile away with that amount of bad feeling? It wasn’t possible or fair. And after what he’d done to her brother, she was the last woman on earth he could inflict himself on.
His fantasy fizzled out in the depths of her eyes. How carried away could he get? Even with Rhona out of the equation, the problem of the Lamonds living so close was off-putting enough. It was the main factor preventing him from moving forward on the build. The dream house wouldn’t be the same with them so close.
‘I know what you’re thinking,’ she said.
‘Do you?’ Could she? Was his body giving off raw signals? Ones her close-to-nature, Iron Age people might easily interpret?
‘Yup. You like the idea of living here, but you’re not so keen on certain people in the neighbourhood.’
‘Uh-huh.’ He rubbed at his forehead. ‘Bang on, exactly that.’
‘Thought so. I should get on, you know. I don’t want my boss thinking I’m a slacker.’
‘I’m sure he doesn’t think that.’ Calum flicked her a little wink and she grinned.
‘I wouldn’t like to chance it.’
‘Ok.’ His fingers twitched, then he reached out and gently patted her upper arm. Initiating intimacy was something he never did but the urge to touch her was burning a hole into his soul. She put her hand over his and stroked it for a few seconds, then, letting go, she returned to her place on the ground. His heart roared with loss of contact.
