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“Where are we taking it?” He had a funny look on his face.
“Finley says he can set up a bed for me in his office.”
“You could bunk with me,” Ian said.
Searching his face for evidence of humor and finding none, she smiled wryly. “I appreciate the offer, but I wouldn’t want Finley to get the wrong idea. He’s very protective of me.”
“Surely he wouldn’t insert himself into your romantic life.”
“Clearly you never had a sibling. I wouldn’t put it past him to lock me in my room at night. The man barely saw me for a decade, but now he relishes his new role as family patriarch.”
Bella didn’t wait to see if Ian would follow. She rushed past him and up the stairs. Flinging open the door to Finley’s bedroom, she winced. Though most of her personal items and some of her clothes were already packed for Edinburgh, the rest of her belongings were scattered here, there, and everywhere in between.
Ian wandered in and gazed at the semi-orderly chaos of books and papers and everything else she thought she wouldn’t need to meet the queen. “How the hell did you fly from North Carolina with all this?”
She started picking up books. “Go find a box in Finley’s workroom, will you? I shipped my research materials before I came. When I’m working, I like to have my favorite resources at hand.”
“You haven’t heard of e-books?” he asked, lifting a sardonic brow.
“Sneer if you will. You have your process, I have mine.”
By the time Ian returned with two cardboard cartons, she had sorted and stacked her library into like-sized piles for easier packing. Bookworms learned early in life how to move the important stuff when necessary.
He dropped the boxes on the floor. “Here you go. Call me when you’re done, and I’ll carry them downstairs.”
“Hey, wait,” she said indignantly straightening with her hands on her hips. “I thought you said you would help me.”
Ian shook his head. “No. You said that. I didn’t say anything.”
“Are you pouting because I won’t move in with you?”
His grin was wicked. “I don’t pout, Bella. When the time comes, I know how to get what I want.”
He walked out of the room, leaving Bella to stare, stunned, at the mess she had made. Stupid man. Aggravating, infuriating, oh-so-superior male. Of course she couldn’t share the guest room with him. What would Finley and McKenzie think? Not to mention the fact that Bella was never going to have sex with Ian Larrimore again. Probably.
It took her just under an hour to stuff everything into the two boxes and a large plastic garbage bag she retrieved from the kitchen. After shoving the bulky containers out into the hallway with her only slightly tender foot, she summoned Finley. “All set,” she yelled.
Not waiting to see if he heard her, she went to the linen closet, found a fresh set of lavender-scented sheets, and carefully made up the bed. When she was done, she smoothed the coverlet and surveyed the room. All that was left was to touch up the bathroom.
She’d heard Ian huffing and puffing in the hall as he moved her things downstairs. Since he wasn’t around to make fun of her, she decided to leave a few welcoming touches for the newlyweds. Carefully folding back the covers on either side of the bed, she fetched several of her favorite handmade chocolates she’d bought from a shop in the village and arranged them on the pillows. Then she picked up the one slim volume of Emily Dickinson poetry she had saved out of the packing frenzy and set it prominently on the duvet.
Standing back to survey her handiwork, she felt a pang of jealousy. Finley was so happy, happier than she had ever seen him in his life. McKenzie brought out the best in him. He doted on her and vice versa. Even so, they still enjoyed arguing and challenging each other. They were both strong, stubborn personalities with their own way of approaching life.
Bella would like to believe there was a man out there somewhere who would be as perfect for her as Finley was for McKenzie. During brief moments over the past few days, she had thought it might be Ian. Sadly, she no longer believed that. He was too much like her in some ways. When they both got lost in their work, they liked to be entirely isolated and alone.
That was certainly no basis for a relationship.
Ian had been clear about his desire to remain single. Objectively, she could hardly blame him. He had a wonderful career in a fascinating city surrounded by multifaceted colleagues.
Why would a man give that up for something so plebian as matrimony?
She glanced at her watch and winced. They were already an hour and fifteen minutes past their planned departure time. Was Ian one of those men who couldn’t abide having travel pans uprooted?
Turns out, he wasn’t. She found him waiting patiently in the living room, reading a copy of A Tale of Two Cities he had plucked from Finley’s bookshelf. When Bella entered the room, he set the book aside and stood. “Ready to go?” he asked calmly.
Something about his manner made her jumpy. It was one thing to be here in Portree with the man. Now they were going to be spend time together in a whole new environment. “I’ll pay for my own hotel room,” she said. “In Edinburgh,” she added, in case there was any doubt.
He shook his head. “Absolutely not. You’re doing me a favor. There won’t be any cost to you.”
