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“Sounds like a plan. I’ll meet you back here in ten.” Her sunny smile caught him off guard and told him he had far underestimated her appeal.
As he gathered his wallet and the few other things he might need for the island’s mercurial weather, he told himself not to get too invested. Bella was an American with a life back in the States. Ian, God willing, would soon be returning to London and a pleasantly humdrum existence.
Not to mention the fact that Finley was Ian’s friend. He would skin Ian alive if Ian tried to make a move on Bella. Even if Bella reciprocated, it would be a stupid thing to do. Which didn’t explain why the thought of spending a platonic day with her was so damn exciting.
Bella drove like she talked. Point A to Point B with no rabbit trails. She played tour guide for him, sharing the history and significance of local points of interest. Her descriptions were vivid and concise. She would make a wonderful university professor. He wondered if that was what she had in mind for her future.
He didn’t have the heart to tell her he had actually visited Skye before, twice in fact. And to be honest, not much had changed in the interim.
At his suggestion, they climbed several rock formations and at last sat down to enjoy the view. The clouds were high today and the visibility was good. In the distance, sunlight glinted off white caps and turned the water a shade of blue that matched Bella’s eyes.
Finley’s decision to live here made sense. It was a place where a man could breathe…a land close to the roots of civilization, close to the bounty of the sea. Ian leaned back on his hands and studied his companion out of the corner of his eye. She had scaled the steep hillside without complaint, and scarcely breathed hard in doing so.
He had tried over the years to be sensitive to women’s issues. Certainly he believed in equal pay for equal work. Yet, suddenly, he could see how a woman who looked like Bella might have trouble gaining acceptance into the sometimes stodgy environs of the academic community.
She had referred in passing to men who had treated her badly. Who were those faceless men? Boyfriends? Colleagues?
Ian wasn’t naïve. He knew many men who wanted to go out with women who were soft and amenable and not inclined to steal a man’s thunder. Ridiculous nonsense, but there it was.
Bella Craig was smart and funny and surprisingly self-aware. Had she been hurt by someone who diminished her self-worth by discounting her intelligence? He found himself righteously indignant on her behalf without knowing the slightest thing about her circumstances.
“So tell me,” he said. “What is it you’re working on while you’re housesitting for your brother?”
Bella’s profile never changed. She gazed out into the distance as if her thoughts were miles away. Finally, she shrugged. “I was hoping to start my dissertation, but I wasn’t able to nail down a topic before I left home. History should be vibrant and alive. I don’t want to be the person who reduces it to a few dry chapters bound and stuck away in a university library.”
“And therein lies your problem, I suppose.”
She wrinkled her nose. When she half turned to face him, her small smile was wry and tentative. “If I tell you something, will you promise not to laugh?” Her knees were raised to her chest, arms tucked around them.
“I swear, lass.” He mimed locking his lips and throwing away the key. “I’ll take your secrets to my grave.”
