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I looked at the old skeleton key and its varying shades of bronze. “Careful. If you keep this up, I might just consider becoming your real girlfriend.”
“No. You’ll only want me for my history.”
“Could be worse, I could want you for your money.”
He bobbed his head in agreement. “History doesn’t seem all that bad, in comparison.”
I laughed and followed along after him. I was deeply regretting my decision to wear heels, but in my defence, I hadn’t known this would be how the night would turn out.
I thought it was just the fancy restaurant.
Not us bailing like a couple of crazy kids, running to McDonald’s, then climbing a historic watchtower overlooking an ancient Scottish lake.
It was quite the one-eighty.
Worth it, though. Despite it being cold, it was a perfectly clear night, and thousands upon thousands of twinkling little stars were accompanied by an almost full moon that lit the world up in an eerily hazy glow. It was almost like being in a dream, and my gaze traced the rise and fall of the numerous hills that framed the opposite side of Loch Duncree.
The water was still. There was barely the tiniest ripple on its surface, and I was sure I could only see the few that were there because they were caught in the moon’s reflection.
“Beautiful, huh?” William said, eyeing me.
I smiled. “It is. It’s a perfect night, too, even if it is a bit chilly.”
He held my gaze for a second with the tiniest of smiles and said, “Come on. It’s just behind this tree.”
“Oh.” I followed him between a few trees until I was face-to-face with a stone that could only be described as ancient.
I reached out and ran my fingertips over the wall—it was rough to the touch and uneven, but so very charming at the same time. There was an energy here that was almost awing. It was so calm yet so full of life at the same time, and I felt it trickle over my skin like a warm blanket.
“Oh, wow,” I breathed. “Look at that stone. It’s incredible. How old is it?”
William unlocked the wooden door and paused. “Uh, it’s older than the castle, so—”
“Oh, my God. Really?”
He choked back a laugh. “Predates it by about a hundred and fifty years, I think. It’s a thousand years old, give or take.”
My jaw dropped, parting my lips into what probably made me look an awful lot like that shocked Pikachu face meme. “And we can go inside? It’s safe?”
“I wouldn’t take you in if it wasn’t safe, Grace.”
“And we can go upstairs?” I asked, glancing at the door.
“Yes.”
“To the top?”
“No. I thought I’d take you halfway up then make you turn around and go back down again.”
I let my hand fall away from the stone wall and stared flatly at him. “That’s not funny.”
He laughed and hauled the door open. “Come on. We’ll be sheltered from the wind.”
He didn’t need to tell me twice.
I stepped inside ahead of him and instantly felt the worst of the chill dissipate. I hadn’t realised just how much of the cold was coming from the wind, and it really was a welcome reprieve.
Not that it wasn’t cold in general, because it was. Fucking freezing, actually, and I was not dressed to climb a watchtower this old, but here I was.
