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‘Um. No problem,’ he said, giving her an unreadable look. ‘Anyway. I better… yep. Head off. Back to the old grindstone.’ He picked up the tray. ‘And, you’ll get no argument from me about improved communication. Okay? I’m very happy to communicate with you as much as you need.’
‘Okay. Thanks for the dram,’ she said, feeling awkward. Probably, Ben hadn’t thought anything of what had happened. It was such a small thing; Liz was blowing it up out of all proportion.
‘My pleasure.’ Ben avoided her gaze. Was it going to be awkward now, between them? Because she’d touched his forearm, ever so briefly?
You’re just imagining it,Liz told herself.It’s fine.
‘See you later, then,’ he added, as he got to the door. He gave her a lingering look, and Liz felt herself blushing.
Oh lord, Liz,she thought, remembering the moment in her office when her fingertips had grazed Ben’s as he’d given the Red Kite feather back to her – the feather that still lay on her desk, waiting for her to find it a little bottle to display it in.Get a hold on yourself. Why are you even blushing right now?
It was mortifying, having that very obvious physical reaction to Ben and not being able to control it. Why was she having it at all? All she could say for sure was that Ben held some kind of fascination for her, and the way he was looking at her right now wasn’t helping.
‘Yes. Okay. Later. Whatever.’ She tried to sound breezy, but it came out as if she was being dismissive.
‘Right.’ Ben nodded and closed the door behind him.
Oh, great. Now he thinks I’m rude as well as weird,Liz thought, making a screamy face but in silence so that Ben didn’t hear anything next door.Arghhhhhhh.
If she was being totally honest, Liz did find Ben attractive. She had from the moment she’d met him. But there was no way she was interested in getting involved with a work colleague: it was thoroughly unprofessional, especially in her position as a director. If you were a man, people were more likely to overlook you having affairs at work. But, if you were a woman in a senior position, you were expected to be perfect and unassailable, and definitely not having any kind of romantic attachment to a colleague, not least your boss. It was the ultimate cliché.
University studies showed definitively that women lost over fifty per cent of their authority in the workplace as soon as anyone knew who they were sleeping with.
Touching someone on the arm isn’t quite the same as sleeping with them, Liz,she reminded herself.Let’s not get carried away here.
Anyway, aside from all that, Liz just wasn’t ready for any romance. She’d come to Loch Cameron to get away from everything, and she had absolutely no intention of getting involved with anyone now that she was here.
Ben could flirt with her if he wanted; that was fine. But she wasn’t going to engage with it any further. Her heart was just too raw.
NINE
‘It’s not much further,’ Ben called over his shoulder, flashing Liz an endearing smile that she couldn’t help but return.
‘Okay,’ she shouted back, over the wind, concentrating on not appearing too out of breath as she climbed the lush green hill speckled with purple heather.
It wasn’t quite what Liz had expected for a typical work day at the distillery but, in fact, she and Ben were nowhere near the distillery today. Instead, Ben had proposed a research day out to give Liz an insight into the location surrounding the distillery, so she could see for herself how the whisky got its particular flavour.
‘Since you were talking about finding a story for the distillery, I thought this might help,’ he called back to her, his voice being taken by the wind. ‘Might give you some ideas.’
Liz was glad that Ben had advised her to wear hiking boots and a waterproof jacket. It was freezing cold, and the further up the hill they went, the colder and windier it became. When she’d seen these hills from afar, driving up from Glasgow, she’d thought how beautiful and tranquil they looked. They were beautiful, but Liz had realised about half an hour ago that when you were walking up them, they were very far from tranquil. Plus, she’d had to pay attention to where she was putting her feet, as there were frequent holes and dips where you could easily turn your ankle.
In fact, Liz had never owned a pair of hiking boots, and she had once had one of those waterproof jackets that came packed in a small travel bag, but that had been years ago and she must have lost it. Luckily, when she visited the only clothes shop in the village, Fiona’s Fashions, Fiona had recommended some extremely comfortable boots and a blue rainproof jacket that didn’t actually look too bad on.
Liz was grateful for both items now, as she followed Ben up the tussocky hill. The wind had been tangling her hair, so she’d tied it in a makeshift ponytail – luckily, she’d thought to bring a hair band on her wrist.
‘Here we are.’ Ben stopped ahead of her, pushing his dark hair out of his eyes and grinning. ‘The entrance to the fairy world.’ He tapped a large, egg-shaped stone that lay incongruously against the side of the hill.
‘This is it?’ Liz panted, coming to stand next to him. ‘How on earth did something like this get up here?’
The stone was as tall as Liz’s waist and wider than her arms could reach. It was curiously smooth, and she couldn’t see anything else like it around them.
They were alone on the hill, accompanied only by the sound of birds cawing in the morning air. Liz thought they might be crows, but she wasn’t really an expert.
‘No one knows. That’s part of the mystery.’ Ben raised one eyebrow. ‘Legend says that the Fairy Queen would invite the women from the village up to the Fairy Stone once a year and take them into the fairy world to teach them the secret of distillation.’
‘Only the women?’ Liz smiled, pushing her fringe out of her eyes. ‘I like this Fairy Queen. Very progressive.’
‘Yeah. Back in the day, after the monks brought the knowledge to Scotland, distillation was considered a woman’s art because it was a bit like witchcraft.’
