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“Lia?”
Munroe’s voice at my back had me glancing away from the dark corner to where he’d come up behind me. My pulse had picked up as my brain scrambled to make sense of what I thought I’d just seen. Turning, I held a hand out to the corner, pointing.
“What’s the matter, lass?” Munroe asked, dropping a large hand casually on my shoulder.
But the eyes were gone.
I waited a moment, my mouth hanging open in shock, wondering if I’d hear that gentle riff of laughter again. When nothing more came, and no eyes glinted at me out of the darkness, I turned back to Munroe.
“I thought I saw something. My brain’s playing tricks on me, I guess.” I shrugged, though a prickle of awareness hummed over the back of my neck as though something still watched me from the dark corner.
“What? A rat?” Munroe stepped around me and toward the corner, and I caught his arm and held him back. I wasn’t sure if it was out of fear for him or if I was at my capacity for absorbing unusual or otherworldly circumstances but, either way, I didn’t want him to investigate.
“Probably. In a room this big…I wouldn’t be surprised.” I sighed, scanning the boxes surrounding me. The space itself was incredible, and if I could just clear it out, at least I could start to get a visual for how I would design the seating. “This is going to take forever to sort through. But, on the plus side, I might find some really cool items.” I held up a pewter mug with a rough etching of a thistle.
“It’s certainly atmospheric,” Munroe agreed, nudging me away from the dark corner. I couldn’t help but notice that as soon as I’d told him I thought there was something there, he’d immediately positioned himself between me and the potential threat. It was incredibly sweet, his instant need to protect, and I tried to remind my ladyparts that we weren’t here to get our groove back. We were here to run a restaurant. With that in mind, I started back toward the others. I needed to get an idea of their proposed opening date.
“I’ll come by to help tomorrow.”
Munroe’s words had me skidding to a stop and I turned, my face bumping into his chest. He grabbed my shoulders, easing me back.
He smelled like cedar and something fresher, mint maybe, and I had to fight every urge I had to lean in and take a big sniff of his shirt.That would be weird. Women do not go around sniffing men’s chests. At least not in front of their new employers.
“What do you mean you’ll come by tomorrow?” I narrowed my eyes.
“To help clear this out. Surely you aren’t thinking to crack on with this all by yerself?” Munroe’s accent thickened as he looked at me with disbelief on his handsome face. He wasn’t wrong, I would need help to clear the room. But…asking for help was not an area I excelled in. If I did recruit movers, it would be on my timeline and when I delegated it. Not because some hot Scotsman decided to play hooky from his job for the day because he had a need to be the hero.
“I’ll figure it out. Thanks for the offer, Munroe, but I don’t need your help.” I needed to do this on my own. Sophie and I still had to work out some points regarding my actual investment in the restaurant. If I could buy into the place, then I’d never be in the position that I’d just been in with Damien at Suzette’s. Which made me even more determined to prove myself, even if it meant not accepting help from a handsome Scotsman.
I was saved from having to argue the point when Sophie crossed to me, an apologetic look on her face.
“It’s bad, isn’t it? I knew it was, but…yeah. Listen, based on the spreadsheet I put together, it should take three weeks with five helpers to clear this. Two if we up the helpers to ten and make decisions quickly.” Sophie’s eyes lit with excitement when she spoke of her spreadsheet.
“When do you want to be open? I think that’s really the main question. We can figure it out once we have a firm date.”
“I don’t have a firm date.” A pained expression crossed Sophie’s face. Was not having a specific date and solid plan physically difficult for her to stomach? “We’re not in a rush, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I do work well on a deadline,” I mused, turning once more to survey the large room. “But if you’re not needing the restaurant opened, like, yesterday…then, it’s probably best to take our time here until we can create the perfect space.”
And to hire an exterminator, I added silently, my eyes going to the dark corner in the back of the hall.
Munroe was probably right. It was likely just a rat.
CHAPTERNINE
Munroe
Igave Lia three days.
As much as it pained me to do so, I could tell by the way she lifted her chin and refused my offer of help, that I would need to step back and let her take on the challenge of the castle restaurant by herself.
At least for a day or two, that is.
It chafed, my inability to help this woman who had so captivated me, and under the guise of welcoming her to town, I arrived at MacAlpine Castle toting a housewarming gift. She couldn’t say no to a gift, right? At the very least, it would give me an excuse to see her again and to check on the progress in the restaurant.
Each night, I’d stopped at the pub in hopes that I would see her, but Agnes had informed me that Lia was working long hours putting the restaurant to rights and designing menu ideas. Frankly, it hadn’t been like I had all that much free time myself, what with every tradesperson in Loren Brae trying to secure work with me and scouting missions to find a spot for the distillery. As of yet, I’d come up dry when it came to the perfect location, but that didn’t bother me too much. My patience was one of the things that made me a successful businessman, that and an uncanny ability to lean into the right decisions for where I wanted my business to grow. I trusted that the perfect location would present itself in due time.
A sharp whistle caught my attention, and I changed course from heading to the wide doors that led to the private entrance of MacAlpine Castle and turned toward where Lachlan and Archie stood by a gardening shed. Both men wore muddied boots and worn denim, leading me to believe they’d been mucking about in the gardens that morning.
