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“I have no idea. Truth of it is, this is my first broonie, so I’m learning along with you,” Agnes said, a gentle smile on her face.
“We left some cream for him,” Lia said, rubbing that spot on her chest again.
“I just remembered from somewhere that it was good to leave some food for them,” I said.
“It is. He’s likely quite hungry, as the kitchen has been empty for a while now. It’s been decades since that restaurant was fully open, hasn’t it?”
“Aye. We’ve been operating a coffee cart and a pop-up cafe for tourists on the weekend, but nothing like what the restaurant once offered,” Lachlan said.
“I can’t wait to get started,” Lia admitted, smiling at Graham as he slid her another drink. “I’ll need to hire people soon.”
“I can help you there,” Graham offered, and I looked around, needing a distraction from my thoughts of murdering Graham.
“Dartboard is open. Do you want to play?” I asked Lia, not caring if I was interrupting a conversation.
“I want to play!” Sophie piped up.
“Go on without me,” Agnes implored. “I’m a danger to the pub with darts.”
“She really is. She’s maimed me on more than one occasion. Her aim is terrible,” Graham said.
“Or perhaps it was spot on?” Agnes mused.
“Vicious woman,” Graham muttered.
The four of us stood and wandered to a small room in the back with a pool table and a dart board. I was pleased to see that Lia wasn’t interested in staying and chatting with Graham, and her face lit when she saw the dartboard.
“Oh, this is a proper dartboard. No bells and whistles, eh?” Lia said.
“No, we aren’t that fancy here,” Lachlan said, wiping clean the chalkboard used for scoring. He pointed to where the darts were. “Pick your weapon.”
“Oh, my second weapon of the day. The Scots really do like their battles,” Lia said.
“Boys against girls?” Lachlan asked before I could suggest that Lia and I be a team. Annoyed, I shot him a look, but he just grinned.
“Munroe? A word?” A man stood at the door to the room, and I recognized him as a local tradesman. Nodding to the others to get started, I ducked out, and by the time I’d returned, I’d spoken to five other tradespeople and had ordered them all drinks as well.
“What’s going on?” Lia asked. I looked down at her, and the worry I had for the people of this town eased.She did that, I realized. Just looking into her pretty eyes eased my tension.
“Just some locals inquiring about work opportunities,” I said, and took the darts she handed me. “What are we playing? Cricket?”
“Correct. Do you know how to play? You want to close out numbers,” Lia began, and I looked down at her, a smile hovering on my lips. Keeping my eyes on hers, I shot my dart, and her eyes followed the movement.
“Holy shit,” Lia breathed. “You just got a bullseye without looking.”
“Aye, lassie,” I said, leaning toward her a bit. “I don’t like to lose.”
“Oh, it’s on.” A competitive glint came into Lia’s eyes, and her lower lip poked out in a delightfully stubborn pout. I wanted to lean in and taste her once more, and it was only because my thoughts were on kissing her that I missed the next two bullseyes. Instead, I closed out twenties, and got one sixteen.
The game progressed quickly, with Sophie shamelessly cheating every time Lachlan went to shoot. Without a thought to the rules, she groped him, kissed his neck, or whispered something in his ear. Even though we were beginning to lose, I couldn’t help but laugh as Sophie continued to throw Lachlan off his game to the point where he toggled between frustration and amusement. I had a feeling Sophie was just using this game as foreplay.
The unintended effect of that, much to my delight, was that after two drinks, Lia decided to embrace similar tactics.
“Have I told you how handsome I think you are?” Lia breathed in my ear as I leaned forward into a throw. Of course, her breath at my neck and her words had their intended effect, and I miscalculated. The dart hit a nine, which wasn’t included in the game, and Lia grinned.
“You haven’t,” I said, evenly. “But do tell me more.” I held up my next dart, and Lia took the invitation, moving closer into me, and reached out to stroke a hand down my side while I positioned myself for my next throw. God help me, but I was just about willing to throw this game if it meant that Lia would put her hands on me.
“The first time I saw you…I thought you couldn’t be real. Like a gilded god,” Lia murmured, and my heart skipped a beat. I barely, just barely, closed out the fifteens and handed the darts over to Lia. My mind was whirling. Had she had a similar reaction to mine when we first saw each other? I couldn’t help but be pleased.
