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Lia turned out to be an excellent dart player, a fact that she credited her brothers for, and I felt that two could play at this war of distraction. Leaning down, I brushed a curl away from her ear as she lifted her hand to throw. She stilled, and her eyelashes fluttered to her cheeks, her dusky skin pinkening.
“And the first time I saw you, I realized that I never wanted to look at another woman again.” Whoops, maybe that was too much, but it was the truth.
Lia’s dart clattered to the floor after it bounced off the dartboard.
“Damn it, Munroe,” Lia seethed, turning to me. Her eyes were bright with anger, but also something more. A deeply buried need. I recognized it, because I saw it in my own every time I looked in the mirror. She may not know it, but Lia Blackwood was desperate for love. And I would be the one to give it to her if she let me.
“All’s fair, darling,” I said, giving her a wink.
The ladies lost the game, by a narrow margin, and Lia stomped her foot in frustration.
“You guys cheated,” Lia complained as we made our way back to the bar. I noticed she was unsteady on her feet and went to offer her a hand, but she grabbed the side of the bar to catch herself. “Whoa, those drinks just hit.”
“Yes, gin can sneak up on you if you’re not used to hard liquor,” I said. “Are you okay? Do you want some food?”
“I think I just want to go home,” Lia admitted. “I’ll just go. You guys stay and have fun.” Lia reached for her handbag that Agnes had been watching. “Let me get the drinks.”
“No, Lia. I’ve got the drinks.” I looked up at Graham who nodded to me.
“You’ll get her home?” Graham asked while Lia continued to dig in her handbag.
“Of course,” I said. Turning, I looked over to the table of tradespeople that I’d bought drinks for. “And another round for them, please.”
“That’s a lad!” One of the men called, and Lia looked up, the light of war in her eyes.
“Pay for your own drinks,lads,” Lia said. “You shouldn’t be drinking at the pub if you can’t afford it.”
“Whoops, all right, that’s time to go,” I said. Gripping Lia’s arm, I propelled her from the bar, as she shot daggers over her eyes at the table of men.
“Well? I’m not wrong, am I? What are they doing mooching off you? It seems everyone takes advantage of you,” Lia muttered as the cool night air hit us. I realized then that her outburst had come because she wanted to protect me. It made me smile, even though I suspected she’d probably be embarrassed about it in the morning. I knew Graham would smooth things over with the lads, and Lia would be forgiven. There wasn’t a one of us in this town who hadn’t had a bad night or two in front of the rest of the pub. It was the nature of life in a small community, and the acceptance that we all were human made Loren Brae the tight-knit place that it was.
“It’s not a bother, Lia. I can afford it,” I said, threading my arm through hers as we walked down the quiet street and toward the path that led to the castle.
“Doesn’t mean people need to use you,” Lia muttered.
“I think you’re just misdirecting your anger about your catastrophic loss at darts,” I said, shifting the conversation.
“Catastrophic, my ass,” Lia said, whirling on me and smacking me lightly on the chest. “I would’ve won if you hadn’t gone all mooshy on me.”
“Mooshy?” I laughed. “What, exactly, is mooshy?”
The loch was still that night, the surface smooth and reflecting the gentle lights of Loren Brae back at us. I scanned the water, nervous for the Kelpies, but silence met us. Perhaps they were happy that Lia had joined the Order today. One more person closer to keeping the stone protected.
“You know.” Lia waved her hand in the air as we left the loch and started up the hill to the castle. It was darker here as we wound along the tall hedges that lined the drive and I pulled my arm from Lia’s and instead put it around her shoulders, drawing her closer into me so I could shield her with my body. Just in case. “Mooshy. Sentimental. Lovey.”
“Och yes,thatmooshy.” My lips quirked in a smile. “I wasn’t being mooshy. I was being honest.”
“Really?” Lia skidded to a stop and turned to look at me, which had the added benefit of her pressing into my body. “You really don’t want to look at any other women? Only me?”
I wanted to have this conversation sober. I didn’t want this to be the first time I told Lia what I saw for us in our future, or at the very least, hoped for. It wasn’t the right time, no matter how romantic the soft summer night was. I could all but hear Graham and Lachlan giving me hell for moving at a glacial pace, but this mattered. She mattered.
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” I told Lia instead, and she scrunched her nose at me.
“Not possible. I mean…I’m not half bad, but there are far prettier people than me. I mean, just look at this mess of hair.” Lia pointed to her curls that I desperately wanted to see curtaining my face while she rode me into blissful oblivion.
“I’m sure you know,” I said, gently turning her and continuing the walk toward the castle before I pulled her to the grass and showed her just how beautiful I found her. “As a chef that is…that you might make the most perfect dish in the world, but you’ll still find someone who doesn’t like it, right?”
“Yes, the bastards.” Lia sighed.
