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“I was thinking that I wanted to show them what I was made of. To prove to them that an American can cook Scottish food if she puts enough love into it.”
“Och, lass, none of us are doubting you,” Graham said, returning to catch the tail end of my conversation. “You’ve got nothing to prove to them that Munroe hasn’t already tried to do himself. Spoiler alert. The both of them are crabbit beasties. Nothing will make them happy. Look at them. All the money in the world and they both look like they’re sucking on a mouthful of nettles.”
“I don’t want Munroe to be embarrassed of me,” I admitted.
“He’s not. He never could be,” Munroe said at my shoulder, and I closed my eyes, shame washing through me that he’d caught my words. “Lia.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s not you, Munroe,” I said, keeping my eyes on the wine glass I twirled in my hands. “I get that.”
“Lia.” Munroe said my name again, and finally, I turned to meet his eyes. He cupped my chin in his hands. “You don’t embarrass me. I’m proud of you. I’m proud of what you’re building here. And I’d shout it from the rooftops that you’re my woman if you’d let me. We just haven’t had that talk yet.”
“And why not?” Agnes put in when I was too stunned to speak.
“Surely you can both admit you have a liking for each other,” Graham added. I tore my eyes away from Munroe’s to see both Agnes and Graham leaning on the bar, as invested in the outcome of this conversation as I was. “This is what you get for moving too slow, Munroe.”
“Lia needs time. I’m giving it to her,” Munroe shot back.
I did?
“So you can sneak around with her at night, but you can’t claim her in the open?” Agnes asked.
Wait, claim me? I didn’t need claiming.
Did I? My cheeks heated as I thought about how Munroe had whispered to me, repeatedly, that I was his, while I’d broken to pieces under his touch.
“See? She’s blushing,” Graham pointed out, and my skin flamed brighter.
“It’s not because…he’s not…he doesn’t have to…” I was flustered that they were discussing me as though I didn’t have a say in this.
“I was planning to ask her properly when I took her to dinner tonight. I even ordered flowers from Shona.”
“Och, she does good work, doesn’t she?” Agnes patted Munroe’s arm in approval. “I think she popped around to the castle to see if Lia needed her services for the table settings, didn’t she, Lia?”
“She did,” I said faintly, my mind whirling at Munroe’s words. What had he meant to ask me?
“You can’t go wrong there, Lia. Solid choice,” Graham agreed. “She did the flowers for my cousin’s wedding. Stunning, really.”
“Och, I remember that. Didn’t she add an artichoke in the bouquet? Since it was your cousin’s favorite? They looked amazing.”
“That’s right. It was class, wasn’t it? I never thought to use vegetables in a table display before,” Graham agreed. He winked at me, and that’s when I realized they were just winding me up. Just like my brothers back home would. Understanding, along with warmth, bloomed in me, pushing out the worst of my nerves. Munroe had been trying to tell me that the people of Loren Brae could be my family, my community, my friends…if I just accepted their weird way of inserting themselves into my life. Turning, I glanced up at Munroe who looked ready to flip a table in frustration.
“Ask me now,” I demanded.
“What? But the flowers…and I had music,” Munroe protested.
“Ask her now, mate. Go on then,” Graham said, and I grinned, despite the nerves fluttering in my stomach.
“Away and shite, Graham,” Munroe ordered, and Graham faded a few steps back. “Lia, we don’t have to have this talk now.”
“I think we do, Munroe,” I said, refusing to look back at the table to see if his parents still sat there. “Because otherwise I’m going to make a million excuses to myself about why this,we, wouldn’t work.”
“Right, well, we can’t be having that, can we?” Munroe stepped closer, so his broad shoulders overshadowed me, and he gently tilted my chin up with one hand. “Cecilia Blackwood, since the day you first walked into this pub, there’s been no other. You’ve eradicated the memories of any other women from my mind and made it impossible for me to ever desire another. You are, quite literally, my living, walking, breathing, fantasy come to life. Watching you claim your power was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever had the honor of experiencing. I would be honored if you’d allow me to accompany you on your journey here, and would love to claim, yes claim, you as my girlfriend.”
Well, shit. How could any sensible woman say no to such a beautiful request? I was actually getting a little misty-eyed.
“What, no proposal mate?”
“Bloody hell, Graham,” Agnes hissed behind me. “You’re ruining the moment.”
