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I trudge out of his office and collect up the few items on my desk that belong to me. Then I trudge downstairs to hand my employee badge to a stern pseudo-cop who analyzes it for several seconds before he tells me I can leave.
Yeah, my life is so amazing. How can I tell Jamie I'm an unemployed loser? She doesn't have a job either, but I would never ask her to support me while I hunt for another crappy position. What am I qualified for? Ground ordnance maintenance isn't a popular search on job sites. It's a military thing. And my years of working for Rapid React didn't qualify me for anything other than annoying innocent people with cold calls.
Tomorrow, I'm supposed to fly to Scotland for the weekend. I'd been looking forward to that for weeks, but now the only news I can give her is that I'm an unemployed loser. The worst part of all is that I bought an engagement ring for her. I decided to pop the question this weekend.
Now, I don't know if I should. Jamie deserves better than a screwed-up guy who doesn't even have a job. My secondary present for her isn't really a gift at all. Just something I thought might be useful.
None of that matters anymore. My life just got flushed down an industrial toilet.
Chapter Sixteen
Jamie
A sigh of pleasure whispers out of me as I walk into the Loch Fairbairn café at precisely ten o'clock, just as Gavin had asked me to do. We have never needed a timetable for our dates, but lately, he has seemed uneasy and a wee bit uncertain too. About what? Us? Me? My family? I know my brothers can be intimidating, but not to Gavin. He's a strong, braw man who would never run away from a fight.
Not that my brothers have ever tried to literally chase him away.
Just inside the café doors, I halt. Does my hair look all right? Maybe I should get out my comb and run it through my hair one last time. I have a feeling this might be the day when Gavin pops the big question. Dinnae know why I feel that way. My heart believes it, though. I glance down at my flower-print skirt and peasant blouse. It looks fine. I look fine. No more dawdling, you silly lass.
I march across the café with my skirt swishing and my head held high as I wend my way around the tables and chairs to reach Gavin. I grin at him.
He jumps up to pull a chair out for me. Though he smiles, it's rather subdued and seems almost anxious. He can't worry I'll say no to his proposal, can he?
Once we're both seated, he clasps his hands on the tabletop---and begins to wring them.
"Are you all right, Gav?"
"Uh, yeah, sure." He moves his hands to his lap. "You look really pretty today."
"Thank you."
He chose a table in the outdoor section of the café, beneath a striped awning, as if he wants as much privacy as possible. But now he fidgets and keeps glancing about like he's worried a boulder might crash down on his head from the clear blue sky.
I scoot my chair closer to his. "You dinnae seem all right. What's fashing you?"
"Nothing, I swear." He grasps the seat of my chair to pull it closer to him. Our faces are now within kissing distance, and his expression has become relaxed. But the way he licks his lips, coupled with his darkening irises, tells me he wants to snog. "Mind if I kiss you for an hour or two?"
"As long as you want, mo chridhe."
Gavin presses his mouth to mine, molding our lips to each other in the most languid and sensual manner, until I'm melting for him. When he slips his tongue between my lips, I sag into him. A soft wee moan whispers out of me. Bod an Donais, I love kissing this man. He tastes like coffee with two creams and three sugars, which is odd since I know he takes his coffee black with one sugar. Why did he change his preference?
That's the way I like my coffee, though.
With his mouth still touching mine, he gazes straight into my eyes. "Did you notice the coffee flavor? I know you don't like it when I kiss you after I've drunk black coffee."
"You did that for me? Och, Gav, you are the sweetest man."
"Anything for you, baby."
We go back to kissing, oblivious of anything that might be occurring around us. Nothing matters except the two of us inside this wee bubble of romance. We go on reveling in the kiss for so long that I lose track of time. This feels wonderful, especially since we haven't made love in three months. He always has an excuse for that, and it's usually work stress. But here, while we're enjoying each other's lips, none of that matters anymore.
At last, Gavin slowly pulls away, though his eyes remain closed. He exhales a long sigh before finally opening his eyes.
I glance round the café without moving my head, expecting to see other customers glaring at us and our flagrantly romantic display. But no one has paid any mind to us. We might as well have become invisible. Beyond our wee bubble of solitude, the sun shines and showers its warmth on us. Inside the café, Halloween decorations hang from the ceiling and from the awning, and still more decorate the tables and even the counter just inside the doorway.
Gavin finally pulls away, though only slightly.
I smile with my lips closed, which probably makes my cheeks dimple. "You must have something important to say, otherwise you'd never stop kissing me after only a few minutes."
