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True enough, but nobody needed to know I would be firing up my laptop as soon as they left.
“Lewis is taking Bea and Rupert on a hill walk straight from the lodge in a couple of hours. You’re welcome to join them. It’s a good little town if you want to just walk around. There are some nice shops and a good pub.”
I thanked him and headed back to my room. Wandering the village didn’t sound like a bad idea, and the hill walk timing was perfect, even if that would involve spending part of the day in close proximity to Bea’s helpful criticism.
I ran into Duncan and Lewis as they came downstairs. I couldn’t help but notice Duncan had on another tight shirt. Maybe all shirts were tight when you were built like that. His defined muscles could only be the result of hours in the gym every week. I got tired just looking at him.
Not that I stopped right away.
Reminding myself not to ogle, I told Lewis I planned to join his party on the hill walk later in the afternoon.
“Understandable. We’ll see you this evening.”
He nodded and headed down, probably to find Arnav.
“No kayaking for you today?” Duncan said.
I held up my palms to display the fresh bandages. “Probably not a good idea.”
“We’ll miss you out there.”
I forced a smile, silently shushing my unwarranted disappointment. I’d wanted and maybe even expected him to choose the hill walk, too.Note to self: Duncan’s vacation is not about you.
He leaned closer, and I caught that heady, warm scent that made my stomach do flips. Also: when had eye crinkles become so attractive?
“What do you think the odds are that Carlos rolls his kayak?”
“Don’t,” I said, even as I mirrored his smile at the idea.
He placed one hand over his heart as though vowing innocence. That man was a lot of things, but innocent wasn’t one of them.
Upstairs, I flopped onto my bed and opened my laptop. The sitting room might have made a better workstation, but with all the picture windows overlooking the firth, I probably wouldn’t accomplish much. Gravel crunched as the mini-bus pulled away, and I had to force myself not to run down the lane after it. Had I really given up kayaking for work?
I closed my eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath that would have made my yoga instructor proud.Head of Design.
Its power as a motivational mantra had already started to fade.
fifteen
I hadthe mock-ups drawn and sent off to the design team in Seattle in time to set off on the walk with Lewis, Bea, and Rupert. I collected my backpack and light rain jacket and zipped the camera Carlos had given me into the jacket pocket.
Downstairs, Lewis, Bea, and Rupert waited in the sitting room.
“There you are.” Bea sounded as though I’d held up the King’s coronation. “Have a nice nap, did you?”
Her assumption I’d been resting irritated, considering I would have rather been doing literally anything else. “I had to do some work for a client.”
“Oh. Well, that’s hardly right, is it? You being on vacation and all.”
The tightness inside me loosened. Her frank commentary was refreshingly supportive for a change.
Lewis led us to a walking trail that cut through Dingwall and into the countryside. As we left the lodge and approached the village, I wondered how the others were doing out on the water.
Honestly, I was only thinking of one of the others: the man with the tight shirts, sea-blue eyes, and sexy voice.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Bea said.
My smile froze. Just how obvious had I been these last couple of days?
