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"Aye, I do know." I slap her erse. "Get changed. I'm assuming your clothes are in here. Mine are in the room at the end of the hall."
"I know. Emery told me. And yes, mine are in here." She sashays over to the door to the walk-in closet, pausing with her hand on the knob. "This might surprise you, but I liked you even when you were being a grumpy jerk. Though I like you best when you're this way."
Kate walks into the closet.
And I head for my room.
She liked me when I was being an erse? Oh aye, she's definitely a bampot. Only a lunatic would enjoy listening to me growl and complain about my life.
I swap out my clothes and head down to the courtyard. The sounds of laughter and chattering voices emanate from the green, so it seems like my family means to hang around for a good while. Whatever they have planned, I donnae care anymore. Let them plot and haver and blether. Kate has come back, and that's all I care about right now. I need to show her I am not a grumpy Scottish bear and that we can have something good together if she'll give us a go.
Never in my life have I needed to win a lass's heart more than I do now.
Kate walks out the vestibule door a few minutes later, but she doesn't notice me until she's well past the door. Her focus had been on her clothes, which she seemed obsessed with straightening. Then her head came up—and she froze. She still stands there gawping at me like I'm sitting astride a unicorn instead of a motorcycle.
I crook a finger at her. "Hurry up, lass. Your chariot awaits."
"That's a Harley, not a chariot. And you cannot ride your motorcycle." She marches up to me, shaking her head while giving me a disapproving look. "It's bad for your knee, remember? Sex hasn't cured your injury, you know."
"Well, maybe if we have a poke right here, it'll give me the strength to take you on a tour of the area." I sling an arm around her waist to pull her close. "Let me show you my home—Loch Fairbairn. If you're sweet to me, I might show you Ballachulish too."
"You want to show me around?"
"Of course I do. We don't need to lie and hide anymore. Hugh knows about us, and you said you want to give us a chance. Aye?"
"Yes, I do want that." She bites one side of her lip while her gaze travels to the castle wall beyond the garden. "What do you think they're doing with Hugh?"
I chuckle. "They willnae torture him, if that's what you're worried about. Might keep him in the dungeon for a wee while, but they'll make sure he gets bread and water regularly."
Her eyes flare wide, but then she gives me a fake scowl and punches my shoulder. "Very funny. Do all you MacTaggarts have a twisted sense of humor?"
"Most do. It's genetic." I grab the two helmets I'd set on the back of my bike and hand one to Kate. "For the record, there is no dungeon in this castle. They turned it into a wine cellar."
"Oh, how nice. I can drink wine that came from a former torture chamber. It's probably full of haunted chardonnay and cursed merlot."
"Donnae forget the enchanted single malt whisky."
She takes the helmet I offered her, turning it in her hands while her lips curl up in a teasing smile. "Must take a lot of girls for motorcycle rides if you have a pink helmet on hand."
"I have. But none of them got the grand tour, and none of them ever met my parents."
Kate stops rotating the helmet. "Are you saying you want me to meet them?"
"Aye. If you want to, and if we have time. They live in Loch Fairbairn."
"I think I can handle meeting your mom and dad."
"Today?" I hold up a hand to stop her from responding. "Sorry. I know, it's too soon."
"Actually, I was going to say yes. I'd love to meet them today."
She pulls on her helmet and climbs astride the bike, molding her front side to my backside, her arms locked around my midsection. "Let's go."
I pull on my helmet and start up the engine, gunning it, and we roar through the castle gates.
Kate whoops and hugs me tighter.
Aye, today is the best day of my life. But I have a feeling even better ones are coming.
