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“What is the Military Tattoo?”
“The most splendid concert imaginable, featuring the very best military bands from all over the world, performing in the center of the castle. Unlike here, where Bolsover is outside the town, Edinburgh Castle is in the middle of the old city, rising up from Castle Rock.”
“Sounds wonderful. I’d love to see it one day.”
“You’d like Edinburgh. But I suggest visiting the first time in summer. The winter can be harsh.”
Ella was intrigued. “Do you have a house or an apartment? Do you live alone or have a roommate?”
“No roommate,” he said as they turned at the turret and began the walk back. “I have a building in the old part of town and rent out the two lower floors—one is a two-bedroom apartment and the other is a three bedroom. I live on the top floor, the third floor. It’s well situated, a corner building, with huge windows in each of the front living rooms. The building needed extensive repairs when I first bought it, but if it weren’t in such poor shape, I probably couldn’t have afforded it.”
“Does your apartment have a garden or balcony?”
“No. But there are city parks in every direction should I crave some outdoor space.”
As they emerged from the tower and out into the center quad, a bell rang, alerting them that the castle would be closing soon.
“It’s going to be dark soon,” Ella said. “I can’t believe how quickly the day went.”
“We haven’t even had a proper meal,” Baird said, pushing open the gate, allowing Ella to exit before he followed. “We could eat when we return to Langley Park as we’re only a half hour away, or we could stop somewhere for a bite on the way. What would you prefer?”
“I’d love to stop at a pub or restaurant. I’m up for experiencing everything I can while I’m here.”
*
Baird had enjoyedthe day. He wasn’t even going to pretend that it had been a bother taking Ella shopping. While he wasn’t a fan of crowds, and every place they went was ridiculously crowded, he couldn’t think of anyone he’d rather navigate crowds with.
Ella made him smile. She also frustrated him, making him want things he shouldn’t want, not with her, Alec’s sister-in-law.
But every time he looked at her, at that full upper lip and her very full bottom lip, he remembered kissing her, remembered how he’d come alive, hungry, voracious.
He still wanted her. He still fought the attraction but now suppressed it knowing just how explosive it was between them, and how quickly desire consumed them. The sheer heat in their kiss, in that wild desperate hunger, blew him away. He’d never experienced anything like that, he’d never felt need that was so elemental and consuming. It had shocked him. Unnerved him.
Baird, who valued logic and reason, couldn’t make sense of the passion. He wasn’t a man who physically needed anyone, or anything. Until Ella.
He didn’t like it, though. He liked her, but not the intense emotions. They didn’t fit in his world. They didn’t line up with his values. He liked his life ordered. He was a man who kept to his rules. There was no reason to take risks, never mind lose control.
In the car, Baird called one of his and Alec’s favorite restaurants in Bakewell to see if they had any reservations available for two that evening.”
“We’ve just had a cancellation for half six,” the host said. “Can you make that?”
“We can.”
“We’ll only be able to hold the table for ten minutes,” the host added.
“No problem. We’ll be there.”
They made it back to Bakewell with five minutes to spare. Parking at the restaurant was far easier than it had been earlier today. He went around to open the door for Ella who gave him such a dazzling smile that for a moment he forgot why he couldn’t have her, and then as she stepped out, putting her hand in his, he felt the spark between them, that stunning electric awareness he’d never felt with anyone else, and knew why he had to keep her at arm’s length.
This. This heat. These sparks. They weren’t logical. There was nothing safe in desire. It would have been different if they’d been brought together by work, or shared values, but heat? Sex?
No. That was no basis for a real relationship.
At the restaurant, he gave his name, and they were immediately escorted to a table against the wall. A few heads turned as they walked to their table. Baird held her chair and then sat down across from her.
She leaned across the table, lips curving. “You draw attention everywhere you go,” she said. “Women love you.”
He looked at her, bemused. “What women?”
