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If I'd had any lingering reservations about my relationship with Thane before my kids showed up on our doorstep, they evaporated the moment I hugged Eric and Courtney. They weren't at all offended that I hadn't talked about him. They loved Thane right away. So no, I don't need to worry about anything these days.
Well, except for the marketing campaign.
On Tuesday, Thane and I both need to get back to work. Jack and Autumn offer to show my kids around as their sightseeing guides. Courtney loves hanging out with their baby. For the rest of the week, she and Eric are escorted to various touristy places by various members of the Buchanan, MacTaggart, and Sterling clans. Eric develops a friendship with Cormac Buchanan, Thane's burly cousin, while Courtney enjoys hanging out with Emery, Erica, and Calli, the American wives of the three MacTaggart brothers.
The first ads have started running on TV, radio, and social media. Within a matter of days, we start seeing an uptick in visits to the distillery's website. I had hired a web designer to overhaul the site, paying extra to get it done quickly. The home page of the new site features Thane---the man, the legend, the hottest Scot in the Highlands---and, oh yeah, his whiskies too. He hadn't balked at all when I showed him the home page.
I didn't actually put that legend stuff on the website. That's strictly my private opinion.
Over the next two weeks, the campaign keeps gaining momentum at an ever-increasing pace. And during those two weeks, Thane surprises me with sweet little gifts that he leaves for me when I'm not around. All are Valentine's related things. We ride to work every day in his truck. One day, he texts me to say that he forgot his knit hat in the truck and could I go get it for him.
"As a favor to me, gràidh," he says. "It's in the glove box."
I jog out to the truck and open the glove compartment. No hat. But there is a heart-shaped box of chocolates from Sommerleigh Sweets.
The next day, I walk into my office in the morning to find a bouquet of roses sitting on my desk. The bouquet also includes smaller flowers interspersed with the roses. No one has ever given me a bouquet before. I almost cry just looking at the flowers because Thane is the most romantic man in the world.
On Friday, he hides a gift in our house. I don't see it until after dinner when I walk into the bedroom while Thane is washing the dishes. On the bedspread lies a pair of sexy red see-through panties and a matching bra, along with a bottle of edible massage oil.
We'll have lots of fun with that tonight.
But on Saturday, I finally get to meet Thane's family. Courtney and Eric are as excited about that as they used to be on Christmas morning. Courtney's boyfriend, Phillip, was treated to a trip on MacTaggart Air, as Thane and his friends call it. Evan MacTaggart offered his jet, though Rory and Lachlan also have a jet they share.
We arrive at Keith and Elsa's homestead on the far side of Loch Fairbairn and get a surprise.
All of Thane's relatives, including cousins and the rest, have gathered to welcome me and my family. I start to cry when Elsa Buchanan hugs me and says how happy she is that her son finally found the right woman.
Keith Buchanan also pulls me into a bear hug, then grasps my shoulders to hold me just far enough away to see all of me. "Rebecca, you are the bonniest lass I've ever seen. Thane couldn't help but fall for you. And it's about bloody time he settled down."
Thane aims a tolerant smile at his father. "Da, I've lived in the same house for a decade. That's the definition of settling down."
"No, that definition applies only to finding a woman."
I also get to meet Thane's brother and sister, but it's all a bit of a whirlwind. His cousins and other relatives rush to swarm us too, and the most imposing member of the family, his cousin Cormac, pulls me into a hug so boisterous that I feel like I might need a shot of pure oxygen afterward.
While Thane and his brother chat with Domhnall, his sister invites me to take a walk with her. We head out across the pasture behind the house. Once we're out of earshot of everyone else, Iona stops us under a small tree.
"Are you going to marry my brother?" she asks.
"You don't beat around the bush, do you?" I won't sidestep her question. That would be rude since I'm dating her brother. "The answer is that I don't know yet. We've known each other for four weeks, and it's been a wild time. I think we need to have some time without danger and excitement before we can figure out what we want to do next."
"I understand that. Did Thane tell you that I'm a journalist?"
"Yes."
"Then you must realize that I ask a lot of questions no matter who I'm talking to. But when it comes to my family, I can become an inquisitor."
If she's trying to scare me, it isn't working. I think she's testing me. "You can put me on the rack if you like, but nothing will change my mind about Thane. I love him."
"And he loves you, I'm dead certain of that." She smiles. "The inquisition is over now."
"That's all? I expected more grilling."
She shrugs. "I trust Thane's opinion of you. My questions were strictly pro forma. Welcome to the family, Rebecca."
I have officially made it into the Buchanan clan.
Thane and I spend the rest of the weekend with my kids and his immediate family. Eric, Phillip, and Courtney go to my apartment in Fort William to ride out the rest of the weekend. I won't need it anymore, and Thane insisted that the youngsters take it. The company will continue paying the rent for the time being. Yeah, it's good to be the boss's girlfriend.
