by Donna Grant
Chapter Two
Some days were just so very long. And today was one of those. Gemma pushed up the blue light glasses she wore to help save her eyes from all the time spent staring at a computer screen. She yawned and shoved back her office chair as she turned to get to her feet.
As she walked around her desk she looked down at the empty dog bed. It had been two months since Buster had gotten sick and died, and while Gemma hated being without an animal, she wasn’t ready to find another dog yet.
She walked into the kitchen and poured herself another cup of tea. Once she added some milk, she wrapped her hands around the mug and turned to lean on the cabinets.
The rented cottage was nice. She liked the layout, but she especially loved that she had a place to work. Usually the furnished places she found had no such space. She would either work at the kitchen table or on the couch. And she discovered she quite liked having a desk.
She brought nothing more than the few suitcases and a dog bed wherever she went. It made moving every few months easy. After so many years, Gemma really thought she would have found a place where she felt she belonged. That had yet to happen.
And she feared it never would.
There was a ding from the computer, letting her know that an email had arrived. She set her mug on the desk and opened up the email to see that more work had come through.
She preferred being on her own, which had been difficult when she needed to work. It had been by happenstance one night over a decade ago when she’d stumbled upon the advertisement. Part of her thought it might be some kind of ruse, but it turned out to not only be a real job, but it paid well.
Who knew that so many people would need online researchers? Some of her jobs were interesting, and some not so much. But it was a job that kept money in her bank account. After working for a company for a few years, she had gone out on her own. She advertised for herself and set her own prices, which meant she got to keep all the proceeds.
It wasn’t exactly easy having her own business, but the challenge of it was something that she liked. Her regulars had kept her from starving until she was able to get a broader reach and bring in other clients.
Gemma read over the new job offer. She then looked at her calendar to see if she could get it done in the time allotted. The money offered was nearly twice what she asked for, but that was because the person wanted it quickly.
She added the job into her calendar, making sure to mark the due date in red, then she sent a reply stating that she would take the job once half the sum was paid up front, with the rest due when she completed the assignment.
Her attention returned to her current project, but not five minutes later her mobile phone lit up to let her know that money had been deposited into her account. To her shock, Gemma saw the entire amount, not the half that was due, had been sent.
“Well. Let’s hope you become a regular, whoever you are,” she said with a smile.
That was incentive enough to finish the job she was on so she could get to this new client’s project. She worked for another couple of hours before she stopped to grab a quick bite to eat.
The groceries were running low. That meant she would have to get out later. The thing about living in a smaller village was that they didn’t have delivery. It wasn’t that she hated people. It was just that she did better on her own.
Being around so many, others running into her, the noise and smell...it was just too much. A few people she could manage, but big places made her feel as if the world were crashing down upon her.
It was why she tended to pick small villages to live in, yet she missed some of the amenities that a city gave her. Like grocery delivery.
Ah, well. Sacrifices had to be made.
She removed her glasses and set them on the desk as she rose to rinse out her empty teacup. Then she retrieved the leftovers from the night before and took them to the sofa. She got comfortable and clicked on the tele.
As usual it was a commercial. But what had her snapping up her head was when she saw that it was for a vacation to the Isle of Skye. It wasn’t so much the location that caught her attention, but the fact it was an isle. She’d been thinking of her past a lot lately.
Everywhere she looked, there was mention of an isle. She’d even found a place for sale not long ago that was an unoccupied isle with a home and a few other buildings on it. It reminded her of where she had grown up.
Of where she had lost everything.
Gemma turned off the television and set aside her food since she was no longer hungry. She had to take her mind off the past before it swallowed her whole. She returned to her desk, put back on her glasses, and dove into work.
She didn’t stop again until she became nauseated she was so hungry. That’s when she knew she needed to eat. Though there was nothing in the house. She looked down at her yoga pants and shirt and sighed. If she was getting out, she had to make a little effort.
After she changed into jeans and a shirt, she walked past the bathroom and glimpsed her hair.
“Yikes,” she murmured when she caught sight of the tangled mess.
Gemma brushed it out, but there was no helping it. With a loud sigh, she threw it up into a ponytail and turned away before she could look closer at herself.
She was out the door and walking to her car when she stepped on a pinecone. That’s when she realized she had forgotten shoes. Again.
With a roll of her eyes, she turned and made her way back inside to put on shoes, only to retrace her steps once more. She could find the tiniest detail for her clients, but she couldn’t remember to put on shoes.
There was no need when she never left the house. At least that’s what she told herself.
She headed toward the market, but the growling of her stomach let her know that she wouldn’t survive seeing all that food while waiting to eat. With no other choice, Gemma realized she was going to have to stop and eat somewhere first. There were a few places, but her favorite was The Fox and The Hound. The pub was always busy. The few times she had eaten there instead of picking up an order she found a stool at the bar away from others, and somehow, she was left alone.
The thought of hot, fresh food and a drink was too good to pass up. She swung her car around and made her way to the pub. Thankfully, the parking lot wasn’t that full. Now she just had to hope that the pub wasn’t either since so many walked there.
She went inside and saw the stool she favored was empty. Gemma made a beeline for it. It was set to the side of the bar almost in a corner. Anyone who sat there could be overlooked, and that was exactly what she wanted.
No sooner had her butt touched down on the stool than the owner, Laith, came over. He was nice, kind even. His gunmetal eyes caught every little thing that happened in the pub, and one look from him could quell the largest of men.
Laith’s long dark blond hair was left loose today as he shot her a smile. “Is it a to-go order?”
“Not today,” she told him.
His brows shot up as he smiled. “What can I get you?”
She looked over the menu and picked her food. Laith walked off before she could tell him she wanted an ale, but he returned with a pint a few minutes later.
“On the house,” he told her.
Gemma was always wary of anyone who gave something away for free. “Thank you.”
“You look like you could use it,” he said before walking away.
She sure could. Maybe she needed to stop thinking the worst about people. But then again, that’s all she’d ever known. And that could be her problem.
Her gaze looked around the pub. It wasn’t packed, but there were a good number of people. A few sat on their own reading a book, doing a crossword puzzle, or just staring off into space. There were several dogs sitting quietly next to their masters’ feet.
She missed Buster. Ever since her first dog, Daisy, she had never gone long without having a canine companion. Somehow she didn’t feel so alone when she had a pet. Dogs loved uncon
ditionally. They didn’t care how bad she looked or if she wore the same clothes two days in a row. All a dog wanted was love and attention.
That she had in spades.
She looked longingly at the animals. Every part of her wanted to go and pet them, but that meant she would have to interact with people. Animals were so much nicer than humans.
Gemma’s eyes slid away from the dogs and collided with those of an old woman sitting alone. Her gnarled fingers had difficulty lifting her glass, but she didn’t ask for help. No one spoke to her, and she didn’t speak to anyone. The old woman didn’t hold Gemma’s gaze for long either.
It was like Gemma was seeing what her future held. She was going to be that old woman sitting alone at a pub ignoring and being ignored. And she would die alone, not found until someone noticed the smell.
Bloody hell. That was a sad thought.
Maybe she should find some friends. At least one other person who might check on her so she didn’t decompose in her house to be found weeks after she died.
Gemma shuddered. But she wasn’t like others. She enjoyed her own company. She didn’t have to be around anyone in order to feel content. She didn’t need to fill her days with one engagement after the other, always surrounded by people.
All she needed was a dog and a great cup of tea.
Just like all those years ago with Daisy before she’d been found.
Those three weeks on her own had been frightening. It made her grow up a lot faster than she otherwise would have. Every night she feared whatever she’d seen would return, but it hadn’t.
But to this day, she worried that it might find her again.
It was one of the reasons she’d changed her surname. That and because her name had been plastered everywhere for months. The couple who fostered her and the kids staying with them all looked at her with pity. Every kid in her school asked her if she’d killed her family and tossed their bodies into the sea to be eaten by the fish.
Everyone knew her story.
Or they thought they did. They only knew what the papers had speculated and printed.
The only one who really knew what happened was her.
And she was never going to tell anyone.
Gemma jerked when the food was set in front of her. Laith frowned slightly when she briefly met his gaze, but she threw him a forced smile to show she was fine.
But she wasn’t fine. She hadn’t been in so, so many years.
She was likely never to be fine again.
Gemma drank several long swallows of ale and fought the emotion that rose up to choke her when she thought of her parents and brother. When she dared—and it was only once a year, normally around Christmas—she would think about what her life might have been like had that night not happened.
Or if she hadn’t chased after Daisy.
Maybe she would be with her family now. Wherever they might be. But at least she wouldn’t be alone.
Gemma lost her appetite again, but she forced herself to eat. One bite after the other until the plate was clean. She waited until Laith had his back turned, then she put the money on the bar and quietly slid off the stool. She was out the door and in her car in a flash.
Chapter Three
There she was.
It was that same haunted look in her eyes that Cináed recognized from the picture in the newspaper. She didn’t throw open the pub door, but rather slipped out through the narrowest of openings.
He wanted to call her name, to have her eyes turn to him, but he didn’t. She had her head down so she wouldn’t have to look at anyone. He couldn’t help but wonder if that’s how she’d gone about life since she’d been found. No doubt she had.
And that made him sad.
He knew all about hiding. It’s what the Dragon Kings had done from the moment they sent their dragons to another realm. The Kings walked alongside mortals, but they were nothing alike. Different as night and day. And while the Kings had the power and might to wipe the world of the humans, they didn’t.
That was the biggest difference between the two species, because if the mortals ever found the Kings, they would stop at nothing to annihilate them.
Cináed walked toward the dark gray car as Gemma started the engine. He moved between two other vehicles so he could watch her drive past him, but she turned the other way. And when he stepped out, she backed up—slamming into him.
The hit was a small bump that did nothing other than knock him off his feet. Cináed rose up on his elbow next to the back end of the vehicle, and when he raised his gaze, he was staring into the bluest eyes he’d ever seen.
They were pale blue, like the sky in the morning. Fresh and light, new and eager for the day.
A lock of ginger hair fell against her cheek. The color was more orange than strawberry blond, but against her pale skin and blue eyes, it was stunning.
Just as she was.
The pretty child had grown into a gorgeous woman with a heart-shaped face, evocative lips, poignant eyes, and a soul that silently screamed its loneliness.
“Are you okay?” she asked, a frown marring her forehead as she squatted beside him. “You’re hurt. I see the torn shirt.”
Cináed glanced down at his elbow. She couldn’t see the small wound that was healing as she spoke. He tucked his arm against him. “I’m fine. I wasna watching where I was going.”
“No, no,” she said, shaking her head. “I should have paid more attention. I’m so sorry. I was lost in my thoughts, and I nearly killed you.”
“It was no’ near so bad as that.” He gave her a smile.
And to his delight, some of her concern faded.
Cináed climbed to his feet and dusted himself off. “See? Nothing more than a ruined shirt. I think I got off pretty good considering this was my fault.”
The frown was back as she studied him while straightening. “The blame lies with me. It seems I’m fortunate that I didn’t do more harm. I feel as if I need to take you to the clinic to get looked over. What if you hit your head?”
He spotted Laith and Iona at the door of the pub and prayed that neither said anything. Cináed lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I’ve got a verra hard head. Just ask any of my friends.”
She glanced inside the car, as if wanting to get away. Indecision marred her face before she sighed. “Wait a moment.”
His eyes raked down her slim form encased in jeans and a plaid long-sleeved shirt with sleeves she had rolled to her elbows. She was thin, almost too thin, like she had missed some meals, but there was no denying her curves.
She returned a moment later and held out a piece of paper. “This is my information in case you find that you are hurt more than you think. Please let me know so I can pay the bill.”
He looked down at the paper before catching her gaze. “Gemma.”
“That’s me,” she said with a nervous laugh.
Not to miss an opportunity, Cináed reached into his back pocket and used his magic to produce a business card with his name and mobile number to hand to her.
She took it, her brows snapping together when she spied the double dragon head logo that represented Dreagan scotch. “You work for Dreagan?”
“Something like that,” he replied.
Her gaze lowered to the card, and when she paused, he knew she was looking at his name. Few knew how to pronounce it when seeing it written.
“It’s pronounced Kinnay,” he told her.
A true laugh fell from her lips and went straight to his balls. Cináed had to fist his hands not to reach out and touch her.
“Of course. I should know that. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen such a name.”
“And where did you see names like that before, lass?” he asked, not wanting to let such an opportunity pass.
She shrugged half-heartedly. “On the isles. Were you teased mercilessly as a child?”
“No’ too badly.”
Her lips turned up in a smile. “That’s good then.” She cleared her throat then. “
I’m sorry I ran into you.”
“It was nice to meet you, Gemma.”
She hesitated a moment and nodded. “It was nice to meet you, too.”
But Cináed wasn’t so sure she meant it. It was there in the way she quickly looked away. She had put up walls around herself so long ago, and she reinforced them often, making sure that no one could get in.
He watched her climb into her car and drive away. It wasn’t until she was out of sight that Laith walked over to stand beside him.
“You actually let yourself get hit?” Laith asked in disbelief.
Cináed cut him a look. “I didna think she was backing up this way.”
“Mm, hmm. Right. So what is really going on? What’s your interest in her, because there is obvious interest?”
“I’m no’ sure yet.”
Laith slapped him on the back. “Good luck with whatever is going on.”
Cináed nodded as Laith walked away, but he wasn’t really paying attention. All he saw in his mind were perfect blue eyes. “What happened to you on that isle, Gemma?”
Perhaps it was time he took a closer look. Cináed hurriedly got into the Range Rover and sped back to Dreagan. One of his most recent endeavors was learning to pilot the helicopters so he didn’t have to count on Lily or Denae to fly him.
While he liked the ability to do it on his own, it frustrated him that he couldn’t fly there as a dragon. In short order, he was in the luxury helicopter and starting the engine.
His head jerked around when the passenger door opened and Merrill climbed in. Cináed rolled his eyes when he saw the wide smile of his friend. He should’ve known that he wouldn’t get to leave Dreagan on his own.
Merrill put on the headphones, his grin never fading. “I hear you have an interesting trip planned. You didna think to go without me, did you?”
“Of course no’,” Cináed replied.
“Just what I thought.”
“Who told you?”
Merrill shrugged and looked out the front. “Does it matter?”
Since there was very little that was kept secret at Dreagan, it didn’t. And perhaps it was a good thing that he wasn’t going alone. Merrill was another set of eyes that would help him uncover any clues.
