The Great Scot

by Donna Kauffman

  When he didn’t immediately touch her, her eyes blinked open. And for the first time he saw a real flash of vulnerability. “I’m—I know I’m not exactly—”

  “You’re exquisite,” he said, and found he meant it. He captured one tight little bud between his lips and was instantly rewarded with that sound that started somewhere deep in her throat, and was almost a growl by the time it came out.

  The thought flickered through his mind that while she knew of his somewhat monkish existence, he knew little of her private life. For all he knew, she bedded a new man every week. He hadn’t gotten around to delving into her past. Yet.

  She’s hot and willing, man, and yours for the taking. Don’t concern yourself with the rest. Enjoy yourself, but don’t lose your mind.

  She wriggled against him as he traced his tongue around one rigid tip, then suckled her again, knowing it was far too late for that. He couldn’t seem to separate the woman from the act. Nor was he particularly keen to do so. Dangerous path, oh so dangerous, indeed. And yet here he was, nigh to skipping merrily down it. Possibly right to his own destruction.

  Well. He’d survived worse, hadn’t he?

  “Hold on,” he instructed, sliding his hands around and up the smooth skin of her back as he spun her away from the bookcase. He wanted more, needed more, and didn’t want any constraints getting in his way. He cursed his ancestors for favoring hard, understuffed settees, and highback chairs that were far too narrow for tucking in knees and straddling hips. The carpet won out. This time. It was that or make the dramatic gesture and clear the desk with a broad sweep of his arm. In that split second of indecision, apparently he gave Erin enough of a moment to gather her wits about her.

  “Dylan,” she said, this time straightening and putting her hands against his shoulders. “Give me a second.” Her voice was still rough, a bit reedy with want, but when he caught her gaze he knew reason had reared its ugly, untimely head. “I swear, I’m not a tease, I just—you have this way of—and it makes me so—but I really can’t. I want to, don’t get me wrong, but there’s something—we need to talk.”

  He paused next to the desk, then finally sat her on the edge and let her unlock her legs from around his waist. She wriggled her bra down. And with more regret than he thought a man was capable of feeling after such a short period of knowing a woman, he did the gentlemanly thing and helped her smooth her shirt into place. Though he had enough rogue in him to stay put between her thighs, if no longer in intimate contact. He wasn’t ready to relinquish his entire proximity to her just yet. A man’s needs should be allowed to abate a bit, after all. He’d been on quite a ride there. Was enough to make even the sturdiest of blokes a bit weedy.

  He allowed her an overly long moment to smooth her clothes back into place and settle her rioting emotions as well. He hadn’t been the only one affected there. Finally, however, she did look up into his eyes, and while desire lingered there, he saw that his woman of determination had made her return. Funny thing was, it didn’t abate his desire for her one whit. If anything, it kept him rather rigid.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, holding his gaze directly now, clearly sincere. “I really am.” That pronouncement was followed by a dry little laugh. “The opportunity doesn’t come along often enough for me to thoughtlessly toy with it, trust me.”

  “I find that hard to believe,” he said. “Meaning, I can’t imagine you not making an opportunity whenever you wanted. You’re a very determined sort.”

  She cocked her head slightly. “I’ll take that as a compliment, I think.”

  He nodded. “As it was intended. As to the other, have no fear. I’m no’ a callow schoolboy who canno’ contain himself.” His lips twitched at one corner. “Though you made me feel pretty damn close to it.”

  She smiled a little then, too. “I—thanks. I shouldn’t have let it get out of hand, or led you to believe that I—”

  “That you wanted me as much as I wanted you? Was that no’ true then?” He knew it was, but wanted her to confirm it, for both their sakes. There would be no guilty recriminations, no regrets, for acting human.

  “You know I did. The difference was, I knew that I couldn’t—that we couldn’t—do…” She gestured between them.

  “Why? We’re both free and unencumbered.” His gaze narrowed. “You are unencumbered, are you no’?”

  “Of course. I’d never do something like this if I weren’t.”

  “I believe you,” he said truthfully. There was no subterfuge or artifice with her. She struck him as the type who would have no patience with that in others, either. Which was why he got straight to the point. “You sound very definite about this, when you obviously wish it could be otherwise. So you’ll have to pardon me if I’m a wee bit confused. What is it then? Your boss frowns on your fraternizing with the annoying Scot?”

  “Tommy doesn’t know anything about…this.” She said that last word as if she wasn’t quite sure what “this” was.

  Well, that made two of them. The only difference was, at the moment, he was quite willing to continue onward until they figured that out. Clearly she was not. Perhaps she was being the wiser of the two. He wished he was more enthusiastic about that.

  He shifted back slightly, knowing he should move completely away, put some much needed distance between them until they completely cooled off, but there was something he needed to know first. “If your boss isn’t hounding you on this, and we’re discreet, and I promise not to completely derail your hectic schedule—although, in my defense, can I say that keeping me preoccupied will make everyone else here quite happy—”

  Her gaze narrowed. “You said you’d come to terms with the prep work and made peace with the crew.”

  “I wasn’t sure you heard that. You’ve been somewhat distracted since our meeting again. Although, might I add, I was quite enjoying that last bit of distraction.” When her pupils flared a bit, it took enormous restraint not to take hold of her again, plant his mouth on hers and kiss her until she realized that whatever flimsy obstacle she’d erected wouldn’t withstand this kind of heat and need. So why not just cave in to the inevitability of it all?

  Her words, however, didn’t match the look in her eyes. “I assumed that meant you’d be leaving them to their work and wouldn’t require further intervention.”

  He tried a shrug and what he hoped was a charming smile. “A bloke could hope. I rather liked the way you intervened this last time.”

  He could see she was fighting to maintain some semblance of seriousness, so he rather enjoyed the way the corners of her mouth twitched as she fought the urge to smile. Och, he’d get through to her eventually, that he would.

  “Filming starts soon,” she was saying, “so you won’t be able to wander freely over there, anyway. Besides, you’ve apparently done enough of that already, or we wouldn’t be in this fix.”

  “What ‘fix’ is that? And what we? What have we done to put anything in a fix?”

  And suddenly she wasn’t looking at him again. Oh, for god’s sake. How bad could it be? He gripped her chin gently, but firmly enough to tip her gaze upward to meet his own. “It’s no’ like you to duck an issue.”

  She lifted an eyebrow as if to question how he felt qualified to make such an assessment. He merely lifted a brow back until she capitulated. He was right and they both knew it. “Out with it.”

  She held his gaze for a moment, likely just to prove she could, then surprised him by heaving a rather defeated sigh. “Maybe we should have a seat.”

  “Maybe you should stop beating about the proverbial bush. Your forthrightness was one of the first things I admired about you.”

  “Tommy wants you to be the next Prince Charming. There. How’s that for direct?”

  He saw her mouth moving, heard the words that had come out, but surely somewhere in there he’d lost track. Because surely…no. He stepped back from her completely then, leaving her to grip the edge of the desk, before sliding off and finally standing on her own
two feet.

  “I know,” she said, sympathetically. “That expression you’re wearing probably matched mine when he told me.” She shook her head slightly. “That’s quite a sales technique I have, huh?” She looked like she was going to take a step toward him, to do what he had no idea. Instead she turned and wandered over to the settee and sank down, burying her head in her hands. “I’m so going to lose my job over this. I should have stayed in London. There are plenty of locations in London. But nooo, I had to prove I could be more creative, shake things up, pump some fresh life into this show.” She was muttering to herself, which he found quite endearing.

  Or would have, if he wasn’t still frozen to the spot, trying to absorb this latest turn of events, and what to say to her. Because it was plainly obvious to them both that hell would freeze over before he’d ever agree to such a ridiculous thing.

  A certainty she apparently hadn’t shared with her boss. Or if she had, he’d threatened her into asking anyway. Threatened her with her job, it sounded like. Bloody hell. How he had gotten himself in this tangle, he had no idea. And to think he’d believed his life complicated before she’d strolled into it.

  Dylan Chisholm, star of an American dating program? Just hearing he’d been asked would be enough to send the entire village into paroxsyms of glee. His brothers would never let him hear the end of it.

  Suddenly he needed to take a seat, too. And a very deep breath.

  Chapter 12

  “He wouldn’t even discuss it with me.” Erin paced her hotel room, phone pinned to her ear.

  “And that was two days ago? When are you going to talk to him again?” Dana queried.

  Good question. And thankfully one Tommy hadn’t asked her yet. “It’s crunch time here and, at the moment, Dylan is staying out of sight, and I’m willing to let him. When are you getting in? I thought you’d be here tonight.”

  “I got stuck getting out of Orly, so I can’t connect and get up there until tomorrow morning. Is there anything you need me to do on the way in?”

  “No, but I do have you tied up from the second you set foot in the village, so don’t promise your time to anyone else, including Tommy. If he tags you, call me.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Due to some…personnel problems, we’ve had to accelerate the preliminary filming schedule. The women will get into town Friday—”

  “Friday? Day after tomorrow Friday? But I thought they were all safely tucked away in Inverness until early next week.”

  “Yeah, well, one of the handlers apparently got drunk and spilled the beans to some guy she was hot for and—”

  “Word got out about the women’s location.” Dana groaned.

  “So far it’s just the local media speculating on who the women are and why they’re there. But it’s only a matter of time before someone posts on a bulletin board or someone’s blog, then we’ll have people snooping around and haunting our every move.”

  “You don’t have to tell me. Tommy must be going ape shit.”

  “Understatement,” Erin answered. “Anyway, bottom line, he wants them here in Glenbuie as fast as possible.”

  “You sure no one in the village is going to slip up? Just how in hell did you secure all that without Tommy having a major apoplexy?”

  “Who said he didn’t?” she responded dryly. “The town council here signed a confidentiality agreement. The villagers are all very close and well aware of the sanctions they face if anyone so much as breathes a word during filming.”

  “I’m guessing it’s not hurting any having the entire crew invading the town, spending freely.”

  “Exactly. Anyway, I’ve got some locals lined up to keep the women under roof until we officially bring them out to Glenshire on Monday. Tommy’s going to start filming the preliminary confessionals at the hotel and do more background filler stuff, so in a way, this helps get us back on schedule, but with all the prep work still going on, we’re stretched mighty thin.”

  “So what else is new?” Dana said, matching Erin’s dry tone. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Well, here’s the thing,” Erin said, knowing her assistant wasn’t going to be thrilled, but she didn’t have a choice. “I need you to help out with those two contestants whose handler was fired.”

  “Baby-sit the Barbies? Are you kidding me?”

  “Now, now. Maybe you got two of the sweet ones. Anyway, it won’t be for long, just until we move them into Glenshire.”

  “I tell you what, I’ll trade. You baby-sit and I’ll try and convince your hot Scot that he should be our next Prince Charming. That’s more my skill set anyway.”

  “Who said anything about him being hot?”

  “Oh please, like Tommy would beg you to sign an ugly guy. Come on, I’m stuck in an airport all night. Dish with me a little. Please?” she wheedled and Dana was a world class wheedler. “Tell me about him.”

  “There’s nothing to tell, except hell will freeze over before he ever agrees to sign on as Prince Charming, which means our asses are on the line here.”

  Dana ignored her dire warning. “Word is he’s intense.”

  “Word from who? Who have you been talking to?” Erin sighed. Of course there was gossip. Who was she trying to kid?

  The crew was, in many ways, like an oversized family unit. A highly dysfunctional family unit who happened to be putting in very long hours under extreme stress and pressure. So, naturally, gossip was one of their main forms of entertainment. Hoisting a few at Brodie’s pub and fraternizing with the locals being the other two. Mostly Tommy operated on a don’t-ask-don’t-tell basis. As long as it wasn’t flagrant and nothing came back to bite him in the ass like it had in Inverness, he didn’t care what the crew did on their minimal downtime. Of course, this time, with the entire village in on the story, it was far easier for the crew to take advantage. And from what she could tell, boy were they.

  Her cheeks heated just a bit. Like she had fat room to talk.

  “Never mind,” Erin said, not really wanting to know what everyone was saying.

  “So? Is he?”

  “What? Intense?” Erin had to press her thighs together just thinking about it. “Um, I can see why he comes across that way. He’s pretty reclusive. It almost took an act of Parliament to get the use of his house. I can’t see him putting himself under a microscope.”

  There was a pause, then Dana sighed. “Fine, okay. I’ll have to drag it out of you later.”

  “You’ll see him for yourself soon enough.” Although Erin discovered she’d be perfectly happy if Dylan just stayed hidden for the duration. It was foolish to think she could have kept him anyway, even for the duration of the film shoot. What with all the women coming to town, any interest he had in her would likely have evaporated like so much mist over the moors.

  “But then I’ll probably have even more questions for you,” Dana said. “So, if you’re not going to give me hot, insider details, have you figured out what you’re going to tell Tommy when he asks why you haven’t signed him up?”

  “Well, as they say, timing is everything. With the women coming in early, he’s been pretty distracted. So that buys me a little time.”

  “He’ll just assume you’ve taken care of it, like he always does.”

  “That’s what I’m banking on. And I plan to have it taken care of. Soon.”

  “But you just said—”

  “I know what I just said. Tommy has his heart set on a Scottish bachelor for his next Prince Charming. I’ll make sure he has one.”

  “Erin,” Dana said, a note of dread in her voice. “He wants Dylan, and you know how he is when he wants what he wants.”

  “Yes, I know exactly how he is. I promise, I have it under control.” A total lie, but she would have it under control. Just as soon as she figured out who she was going to get to substitute for Dylan. “On the bright side, we’ll get to camp out here for the duration. No need to head back to L.A.”

  “Oh. Right. I hadn’t thought of
that. But…won’t it be a little redundant to use Glenshire again? I mean—”

  “Well, see, that’s going to be my angle. If we get a new guy, we get a new location to go with him.”

  “Works for me. Surely, in all of Scotland, we can find another hunk with a family castle,” Dana said, sounding almost convinced.

  “Well, that’s where it gets tricky. We don’t have the time or resources to go too far afield without tipping Tommy off. And I want to present this whole thing to him as a fait accompli.”

  “How was he planning on re-using Glenshire anyway? Maybe you can talk him into using Dylan at another location entirely. Then we can scout locations and hunks at the same time.”

  “Tried that. Tommy has this grand idea of introducing Dylan in a kind of teaser segment at the end of this season’s finale, telling the whole backstory of how he actually owns the home in which the series was filmed and is a real life Prince Charming, blah blah blah. He’s set on it.”

  Dana said nothing.

  “Details. Don’t worry. We’ll make it work.” Erin felt her palms begin to sweat. “Listen, get some rest and I’ll catch up with you tomorrow. Be prepared to hit the ground running.”

  “Aye, aye, boss.”

  “And thanks in advance for service above and beyond the call with the whole handler thing.”

  “Yeah, well, I figure you’ll owe me then.”

  “You’re my assistant. I’m pretty sure it’s in your job description to do things that don’t actually fit your job description.”

  “True,” Dana admitted. “But I know you. You’ll feel bad about sticking me with this, because you just know I’m not getting the nice ones, and then you’ll end up making it worth my while at some point.”