Take Me Now

by Nancy Jardine

  She found Nairn’s interaction with his mother difficult to judge. They were comfortable with one another in a strange, yet detached, way. His mother rebuked him for not meeting up with her often enough and he in turn berated her for not visiting Garvald Castle either. Caitlinn then retorted he was never there long enough for her to visit.

  “You have to know Ruaridh is very taken with you,” Caitlinn gushed as they said their goodbyes. “I’m sure I’ll be hearing more about you in the near future.”

  Aela was mystified that Ruaridh had talked about her during a conversation with his ex-wife. Caitlin’s devastating last comment was meant to be a whisper for Aela alone, but was loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear. “Ruaridh looks forward to you joining the family. Now, I believe I can see why.”

  Aela felt a blood-rush fierce across her cheeks.

  It was a huge relief when they bid Caitlinn farewell and headed to the airport to return to London, communication between her and Nairn sparse.

  It was as well that the days were passing quickly.

  Early next morning, Aela drove Nairn to the office for a quick visit before their return to Lanera. She couldn’t say why, but he seemed a different kind of edgy.

  “I don’t need you to come in with me.” Nairn’s statement was a surprise when they arrived at the car park. “Take time off. Go walkabout. I’ll text you when I’m ready to head for the airport. No longer than an hour; two at most.”

  When she asked if something was wrong Nairn barked at her so vehemently she backed off, hurt by his rejection.

  Although she felt redundant and quite cast off, accepting his bald dictates she sped off to visit a street market she’d heard was close by. It was an intriguing mixture of flea market, world-trade food stalls and stalls with new products. After spending a pleasant hour browsing around, she found a seat at an outside café for a coffee. There was just time enough to appreciate it before Nairn sent her a text message. She couldn’t explain the flood of relief, happy her role had shifted to being his chauffeur once again. It had nothing at all to do with being needed by him.

  Scolding herself was easy. Self-delusion was the pits.

  ***

  Nairn’s heart shifted when Aela arrived for him, glad he’d made the decision to keep her out of the office, out of harm’s way. Gut instinct had unsettled him earlier, alerted him in some weird way that she’d once again be in danger if she entered the building. During his short time in the office, he’d found absolutely nothing to confirm those feelings, yet was convinced his decision had been the correct one. Temporarily pissing her off was better than her being dead.

  There’d been too many people solicitous of her health. Most he knew were genuine, but he was now so suspicious it was hard to decide who was trustworthy. A few ill-judged comments about Aela having an easy job with extra time off he quashed, with no mercy spared. Especially the semi-ribald comment Robin Ellesmere made about him having ridden his new work-horse so hard he’d exhausted her. Robin had been joking, he knew it, but his comment had been heard by the whole Adrenalinn Adventuring office. He hadn’t appreciated the acid look on Stella Grainger’s face when he asked her how a particular work issue was progressing.

  Now Aela was in the car waiting for him, safe and well as far as he could determine, though her neutral look wasn’t inspiring. Next, he had to face the prickly problem over their return to Lanera. It couldn’t be postponed any longer. He remained irked by his mother’s parting comment of the day before, yet couldn’t bear to have a bust up with his father over any woman.

  The flight from London to Glasgow Aela accomplished with her usual competence, her sheer delight evident to Nairn since this time he squeezed onto the co-pilot’s seat. Handing the plane over to maintenance crew in Glasgow, he bid Aela organize a taxi to a nearby hotel where they could lunch, too hungry to wait till they arrived on Lanera. He ensured the conversation during their meal was pleasant. He really, really liked competent, gorgeous Aela though she remained civil, with that artificial friendship thing she had going, making him even more determined.

  The floatplane trip to Lanera wasn’t accomplished so textbook-easy. No sooner had Aela checked in with air traffic control than she was apprised of a potential problem that Nairn listened in to on his earpiece.

  A raging inferno in a disused Victorian warehousing block on the outskirts of the city, close to the airport, was causing major flight traffic problems. Many commercial and domestic flights in and out of the passenger and freight airport had been cancelled, others rerouted where possible, since a huge pall of dense black smoke was drifting up and over a wide area. Aela was given clearance, though only if she took a huge southwards detour. The detour itself wasn’t a problem, but the weather update for later wasn’t good. A storm front approached from the Atlantic and would affect their flight by the time they got closer to Lanera. Nairn watched her chew her bottom lip as the information was relayed to them. He could see her concern wasn’t about flying the plane; rather more about how he would cope with the ride.

  “I’ve every confidence in you, Aela, but if you don’t want to do it we’ll stay in Glasgow.” He tossed responsibility in her court.

  “I’ve had many a scary flight in British Columbia when the weather has suddenly gone down the toilet. I’ll be fine piloting, so long as you think you’ll cope?”

  The much longer detour had definite moments as Aela evaded the drifting black clouds sweeping up from the south-west, hitting severe turbulence as the weather front made its mark. “I’m making another wide sweep, Nairn, to avoid this low drift. Brace again,” she shouted over the growing noise of the battering rain.

  Even in his extreme discomfort, since seating in the cockpit was tight, Nairn sensed the adrenaline pumping through her body. Her concentration never faltered as she controlled the floatplane. By the time they got closer to Lanera they were being well-buffeted by Atlantic winds, Aela relying on her experience to keep the little floatplane level, adjusting the height more often than during a normal flight and balancing it constantly.

  “Nairn!” He heard her, though her cry was faint over the noise of the howling wind and pelting rain. “I’m going to have to go down on the other side of Lanera, then I’ll taxi round to Mariskay, but it’ll be rough.”

  She bawled over the clamour rocking them; the vibration juddering up her arms to her locked in place shoulders as she clutched the controls. Her expression looked as tortured as he was feeling, her sympathy radiating out to him in waves. If he’d wondered before if she was concerned for him, he definitely knew it now. Concern for his health was in her eyes, yes, but he hoped the rest he could see meant what he wanted it to mean. Something stronger than affection.

  “Can you bear it, or should I try landing on Mull instead?”

  His good arm braced against the dash as buffeting turbulence jolted them. For a healthy person the instability would have been a wild tremor but with his condition it was something else. As pilot, Aela would have been concerned for any passenger in his state, but he knew her concern for him was doubled as she flicked her gaze his way more often than she should have, yet without endangering them both. He was in agony, he just wanted the damned flight over, but he didn’t want to make it any harder than it was already for Aela. He wanted to be home safely, able take her in his arms and kiss the hell out of her.

  “Land on Lanera waters.” His teeth were grinding together, but he couldn’t stop it happening. He attempted a smile, knew it was weak as dishwater. “I’m fine.”

  One thing he wasn’t lying to himself about was the fact that very soon he was going to tell this woman exactly how he felt about her. He loved everything about her. Her looks. Her generous spirit. Her courage. Her empathy. Her competence.

  Right at that moment he really, really loved her competence.

  With incredible skill, Aela landed on the far side of the island in heaving waters so high at times that the waves sloshed over the wings, on breakers he wasn’t convinced he�
��d tackle himself. Although only late afternoon, the summer sky was so slate-dark it was like night; the angry grey-caps surging up and around them, their height dangerously close to submerging them. The rain battered the glass fronting them, sheeting Aela’s vision, a momentary blocking of the way ahead till the wipers did their job.

  “Brace again, Nairn!” she yelled over the horrendous noise around them. “This isn’t going to be smooth.” Her words were no sooner uttered than he felt the floatplane lurch, a dangerous list in the high winds. “No worries, Nairn. I’ve got it under control.”

  How Aela managed to keep it steady he hadn’t a clue, but he knew it would have been beyond his own experience. The whole craft vibrated, a violent and relentless buffeting, as she taxied round the headland to Mariskay harbour. The storm lamented, the rain bombarding them with even more force from that direction. Having radioed ahead, the automatic roller doors of the boatyard opened for them as Aela made the harbour entrance where she bumpily-bounced the little plane up the slip and inside out of the weather.

  “You still with me, Nairn?” Aela grinned. He knew her adrenaline was raging, still pumping wild around her because his adrenaline surge was no different.

  “My God! You’re a horrible woman.” His smile was weak, his pain-wracked body having given in to the relief they were home. Not dry by any means…but home. And Aela was safe. “Jeeze! That beat the hell out of a boring ride, Aela.”

  His words gained strength as she drove the floatplane into an empty bay. When she killed the engine he grasped her one-handed and kissed her soundly before she could evade him. His first greedy kiss led to another…and another…before a noisy knocking on the side of the door jolted him from his absorbance. His release of Aela was reluctant; curses flew at the interruption.

  “Someone’s trying to tell us something,” she chuckled in his ear as she unbuckled and prepared to exit, then waved merrily to the bystanders who had watched their entry, and their ardent embraces.

  “Just get me home without any more delay, woman.” His impassioned plea was matched by the eagerness he could see in her sparkling eyes. “We’re not done, yet.”

  “Mm…sounds delicious. But don’t worry, Nairn Malcolm, you’re in good hands. I’ll get you home in one piece.”

  He waited while Aela saw to the plane checks before leaving the boatyard, since in the current weather the floatplane would remain there till conditions improved. Keeping his eyes off her proved impossible as Grant, one of the boatyard employees, drove them the couple of miles back to the castle. If her expression was anything to go by he knew Aela was just as keen to get back as he was.

  “You go on in, Nairn, and get the kettle on right now,” she chided as he got out at the back door. “Grant will help me with the bags.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The minute Aela opened the castle door it was obvious something major had been happening inside.

  “Nairn!” She heard the woman’s delighted greeting well before she saw a tiny blonde vision do a jaunty skip down the nearby spiral staircase and rush forward to hug him.

  “I’ve got those bedroom needs sorted out for you,” the woman trilled.

  “Mhari.”

  Aela inwardly groaned. So, this was Mhari. Side-stepping their enthusiastic hugging, she moved along the corridor, wishing she’d got well out of range since Nairn’s soft greeting to his visitor cut her to the quick.

  “You lovely woman. Get me to the bedroom without delay.”

  She didn’t want to hear any more as she sped to the office apartment where she dropped her case and flopped, with no ceremony, onto her bed. The words bedroom needs repeated till she was ready to scream. She even surprised herself by drumming her hands on the mattress, a fevered beat that lost control. He’d been with Thaliana nights ago; he’d just kissed her senseless on the floatplane, and now here was some ditzy blonde called Mhari? How many more females would crawl out of the woodwork?

  Eventually, she raised herself off the bed knowing she needed an alternative diversion to pull her out of the fug she was in. Latent adrenaline from the extremely difficult plane ride warred with emotional frustration. Nairn Malcolm was a temporary boss and not a long-term player. Some splendid oaths followed.

  A half hour later the pool suite Jacuzzi bubbled around her, her furious swim having re-energized her rather than exhausted her – because she was still so buzzed. The pulsating gushes had only a marginal effect in warding off the horrible images she was creating; images of Nairn with the bubbly blonde up in the master bedroom. She wiped his navy and grey decor out of her mind and tried to focus on the gurgling noises around her.

  Gastown bloops.

  In a deliberate attempt to banish Nairn Malcolm, she thought of the famous gas-driven street clock in Gastown, her favourite street in Vancouver, even though it was a tourist haven. Home. She’d see it soon. She should have been buoyed up by that thought but it was…weirdly depressing.

  Having swum at least another twenty furious laps she was exhausted and savouring a second soak in the Jacuzzi. A prune wouldn’t look any more wrinkled, but by then she had resigned herself to her role as PA, chauffeur and whatever else. Except the ‘whatever else’ would never be diminutive blond bunny: not without a serious doze of chlorine, and some leg chopping. It was amazing how difficult it was to huff under the bubbles of a Jacuzzi.

  “Aela?”

  She was astounded to hear Nairn enter the pool suite.

  “Sorry to disturb you.”

  He didn’t look sorry to disturb her. He was staring as she dipped in and out of sight in the bubbling foam. She wasn’t naked; she wore a bikini, but he looked agitated. His arm lifted as he checked his watch, and then groaned. Loudly. “Just came to tell you we need to leave at seven-fifteen for Mariskay. I’ve booked a table at the Ship’s Inn for seven-thirty.”

  Having given his information, she watched him drag his gaze away. There was a momentary closure of his eyes and then he whirled away.

  Instinct told her his first reaction to her almost naked body had been hunger. Now he was at the door, using the walking aid so well he seemed hardly incapacitated at all. She lay back and closed her eyes, willing herself to stop yearning. Who was eating with him in Mariskay? It crushed her to ask his retreating back but her professional conscience had kicked in and she felt she had no choice.

  “Nairn?” She watched his slow turn, noting his eyes darting askance, avoiding her. “When will you want me to come back and collect you?”

  His eyes whipped back in her direction. “Come back? Why would I want you to do that, Aela? You’ll be eating there with me.” His mouth formed a grim slash as she rose from the froth and walked towards him. He looked angry, his brows drawn into a frown as though something had just occurred to him. “Unless you’ve managed to make alternative arrangements already?”

  “No, I haven’t, but I thought perhaps you meant your visitor, Mhari, would be eating with you.”

  “Mhari?” Nairn looked genuinely perplexed. “Why would Mhari want to eat with me when she has a husband and child at home to eat with? Aela, if you’d waited long enough to be introduced you’d have found out Mhari was the architect I employed to reconstruct Garvald Castle four years ago.”

  Aela dipped her head onto her chest. The significance of his words kicked in. She was so embarrassed. “I’m sorry. That was so friggin’ rude of me.”

  The words were broken off as Nairn lifted her chin. His searching look into her eyes made her even more embarrassed. Oh piffle! That darned rush of blood scalded her cheeks. She felt on fire again, powerless to prevent it happening. This man made her so…mad.

  “Aela? Were you jealous of Mhari?”

  He didn’t wait for her answer, or a denial. A whispering kiss followed. She wanted it to go on, and on.

  “Mhari’s original plans for the reconstruction of the castle included a small service lift. The construction work and mechanics were already done when I came back from one of my trips. I was an arr
ogant shit. I pulled the plug on it, deeming it would never be necessary.”

  She thought Nairn looked a bit sheepish. He wasn’t a man to admit to any kind of bad judgment.

  “I didn’t like the anachronistic look of its metal door in the corridor. As you can see, we’ve tried hard to give the castle a feeling of age, even though it’s all a facsimile. I thought the shiny steel door spoiled the continuity in the corridor and made the place look like a hotel.”

  “A hotel?”

  He cuddled her close, his fingers tracing a light pathway up and down her spine. “I was being bloody-minded and unreasonable, as recent events have proved. At the time, I was living out of a suitcase, sometimes in bijou hotels with dinky little lifts, and I didn’t want that here in my home. Even though Mhari put up some resistance, I insisted she had the doors removed and false walls put in place, instead of removing the interior structure entirely.”

  She squirmed even closer. “So, all the innards were hidden and uncovered without too much bother?”

  “Yes. But let me finish my story, woman.” He nudged her hips back just the tiniest bit. “In view of my recent incapacity I realized how wrong I’d been and asked Mhari to get it operational as soon as possible.”

  She found herself whispering, “What time is it?”

  “Doesn’t matter, because it’s never going to be enough for this.” He drew her in for another, longer kiss. A few moments later Nairn disentangled himself. “Now I wish I hadn’t made the dinner arrangement.”

  “You’d rather stay here?” She knew her own answer to that one.

  “Yes, I would, but I must talk with my father. Can’t postpone it any longer.”

  At seven-fifteen she was at the back door. Nairn wasn’t in the bedroom on the ground floor because she’d checked. It had been cleared of his presence, the room starkly bare and tidy. The subtle new developments had just been worked out when she heard a soft hiss, the deep bronze door not looking too out of place with the décor in the corridor.