Nairn knew her statement for what it was, and looked totally unfazed by her threat.
“I’ll tickle you back.” Her fingers theatrically reached for his ribs but knowing it was still difficult for him to laugh heartily, she aimed for a compromise.
“Okay. Let’s see. I’ll not scratch under your plaster when you itch…even if you beg. Or, I’ll refuse to help you with fiddly buttons and stuff.”
Their laughter echoed around for quite a while as they got creative.
The next day, when their return flight was an hour or so out of London, Nairn bid her pack up their work. Amazed at his request she complied readily, searching his face for signs of exhaustion yet found none. As par for the course, they’d been working all through the long flight. She sat back in her seat when all was cleared away and looked at him, just looked.
Locking her hand tightly in his the question came out of the blue.
“How much do you really want to do your course at UBC?”
She wished he’d said nothing because it seemed a complete slap in the face.
His eyes were earnest.
She was flustered. He’d just thrust reality right back on her doorstep. Only a few days of her contract were left. Her answer was slow in coming, and very guarded, as he threaded his fingers more tightly through hers.
“I’ve been thinking about doing it for years. It’s the sensible next step in my business career.” She couldn’t face his eyes, could only fixate on their linked hands.
“So, if there was a similar course in Glasgow, or London, would you consider doing it there?” Nairn sounded a little odd.
What was he asking? They’d had a fabulous few days, but although she knew in her heart he really liked her, he had never indicated long-term.
“Full-time, it would take at least a year,” she answered, dropping his hand.
Could she have occasional contact with him knowing full-well the way business drove his life? She’d be busy studying, for sure, but she’d never see him.
No.
The price of not knowing where he was, and who he was with, was too high a price to pay. How could he ask her this? She’d heard people saying their heart had been hurting over a guy and thought they’d been exaggerating. They weren’t. Her heart hurt so much she was surprised she was still sitting there. Turning to him, she met his eager regard.
Hope was in his eyes. She’d already capitulated and given in to him in their short-term fling, but she couldn’t contemplate being discarded at a later date when it was no longer convenient for him.
***
Nairn knew he’d won when he saw the disillusionment in her gorgeous glistening brown eyes. He didn’t want to ever cause her pain, but he had to be sure what they shared wasn’t temporary for her. He had to be sure she wasn’t just in the throes of a passionate end-of-world-trip fling.
“No, Nairn. I’m not going to stay on in Glasgow, or London, and do an MBA. I’m sorry I can’t do it.”
Tears hovered on Aela’s beautiful eyelashes before the first one silently slid down her cheek. A cascade followed.
“Oh, God, Aela, don’t cry!” He crushed her to him. His finger gently forced her chin up and kissed her eyes clear of tears. “Do you love me then, as much as I love you?”
“You love me?” Her sobs became big huge gulps. “You can ask what you just did and then…you say you love me?”
“I love absolutely every single thing about you. You are the loveliest, sexiest, most desirable wonderful lover, even if I have to teach you everything.” Their shared laughter shattered any tension. “You’re also the most capable, clever, organizing, sometimes cheeky, bossy woman I know – except for my mother. But in spite of all those faults…”
As Aela swatted him with her hands, he saw her eyes fill up again.
“Nairn Malcolm, you are the most devious sod, ever. You come first in the scheming manipulator class, second only to…Stella Grainger!”
“Don’t say my name and hers in the same sentence. Not ever. I didn’t mean to make you cry, or hurt you Aela, but I had to be sure you weren’t just using me for a few days fling.” Grabbing her, he held her close to his chest. “I want you by my side forever. As my lover, my PA, my sometimes chauffeur when I’m too tired to fly or drive myself…or when you’re too bossy to let me have a go.”
Aela climbed on top of him and pinned him to the airplane seat. “If that was a proposal you insufferable man, I’m going to say no until you get down on your knees and beg. That was the worst proposal I could ever imagine.”
To prove it, she kissed him till he was breathless so he had an idea of her real answer.
“Aela you wouldn’t do it to me in my incapacitated state would you? I might not be able to bend both knees properly for at least another three weeks.”
“How about you try?”
Nairn slid to the floor his leg cast at a precarious angle and held her head securely, well aware of where his arm cast was, knowing he wasn’t in any way going to hurt her. “Aela, would you please be my wife, for ever and ever?”
The trilling noise of his mobile phone made Aela groan.
“Hells teeth!” she laughed. “Detective Woods again?”
It was.
“Detective Woods?” He flicked up the speaker. Aela made to sit on the other chair but he drew her close enough to share. “Yes. We wondered how they could possibly have known about it.”
The policeman was referring to the fact Stella and her brother knew the whereabouts of Nairn’s bike that memorable Saturday.
“Well, Mr. Malcolm, walls definitely have ears.”
Detective Woods was in full flow again. The man obviously liked this denouement part of his job as he updated. Aela nibbled Nairn’s neck as she listened in, making sweat bead on his forehead.
“Grainger was in Marsha Hilborne’s office the Friday before your accident and heard of your plans to use your bike.”
He felt Aela’s clever little fingers travel down his torso. A little deliberate flick sent his voice spiralling. “Really!”
He brought the tenor of his speech down, swatting her persistent little hand away.
“While Brian Dalkin updated Marsha Hilborne on your travel plans, Grainger heard everything on the speakerphone.”
Nairn turned the tables on Aela by catching her hand.
Detective Woods continued blithely unaware of his preoccupation. “Grainger ferreted out your hotel meeting place and time details.”
Aela wriggled free, stood up and slowly pulled up her T-shirt.
“And?” he asked baldly, to rush the conversation on.
“Grainger gathered up her young brother and got them on the first available flight to Glasgow on the Friday evening. They were waiting in a hired car when you arrived at the car park on the Saturday.”
There was a little silence, almost, as he watched Aela turn around and present her rear for him to ogle as she slid her jeans down her fabulous long legs.
The almost was a little squeal of throat clearing from Nairn.
Detective Woods added jauntily, “I’ll let you get on with whatever pressing needs you and Miss Cameron might have, sir, now you have those last details.”
Nairn heard the clear laughter in the other man’s tone. He thanked him profusely, switched off the phone, and threw it onto the nearest seat. “Fifteen minutes left, woman!”
“Fifteen for what?” Aela cried as he launched them onto the small bed, the sudden flip of turbulence not to blame, not to blame at all for his increased heart rate.
“Get these clothes off me.”
“As you wish my very own Sir Smash-Em-Up!”
He grinned, a happy, contented…still a pained grin as she flopped down on the cover alongside him.
“Do you think you’ll ever stay put in one place for any length of time, Nairn Malcolm?” Aela’s voice was satisfied and dreamy.
“Twenty-four-hours-a-day-for-a-lifetime forever is what I’m engaging you for, Aela Cameron. Why would I wa
nt to stay put anywhere?”
“Know any good doormat companies…?”
A happy sigh escaped them both.
The End
About the Author
Nancy Jardine lives in the fabulous castle country of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. There are thousands of years of history on her doorstep: fabulous places to visit for research or just for fun, making her interest in all historical periods unlikely to wane. Since retiring from teaching in 2011, she has published work across different sub-genres of fiction. Some of her contemporary writing reflects her love of historical themes: Topaz Eyes and Monogamy Twist, being contemporary mystery thriller novels with historical ancestral aspects. Investigating her personal ancestral family tree is an intermittent hobby but one which will most likely be revved up when she properly embarks on the family saga she has awaiting more attention in the future.
Her historical fiction Celtic Fervour Series, set in northern Roman Britain (north England and Scotland) A. D. 71-84, brings her Late Iron Age Garrigill Clan to life as they battle with the dominance of the invading Roman legions of General Agricola.
The Taexali Game is a time travel historical adventure set in A.D. 210 when Ancient Roman Emperor Severus invades Taexali territory (Aberdeenshire). This is intended for a wide audience from early teens through adult.
Her contemporary romantic mysteries feature superb world-wide locations. Nancy has been to most of the places in her mystery novels and she challenges her readers to decide which ones she has NOT yet visited!
When not researching or engaged in various writing tasks, Nancy is a fair-weather gardener and a regular minder of her young grandchildren, all of which keeps her active and highly entertained. As a member of an Aberdeenshire Crafters group, she regularly visits local venues where signed paperback versions of her novels are available for purchase. This direct contact is an excellent way to gain bookings for author presentations which she delivers across Aberdeenshire, tailor made for each group she visits. Some prefer information about her writing life and her novels; while others are hungry for a taste of the historical aspects of their local environment.
Nancy is a member of the Historical Novel Society; the Romantic Novelists Association; the Scottish Association of Writers, the Federation of Writers Scotland, and the Alliance of Independent Authors.
Author Note
If I hadn’t thoroughly enjoyed an extended family weekend, which featured a return seaplane trip from Glasgow to Oban (Scotland), and a chartered sail around the Inner Hebrides, I might never have come up with the plot for Take Me Now.
Though the nine attending family members were all familiar with the West Coast of Scotland, the scenery was even more stunning for us since the seaplane flew so close to the ground. Well known landmarks, castles and lochs create a different excitement from the air and our catamaran sail added an extra dimension to the whole weekend, extending the many, many ‘Oh, look at that’ moments. The fabled Scottish weather was also in our favour, it being a lovely warm June day when we set off on the Saturday morning, though the Sunday return flight was much more typical of the west-coast of Scotland, with battering rain and low mist. All of which gave me ideas for scenes in Take Me Now.
The trip featured some other very interesting developments. On the morning of our flight, there was indeed a raging inferno in a disused warehouse not far from Glasgow Airport, which is fairly near the Loch Lomond Seaplanes’ departure point at the Glasgow Science Centre, Pacific Quay. The only reason our flight was allowed to take-off was because it was customary for the seaplane to taxi a short distance down the River Clyde before rising gracefully into the air. Our pilot had to chart a route with a much wider curve to the east than usual, to avoid the huge pall of dark smoke that hung over the area near Glasgow Airport – where most other flights were grounded for some hours till the rising wind dissipated the dense smoke. We were all extremely glad to be in the air, no matter the pilot’s diversions!
I dedicate this version of Take Me Now to my late brother-in-law, Neil, since the whole weekend trip was organised to celebrate his birthday. He is now dearly missed but I’m so glad we all had the opportunity to have such a fantastic time together flying over some of the same ground as Aela and Nairn in Take Me Now.
Acknowledgements
This second edition has had some minor changes since being edited by Kelly May Illingworth – my thanks to her for the initial edits.
I would like to give hearty thanks to my fellow authors at Ocelot Press for their continued and incredibly encouraging support during the re-publishing processes. They are always willing to lend a friendly ear and help solve little niggling issues that have occurred during the learning curves of self-publishing.
Nominations
Topaz Eyes, was a Finalist for THE PEOPLE’S BOOK PRIZE FICTION 2014
After Whorl: Bran Reborn, Book 2 of the Celtic Fervour Series, was accepted for THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2014.
The Taexali Game, a time travel novel set in Roman ‘Aberdeenshire’ AD 210 achieved 2nd Place for Best Self Published Book in the SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION OF WRITERS Competition 2017. It also achieved an indieBRAG Medallion, January 2018.
The novels in the Celtic Fervour Series have Discovered Diamond Status from the prestigious site https://discoveringdiamonds.blogspot.co.uk/
Ocelot Press
Thank you for reading this Ocelot Press book. If you enjoyed it, we’d greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to write a short review on the website where you bought the book (e.g. Amazon), and/or on Goodreads, or recommend it to a friend. Sharing your thoughts helps other readers to choose good books, and authors to keep writing.
You might like to try books by other Ocelot Press authors. We cover a range of genres, with a focus on historical fiction (including historical mystery and paranormal), romance and fantasy. To find out more, please don’t hesitate to connect with us.
Website: https://ocelotpress.wordpress.com/
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @OcelotPress
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Other novels by Nancy Jardine
With Ocelot Press
Ancestral/ family tree based Mystery
Monogamy Twist
Romantic Mystery Thriller
Topaz Eyes
Time Travel Historical Adventure (Annaril Publishing)
The Taexali Game (suitable from age 10)
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.nancyjardineauthor.com/
Blog: https://nancyjardine.blogspot.com
Twitter: @nansjar
Buy from https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nancy-Jardine/e/B005IDBIYG/
Historical Fiction - Celtic Fervour Series
With Ocelot Press
Book 1 The Beltane Choice
Book 2 After Whorl: Bran Reborn
Book 3 After Whorl: Donning Double Cloaks
Book 4 Agricola’s Bane
You can buy the books of the Celtic Fervour Series in ebook, or in paperback versions, from Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nancy-Jardine/e/B005IDBIYG/ and other websites across the internet.
Alternatively, buy paperback versions of all novels directly from the author (contact via email or website), and locally at various venues across Aberdeenshire, Scotland – mainly at FOCUS Craft Fair Events. (FOCUS – Festival of Crafts Unique to Scotland)
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading Take Me Now. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved creating it!
Posting your thoughts after reading Take Me Now on Amazon (or on the site the book was bought from) will help me with future mystery writing, and they’ll be much appreciated. Alternatively please email me at [email protected] Reader comments can help me gain more visibility across the internet and, in turn, they help to increase readership and sales. Sometimes ideas occur to a reader that the author may not have thought about but which are good to include in new editions.
/> A review is also very useful for potential new readers to decide if it’s a book they might like to buy and add to their reading pile.
Wishing you fun with future reading!
Nancy Jardine
Take Me Now Page 23
