That seemed odd. She hoped Evie wasn’t being crazy again. She’d had that impossible idea that Sam had a thing for his employee Padma behind her back, when nothing could have been further from the truth.
“Well, I can’t tell him over the phone, and it’ll be another month before I can get back there.”
“Then have him come visit you. Say you need moral support while you give your dissertation. It’s not a lie.”
“And then just bust out that he’s gonna be a dad?” She started to cry again.
Piper sighed. She wished she could reach across the ocean and shake her best friend until her teeth rattled. “Yes! Or ease into it. Wander into the baby section of a store, point out a cute kid on the street. Whatever. He’s going to think it’s great. He’s already—” Piper clamped her lips together and wanted to throttle herself.
She’d nearly given away the fact that Sam had been scouring the entire countryside and parts of Europe for the perfect ring for Evie. Oh, being best friends with two people who were so madly in love with each other was difficult.
She weighed the fact that she’d known Evelyn far longer, and they were practically sisters, and girl solidarity and all that, but Sam would be crushed if he couldn’t do his proposal his way. She tapped the phone lightly on the floor.
“Sorry, Evie, I dropped the phone. I think you need to call him right now and tell him you need him in Texas tout suite. Well, wait a few hours. It’s four in the morning here,” she said in a rush, hoping she had distracted Evie from her near slip up about the ring. She yawned hugely right into the phone for good measure.
“What do you mean?” Evie said, her brain not yet addled from the pregnancy hormones, apparently. “Sam’s already what?”
“Lachlan’s back,” Piper blurted, dropping her head back against the wall.
She waited through another distant clatter and more heaving noises in the background.
“What did you say?” Evie demanded when she was done vomiting. “Holy lord, did I hear you say Lachlan Ferguson is back from the eighteenth century?”
Score. She’d completely distracted Evie from the near snafu about the engagement ring. She glanced up at Lachlan as he laboriously tried to turn over. With a groan, he opened his eyes and struggled to sit up.
“Yes, he got back a few hours ago, and he was stabbed, but he’s all right now. At least I think so, but now he’s waking up so I have to go. I love you!”
She clicked off, barely hearing Evie’s confused wail, and rushed into the bedroom. She tried to get Lachlan to lie back, but even in his injured and drugged state he was still strong as an ox. He clutched his side and grimaced in pain.
“I dinna feel well,” he said, and she crawled onto the bed, pressing down on his chest with both hands.
“That’s because you’re not well,” she said with a laugh, so happy to see him awake, and hear his deep rumble of a voice. Her phone was going crazy where she’d left it in the hallway. “You’re all drugged up on pain medicine. You need to rest.”
“I dinna like it,” he said, pouting like a little boy, but letting her push him back onto the pillows.
He stared up at her, his blue eyes struggling to focus against the mass quantities of medication Dr. Stone had injected him with. Poor Dr. Stone had taken one look at Lachlan’s immense size and hadn’t wanted him waking up while being stitched.
Lachlan sighed and pulled her against his chest, kissing the top of her head when she nestled against him.
“You’re back,” she whispered into his neck and she felt him nod.
“Aye. I did fear I would be too late,” he mumbled.
“What?” She pushed up onto her elbows, careful not to hit him anywhere on his injured side.
She looked down into his pain muddled face, searching for answers as to why he had returned. He’d been so adamantly against it, but now he was here.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” she said when he didn’t offer any further explanation.
He nodded again, slowly, and his eyes drifted shut. Piper wriggled back down, getting comfortable in the crook of his arm, gingerly draping her arm across his chest.
With the insistent buzz of her phone in the background and Lachlan’s reassuring heartbeat under her ear, she fell into a contented sleep.
***
When she awoke, the sun was streaming through the window and Lachlan was breathing deeply and heavily. His medication had probably worn off and this was the true sleep of an exhausted, beaten up time traveler.
She wormed her way out from under his arm and with a sigh, carefully traced the outline of the nasty bruise he had on his face. What had happened?
She couldn’t bear to wake him, no matter how eager she was to hear his story, hear his voice. It was midmorning and she found she was a bit hungry, even after all the excitement of the night before. Lachlan would be ravenous when he woke. Feeling an overwhelming urge to take care of him, she hustled down to the kitchen to whip up a feast.
Damn Mellie and her nursing school classes, she thought when she got to the kitchen and stared into the refrigerator. Mel was such a good cook, she could make a real living as a personal chef.
With a sigh, Piper realized she should either hire someone who actually wanted to to be a personal chef or learn to cook on her own. It was so convenient having Mellie around though. She was so sweet, and knew all the terrible secrets, and had never yet fled in terror.
There were some day old croissants and some brick hard scones in the bread box, and plenty of fruit in the fridge. As much as she relished the thought of seductively feeding Lachlan strawberries and grapes while he recovered, she had a feeling he would appreciate some meat.
She decided to call the local diner that delivered and have them bring a nice breakfast platter. As she made the call, she guiltily ignored the eighteen messages and forty texts she’d received while she slept.
A tall, rangy man came out of the stable and started walking a horse around to the paddock next to it. She waved at Pietro from the kitchen window, but it was too far away and he was focused on his work.
When her order was placed, she ran outside and down the hill to greet her new stable manager, and try to come up with some story as to why he might eventually see a strange man wandering the estate.
Pietro Gardioli was from an old Scottish family, despite his rakish Italian name. His mother had gone on a tour of Europe after she graduated college and fell in love with Verona and a handsome Italian winemaker. When Pietro was born, she realized she couldn’t have him grow up with the wild, free ways of the Italians and promptly moved back to the Highlands. The husband couldn’t live without his little family, sold his small vineyard and moved to Scotland, where he bred horses. He wasn’t very good at it, but Pietro had gotten a real knack for all things equine, which was rivalled only by his love of flying.
Straight from a stint as a pilot in the RAF, he’d come back to the Highlands and knocked on her door, having heard that she might be looking to repopulate the stable.
Piper had been dazzled by his heart-stopping war stories, and he had soon filled her barn with some amazing thoroughbreds, and one staid mare that she was allowed to ride under his supervision.
He couldn’t believe that even though she was from Texas, she could barely sit a horse. Now she was up to tentatively cantering around the ring, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The estate would be hosting a charity ride in the middle of the summer and she was determined to make a good showing in front of all the snooty equestrians who would be there.
When Pietro had heard that it most definitely wouldn’t be a hunt of any kind, and that they were going to ride out and back again without killing anything, he almost couldn’t breathe for laughing at her.
“No one will stand for that,” he told her. “They’re quite bloodthirsty and competitive.”
They’d finally compromised on having flags hidden here and there on the property, and whoever collected the most flags would win a fantastic prize, like
a cruise or a priceless bottle of wine from her underground cellar. If anyone balked over not getting to murder a fox, then they’d have to go home empty handed.
“Piper, how do ye do this morning?” he called out to her when she approached the paddock and climbed onto the bottom rung of the fence to wave at him.
He patted the horse, a shining storybook black monstrosity and started to lead it over to her.
“Hello, Francois,” she said, trying to hide her nerves as she rubbed its nose.
The horse nuzzled her hand and she forced herself not to jerk away. Still, Pietro saw right through her.
“He’ll not bite you,” he said, shaking his head at her. “Ye must stop being so nervous ‘round them.”
“I know,” she sighed. “They’re so intimidating. Francois looks like he belongs to the headless horseman.”
Pietro laughed and turned Francois out into the paddock, leaning on the other side of the fence from Piper. His eyes glinted. “He looks wicked, aye, but he’s really as sweet as a newborn calf.”
“Oh, well, I’ll remember that,” she said, laughing as well.
She was getting used to the weather and the chill morning felt bracing, the air fresh and sparkling with goodness as she took a deep cleansing breath. She tipped her head back and sighed.
“It is a great day out today,” he agreed, glancing up at the nearly cloudless sky.
He waited patiently at the fence rail and she began to feel stupid for coming out. Pietro rarely went up to the house, and she could easily keep Lachlan out of his sight. She hadn’t needed to come down. But it was such a lovely day, and the night had been so stressful. She wanted to stay out here a little bit longer and watch Francois gambol about the yard.
“I do love the horses,” she said dreamily. “I’m so glad you talked me into getting them.”
He looked embarrassed and ran his hand through his wavy, dark blond hair. His skin was so tan from being outside all the time that he barely passed for a Scot. He could have easily been a Texan rancher.
He shrugged. “I’m glad ye didn’t chase me off with a pitchfork. I was awfully bossy.”
“Well, you were right. The place wouldn’t have been complete without the horses.” She smiled at him and looked out over the hills. “Or the sheep.” She knew he wasn’t thrilled about her latest addition to the property, but they were so cute. “Have you been able to hire all the help you need?” she asked.
He nodded. “Aye, ye’ve been very generous. People were lining up to apply.”
“Perfect. I would never want you to feel overloaded.”
She hopped off the fence and stood there feeling awkward as he continued to smile down at her. She glanced behind her at the house and started backing away.
“I’m expecting a delivery,” she said, and with a quick half wave, half salute, she took off back to the house.
She didn’t know why she should feel so uncomfortable all of a sudden. He was funny and handsome and told amazing stories about his adventures as a fighter pilot, but she’d never acted anything other than friendly.
Oh, she might have let him flirt with her once or twice, but she was sure he never meant anything by it. She hoped he hadn’t, anyway. She’d spent the last several months consumed with the heartbreak of losing Lachlan. Listening to Pietro’s war stories, learning how to ride, and maybe getting flirted with occasionally had helped her through it.
She really should have mentioned Lachlan. It was weird that she hadn’t, and it would just be all the more awkward to explain if Pietro did come across him on the grounds. She could have kept up the historical reenactor story to explain him. Not that she needed to explain him.
Except that she did, because the people in the village thrived on gossip, and if anyone found out a strange man was staying with her, it would be akin to finding a mermaid skeleton at the bottom of the duck pond.
As she wished Evelyn was there to help her figure things out, she remembered with another stab of guilt that she’d hung up on her pregnant best friend and had been ignoring her calls ever since.
“This is all too much,” she said to herself when she swung open the kitchen door.
The caterer, who had been out to the estate so many times before, had just let herself in. She frowned down at the heated trays full of bacon and eggs and fresh toasted scones.
“Ah, do ye think so? It’s what I always bring,” she said.
Piper choked back a dismayed laugh and paid the caterer, thanking her profusely for being so quick about it. She put the cover back on the tray and with a determined sigh, started up the stairs.
Chapter 3
Lachlan woke up and stretched luxuriously as she walked into the room bearing bacon and eggs. He beamed at her and she almost lost her balance he was so gorgeous. His blue eyes were bright and clear, completely free of their drugged haze, and the sheet had fallen down, revealing his chiseled chest and wide, rock hewn shoulders. Piper almost licked her lips he looked so good, but quickly caught herself and rushed to his bedside.
She got him situated with the breakfast and then checked his bandages. When she finally sat down on the edge of the bed to watch him eat, he dropped the slice of bacon he had in his hand and pushed the tray away from him.
With another kind of hunger in his eyes, he reached for her, pulling her close to his bare chest and running his hand along her back.
“I missed ye so,” he said, trailing hot kisses along the side of her throat, behind her ear, under her jaw.
He pulled her closer, and she was afraid he’d tear out his stitches, but she was also under the spell of his mouth as it was now working its way down her neck, into the open neckline of her blouse. His other hand slid down her side, stopping at the waistband of her jeans.
“These wicked things again. Do ye never wear a skirt, woman?” he asked in frustration.
She laughed and tried to get him to stop. “You’re going to hurt yourself,” she said, grabbing his hand and bringing it to her mouth to kiss his knuckles.
She looked into his eyes, and faltered in her resolve.
“I am already hurt, no?” he asked, pushing himself up to a sitting position and propping the pillows behind him.
He grabbed one of her legs and swung it over him so she was straddling his thighs, then placed his hand behind her head and pulled her down to him for a deep, earth shattering kiss.
She sighed happily into his mouth as his hands traveled down her backside. She edged closer to him, until she was lying almost completely on top of him, trying to keep slightly to the side so she wouldn’t disturb his stitches.
“If ye dinna stop worrying about the stitches, I will rip them out myself and be done wi’ it,” he said menacingly, nipping at her lower lip and pressing her hips into his.
After teasing her with his tongue for a long, wonderful moment, he nudged her away from him so he could start undoing the buttons on her blouse.
With each button, he leaned forward and kissed the skin that was exposed, causing her heart to skip a beat. She ran her hand through his tangled hair, smoothing it away from his face.
His eyes were closed as he pressed his lips against the small swell of her newly exposed cleavage.
Feeling the gentle touch of his fingers made the dark cloud she’d been living under the last six months dissipate, blown away with his warm breath on her skin. He was her light, her angel.
Up until that moment, she hadn’t even realized how mechanically she’d been living.
She’d filled each day with activities that seemed fulfilling and important, restoring the castle, opening a museum, getting her ridiculous fortune under control. She’d made friends, hired people, bought livestock, signed things. She could see clearly now and he completely filled her vision. But still, she wanted more.
“You’re mine,” she whispered, not even realizing she’d said it aloud until she heard his low chuckle against her throat.
“Aye,” he agreed, opening another button.
Pi
per didn’t think she could hold anymore happiness, but it kept rushing into her, and she didn’t burst. Grateful tears welled in her eyes.
Lachlan reached up and pulled her face down to kiss her, then with a wolfish grin, returned to the gaping neckline of her blouse. When he got to her bra, he frowned at it and she laughed, reaching around and popping it open. Lachlan smiled at her, so sweetly and beautifully, she almost couldn’t breathe.
“I love you,” she said, the words bubbling up straight from her heart, then felt her face light on fire.
It was the first time she’d said it to him since he’d come back. Did he still feel the same? She wanted to wrench away and crawl out of the room, but his gaze locked her in place.
Sliding the blouse off her shoulders, he bit his lip and blinked as she shimmied the rest of the way out of it, then pulled the straps of her bra down the sides of her arms, freeing her breasts. With a sigh, she held her arms out in front of her and he slid it all the way off, tossing it away. He ran his hands up the sides of her body, gently cupping her breasts, sliding his thumbs over her nipples, never looking away from her face. Finally, she had to blink, and gasped out from the pleasure of his thumbs stroking her.
He leaned up again to take her mouth with his, and gripped her fiercely by the shoulders, parting her lips with an insistent stroke of his tongue.
The ember of desire he’d stoked with his caresses ignited a blaze throughout her body as his tongue plundered her mouth. She pressed against him, her limbs shaking with fiery need.
“I love ye,” he said when he broke free. His eyes were dark, midnight blue and sparking with desire. “I couldna stop thinking of ye, no matter what I tried. I may be damned to hell for it, but I had to find ye again.”
Before she could respond, she was distracted by his hands, roaming sinuously down her body, stopping at her jeans.
“I do hate them,” he said, undoing the button and tugging at the zipper.
Reunited (Book 2 of Lost Highlander series) Page 2
