She pretended to ponder the idea. “Do you think the village will recover?”
“I’m fairly certain they will get on for a few hours without loading up on the latest stationery, and the whisky will age perfectly well without my constant attention.” He reached up and kissed the tip of her nose. “At least for the length of a day, anyway.”
“Oh, we’re such rebels, aren’t we?”
“It’s a start,” he countered.
She dipped down and kissed him. Hard. “And a damn fine one it ‘tis, too. Where are we going?”
“I thought I’d take you out, show you the rest of the Chisholm property. Including the crumbling old manse that is our family estate. My oldest brother, Dylan, is in the midst of turning a portion of it into a bed and breakfast setup. A way to help defray the ever-mounting costs of maintaining the poor auld thing. I willnae vouch for his disposition. A cheery sort, he isn’t. But he’s had his share of troubles, so we leave him to it. I’d like to take you around anyway if you’re game.”
“Brodie has mentioned him, and the fledgling business. Of course I’ll go.”
Reese smiled. “Och, I can see the light dawning in your eyes already. I should have started with my youngest brother, Tristan, first, then. An artist’s heart he has, but he’s our farm manager by trade. He’ll have nothing of interest for your businesswoman’s soul, and you’ll be safely mine.”
“You didn’t exactly make Dylan out to be a catch, you know.”
“Trust me,” Reese told her, “he’s got that wounded warrior spirit that women love to take on, thinking they’ll be the one to mend his broken heart.”
“Broken-hearted? Is that why he’s ‘not a cheery sort’, as you say?”
“See? Your heart is already tilting. What is it about—”
“We’re nurturers by nature, Reese. We want to fix it and make it better.”
“Well, you’ll have your hands full enough fixing me,” he said, rather gruffly, which made her laugh; then, to add insult to injury, she ruffled his hair and kissed him on the tip of his nose. “And as I was saying, if you’re considering coming to him with a business proposal,” he added, “well, if you think I was a hard sell when it came to convincing me of the lure of Internet marketing—”
“You weren’t exactly hard.” She pressed against him. “Well, except where you needed to be. “But don’t worry, I have no intention of selling your brother on the merits of proper marketing and sales.” She winked at him. “No’ until I get to know him a wee bit better, anyway.”
Reese rolled his eyes, but his smile was amused. “I’ve created a monster, I have.”
“Oh no, you’ve tamed her, to be certain. And if it makes you feel any better, I’ll send bottles of Glenbuie to all my friends back home for Christmas.”
“Ye drive a hard bargain, lass.”
Suddenly reenergized, she moved on top of him so she straddled his hips, making his eyes widen a bit when she pinned his hands to the bed. “We’ll see about that.”
He tipped his head back, closed his eyes, and let her have her way with him. “See, perfectly balanced we are.”
“Aye,” she said, leaning down and taking his mouth, before slowly fulfilling her every fantasy—and his, if the way he groaned and moved beneath her was any indication—as she slid down the length of his body, her tongue taking a slightly longer, more lingering path. He lifted his head and watched as she slid her tongue around him, then took him in her mouth and suckled him back to life.
“You have the rest of your life to stop doing that,” he said, echoing her earlier claim.
“Deal.”
Balanced, indeed.
Chisholm Brothers 02 On Tap Page 11
