The Coulson Boys (Adam)

by Karen Lamb

  The Castle couldn’t expand its bedrooms, so instead, we could look to build deluxe log cabins in the grounds. We could tap into local traders and offer work, which would boost the local economy. It would be important to have the locals ‘on board’.” I nodded enthusiastically to every word Adam was saying, enjoying seeing the business side of him and his enthusiasm shining through.

  “What about the land and the management of the wildlife Adam, it’s a lot to consider?” Adam stared into the fire as if for inspiration, his face suddenly lit up.

  “Claire, I think I have the perfect solution!” I waited expectantly. “What if I spoke to Daniel, he would be the perfect person to work alongside the gamekeepers, their knowledge with the deer and the game, and his rare breed cattle could be the perfect match. I would need to get him to come up here and check the place out, he would be his own boss, and he wouldn’t be living on the other side of the world.”

  Our discussions continued for some time, before tired heads forced us to go to bed.

  The next morning Adam was up and showered by 7am, he brought me a cup of tea.

  “Wow! your up with the larks” I smiled.

  “I wanted to catch Daniel before he started his day. I really want him to get up here ASAP and check out the place, if nothing else I value his opinion and he will be honest with me.” He saw my face beaming up at me,

  “What!” he asked.

  “Absolutely nothing,” I shook my head, “it’s just so lovely to see you in action, your enthusiasm is infectious.”

  “I could delay my call and show you how enthusiastic I could be with your body!”

  “Behave yourself,” I giggled, “go and talk to Daniel and leave me here to sleep.”

  “OK,” said Adam, “but I warn you, I will be back to bother you in about 30 minutes.”

  “I can’t wait,” I said dreamily, he bent down and kissed me with a passion that woke me up, “stop it,” I cried, “before I change my mind.” He grinned,

  “In the meantime, think of some ideas on what you would like to do when I come back!!”

  ADAM

  Daniel was surprisingly interested in my proposal, and thought it was definitely worth coming up to check things out. I took a deep breath before reflecting on the last 48 hours. I believed I had lost Claire and my life was over! Instead I discovered the opposite, she had missed me as much as I had her and was certain she loved me. Now there was the opportunity to start a new life together here in Skye, I felt a very lucky man.

  My thoughts now raced to Claire alone in bed, just the thought of touching her made parts of me ache. Enough business for now, I headed towards the stairs before running up and announcing that I was about to do unimaginable things to her body, I heard Claire squealing with a mix of horror and delight.

  CHAPTER 38

  Hamish and Adam had arranged to share a whisky or two in the bar; Adam wanted to bring him up to date with our intentions. Hamish was delighted that Daniel was on his way and would be arriving sometime tomorrow, he said he’d have a word with Jock and Ian to make sure they were available to take them around the estate and answer any questions they had.

  Hamish confessed he had the Chinese consortium breathing down his neck, but he wasn’t going to be bullied, their ideas with what they wanted to do with the Estate was horrifying, but they were prepared to pay for it handsomely. Hamish put a hand on Adam’s shoulder and shook it.

  “I truly hope you can pull an offer out the bag, I would feel so much more comfortable knowing the Estate would be in good hands.”

  The next day was a whirlwind of events, I was so looking forward to meeting Daniel, I hoped he would love the place and come and join Adam in our venture, I knew it would mean the world to him to have his brother here. The weather was a perfect autumnal day, the colours around the mountains and loch were dazzling and I knew I would be very happy painting while the boys toured the Estate.

  Adam was in full business mode, he had drilled Hamish over the last two days as to the state of the accounts and the day to day running of the Estate. After a few phone calls to his old boss in London he had arranged funds to be put into place, if we decided to go ahead.

  Adam’s phone rang; he mouthed out loud its Daniel.

  “Hi bro how’s it going? Oh really, that’s great, we’ll walk up to the castle and wait for you there, see you soon!” His face was a picture, I saw clearly how much this meant to him, I confess I felt a little nervous about meeting the first member of his family, I wanted to make a good impression. Adam, as always, read my mind, he took my hands and kissed them. “Claire please don’t worry, Daniel is going to love you, trust me, we Coulson men know and appreciate beautiful women, my only worry is he falls in love with you too, like most men who meet you!”

  “Excuse me, you seem under the impression that it’s me who is the Siren here, luring men into my power with a click of my fingers!”

  “We’ll see!” said Adam, “he won’t be able to resist your charm.”

  “Well in that case I’ll need to give some attention to my appearance.” I stood on tiptoe and kissed his soft warm lips, he pulled me in close and hungrily added his special touch, which always left me breathless and wanting more, I tried to talk and pull away.

  “Stop right now or we will need to take this upstairs!” his eyes smouldered at me.

  “Fine by me.”

  “And Daniel?”

  “He can wait” as he scooped me effortlessly in his arms and took me upstairs.

  Our lovemaking was never the same twice; he seemed to know how to make things different and surprised me with yet another way to pleasure me. Twenty minutes later we quickly grabbed our clothes and hurried to get dressed, I slipped a coat of lipstick on and brushed my fingers through my hair, Adam stood watching me,

  “What?” I asked.

  “Nothing, absolutely nothing, I am just appreciating how lucky I am to have you in my life,” his tenderness made me feel weak at the knees and I felt a rush of overwhelming happiness surge through me. I walked towards him, grabbed a hand and said.

  “Come on I am dying to meet Daniel,” he grinned back.

  “Me too, you’re going to love him.”

  “So you keep reassuring me!”

  DANIEL

  I drove up the driveway till I reached the Castle entrance, ‘Wow! bloody hell Adam, this is something else!’ I parked and slowly walked towards the entrance, a young man opened the door for me.

  “Good afternoon sir.”

  “Good afternoon,” I replied, “I’m looking for Adam Coulson.”

  “Oh, you must be Daniel, his brother, I’m Ewan,” and he shook my hand, “come this way, your brother and Claire are on their way, can I get you anything?”

  “I’d love a coffee.”

  “Right this way, sir.” As he led me through the imposing reception I saw in front of me a young woman on the phone behind the reception desk, she looked up and smiled before returning her attention to her computer and continued talking on the phone. Her face was like nothing I had seen before; her unique beauty stopped me dead in my tracks, for a split second I wasn’t focused on anything but her, as I bumped head long into a doorway, my embarrassment obvious by the colour of my face, I caught myself before I made a greater fool of myself. Ewan smirked.

  “Oops, watch yourself sir,” then whispered, “she has that effect on men.”

  “I can only imagine,” I said, as I composed myself and followed Ewan to a table in what I assumed was the lounge bar.

  “Any particular kind of coffee?” Ewan asked.

  “Do you serve cappuccinos?”

  “We can make any kind of coffee you would like, we may be remote but we are fully up to date with all the fashionable trends!”

  “Right, sorry, great to hear.”

  “Anything else, something to eat perhaps?”

  “No, that’ll be fine, thanks.”

  A few minutes later I heard the front door open and Adam’s voice as he sai
d hello to Kathryn at receptiont, ah! so that’s what this Scottish goddess is called! I got up as Adam and a lovely woman in her late 40’s came into the lounge, I guessed this was Claire and I instantly understood why Adam had fallen for her, she had a calm demeanour and a beauty in her face which had a kindness that only comes from within.

  CHAPTER 39

  “Daniel, welcome to Skye,” as he grabbed his brother and hugged him fondly, “how was your trip?”

  “Pretty easy actually, the scenery its breath taking so the trip flew by.” Adam turned towards Claire.

  “Daniel this is Claire, the woman who has stolen my heart and who is, I can see, a little nervous to meet you,” Daniel smiled.

  “Hello Claire, I have been more than a bit curious to meet you, he never shut up about you and now I see why,” as he kissed me on the cheek.

  “I’ve been really looking forward to seeing you as well, I too have heard a lot about you.” Ewan brought Daniel’s coffee to the table.

  “Can I get you folks some coffee?”

  “That would be great, two of the same, thank you Ewan,” said Adam.

  “This is something of an unexpected surprise bro.”

  “For us too,” said Adam, “it seems a great business opportunity to invest in. If you’re up for it, Hamish, the Laird, Jock the Gillie and Ian the gamekeeper are going to take us around the place.”

  “I can’t wait, let’s drink our coffees and go.”

  Whilst the men were off gallivanting around the Estate, I took the time to call Laura.

  “Claire, I’ve been bursting to find out how things have been going, I didn’t want to disturb you and Adam, I kind of figured you’d like the time to yourselves.”

  “Well you may need to pour a drink and sit down, my news is going to blow you away!

  “Ooh!” shrieked Laura, “hang on, I’m dashing to the fridge to pour some wine. Right, I am sitting, glass in hand, spill the beans.”

  The next hour was a series of ‘my god’ followed by ‘you’re kidding me’ and shouts of delight from Laura.

  “I have to say Claire, you certainly know how to surprise me, I for one never saw any of that coming.”

  “Me neither,” I said.

  “So, you’re seriously considering buying the place with Adam our yoga teacher, who happens to be a secret millionaire?” I laughed at her comment.

  “Yes, that’s it in a nutshell. One final thing I wanted to mention, if you are serious about buying the cottage, it’s yours. I’ve given a lot of thought to selling it, it feels right, Adam and I need a fresh start together, and I know if you and Frank buy it it’ll be in safe hands.”

  “Really! Oh Claire, you’ve made my day, let me talk it over with Frank, I am sure he will say yes. So when will I see you?”

  “We need to sort things out here, then we’ll head home, I can’t wait to see you and Frank, we can have some supper at the cottage and fill you in on any other news.”

  “I can’t wait Claire, love you”

  “Love you too Laura.”

  CHAPTER 40

  The next three months were a blur; Daniel had jumped at the opportunity to move up to Skye, he was keen to investigate the possibility of breeding rare Scottish cattle, and Ian was more than happy to show him how to look after the herds of deer, they had even discussed introducing wild boar in the future. The added attraction for Daniel was the lovely Kathryn, but he would have to work really hard to get her interested, she was not just going to fall in love with him like all the other girls he had dated in the past. However, Coulson men weren’t quitters and they liked a challenge!

  I had been to Sussex with Adam for a long weekend and met the family, it had gone better than I could have ever imagined, his parents were so welcoming and my worry about our age difference genuinely was not an issue. Adam’s father had even agreed to retire, much to the relief of the boys.

  Laura and Frank were in the process of buying my cottage, Frank was fully recovered from his accident, more importantly, their marriage was healing, and the future was looking promising. Adam had passed over his yoga classes to Mary who had been looking after things while he’d been away, she seemed enthusiastic to take over the classes permanently, I suspected some of the ladies would miss Adam and preferred he stay on, however, he promised he was going to have regular Yoga retreats at Lynloch castle and they seemed very keen to come up to visit us.

  Finally, on a cold snowy day in late December, Adam and I got married in our new home, everyone came to help us celebrate our day. I had persuaded Adam to let me ask Hamish to give me away, before he set off for his trip around the world. Laura was my designated bridesmaid, Daniel was the best man. We had convinced the men that they should all wear kilts, even though the chilly air made some of them grimace, the drams of whisky, which were passed around freely before the ceremony, seemed to offer them sufficient warmth and courage.

  Mario had excelled himself, we had enjoyed planning the feast together and it had been a triumph, the wedding banquet was fit for a Laird and lady.

  Late into our wedding night, Adam and I lay in our huge four-poster bed; the flames from the fire gave out welcoming warmth. His strong arms lovingly embraced me, his heartbeat reassuringly pounding in my ear.

  “Happy?” he whispered.

  “You have no idea how happy,” I paused and gazed into his beautiful face, “thank you Adam.”

  “For what?”

  “For Awakening me. I was lost in my grief, then you came into my life, you rescued me from a despair I hope never to feel again,” as my tears slowly fell down my face.

  “Claire, it is I that should be thanking you, I too was a lost soul until I met you.” He wiped away my tears.

  “I promise, Claire Coulson, to love you more with each coming day and never stop showing you how much you mean to me.” His eyes took on a lustful shine. “Now my Lady, I believe the Laird demands his conjugal rights!”

  “What again,” I laughed.

  “I’m afraid so, it’s your duty!”

  “I love you Claire,” he whispered.

  “And I love you Adam.”

  THE END……

  I hope you’ve enjoyed my first book in THE COULSON BOYS trilogy. I have now finished book two and here is a brief summary, hopefully to ‘wet your appetite!’:-

  THE COULSON BROTHERS

  (DANIEL)

  The Coulson brothers continue to search for love, not necessarily in the right places and find themselves once again in trouble.

  Daniel still isn’t sure what he wants to do, until unexpected opportunities come his way. Is he ready to radically change his life for the love of a woman?

  There are menacing forces trying to stop him, his journey has many ups and downs, this is the second book in the trilogy of ‘The Coulson Boys’ and things are about to get messy!

  WEBSITE: - www.jklambauthor.com

  ALL OUR BOOKS – Please click title for more details.

  SERIES---

  The Coulson Boys – ADAM - Book 1.

  The Coulson Boys – DANIEL - Book 2.

  The Coulson Boys – HARRY - Book 3.

  SEQUELS---

  GEOFFREY – Book 1.

  THE BOOK CLUB – Book 2.

  ⤟&⤠

  HOW TO KILL YOUR WIFE – Book 1.

  A SIMPLE MISTAKE – Book 2.

  STAND ALONE---

  THE GAME OF LIFE.