Page 19

Story: The Wolf of My Eye

“I totally understand.”

Did he? She hoped so. She let out her breath. “So the third guy was nice enough. I thought that three was the charm, but there really wasn’t any physical attraction between us. I think he didn’t want to find anyone else, so he just kept asking me to go out with him. He didn’t feel anything more for me than I did for him. We were just comfortable with each other. When Anne and I bought the inn, I called it quits with him. We had only been seeing each other for a month. He wasn’t unhappy when I told him I was leaving. There just wasn’t anything between us more than a nice friendship.”

“That makes sense. So back to the situation with the phone you found in the garden. Do you think Jude learned you were here and was trying to discover if you’re going out with someone else?” Robert still seemed concerned about her former boyfriend.

She was so glad she had met Robert. “I think that might be dangerous for his health if he returns again.”

“Oh?”

“I believe there would be a whole MacQuarrie wolf pack that would chase them off.”

Robert kissed her again. “Me leading the pack, not Grantthis time. Believe me, I’ll find someone who can get into his phone, and maybe we can learn what he was up to. I don’t want you to have to worry about some guy stalking you.”

She kissed him back and sighed, glad he would be willing to help her out if she needed him to. “I’m so glad Anne and I made the move here.”

“I’m glad you did too, and that I did also, or I might never have met you.”

“Which would have been a real shame. So I know you have a twin sister, but what about any other family?” Maisie asked.

“A cousin, but he’s in America and we don’t expect to see him again.”

“Is there bad blood between you?” she asked.

“There is. He tried to take Edeen’s property away from her, claiming it was his inheritance. It wasn’t, and he didn’t have any right to it.”

“Oh no. I’m glad it was cleared up then.”

“Aye. What about you?” Robert asked.

“Our parents are in Glasgow still, but they plan to move here once they know we’re staying for good. They are afraid they would move, our business would go under, and we would return to Glasgow and then they would have relocated here for no reason.”

“I understand that. Did you tell them about our fishing incident?”

“No. I know if I had, they would have been here in a hurry to make sure I was okay, when I’m fine and I didn’t want to worry them for nothing.”

“How is your ankle?”

“It still hurts.”

“Okay, hold on.” Robert stood and pulled off his shirt.

She smiled to see his beautiful abs again. Robert was truly sexy. She watched him as he walked over to the water and dunked his shirt in, then wrung it out and brought it back to her. He wrapped it around her ankle like it was an ice pack. She shivered. “Cold.”

“Yeah, it might help with the swelling and bruising. I should have thought of it earlier.” Then he worked on the fire again to keep it burning warmly. “So what do you like to do for fun?”

“Just about anything outdoorsy—snorkeling, scuba diving, boating, fishing, hiking, running as a wolf. What about you?”

“I also love the outdoors, and I love archery.”

“You’ll have to teach me archery. Oh, and I sword fight. My sister and I love to do that. Our guests love it when we don kilts and fight each other. They share videos on social media, and then we end up getting more guests.”

“That’s a great marketing ploy.”

“It is. We didn’t know how successful it would be.”

Robert finally returned to his spot on the ground, Maisie leaning back against him, between his legs. His shirt around her ankle was wet but no longer ice-cold. The dog was sleeping across her lap, perfectly happy to snuggle with them for warmth as if they were her packmates. At least she wasn’t searching for a nesting spot, and she seemed perfectly comfortable where she was.

But Robert was shirtless, and Maisie was afraid he wascold. She wanted to warm him more. “I need to turn over. Are you okay? I haven’t cut off your circulation anywhere, have I?”