Page 2 of Highlander’s Curse (The Daughters of the Glen #8)

One

D ENVER, C OLORADO F EbrUARY P RESENT DAY H ere’s to Abby, our archaeologist extraordinaire!”

Abigail Porter lifted her glass, clinking it against the ones held by her friends before bringing it to her lips and downing the colorful contents.

The shot was liquid candy in her mouth, heating her chest as it rolled down her throat.

She was so going to regret all this tomorrow morning.

“Heyya, honey!” Lauren waggled a finger at the passing waiter. “Another round right here, just like the last one.”

“At this rate, I’m gonna feel like shit on that plane tomorrow.” Casey wiped her index finger into the narrow opening of the empty little glass to catch up every last drop. “But it’ll be worth it for one last Girls’ Night Out!”

Last time. Abby shook her head, trying to clear the fuzz from her brain. Her whole life would change after tonight.

She’d met Lauren and Casey on her first day of college and they’d been inseparable ever since.

After Casey had taken her dream job and moved to California, they’d still managed to see each other every few months when Casey would fly through Denver on her business trips.

Not even Lauren’s getting married and moving to the East Coast had ended their friendship, though it had meant their Girls’ Nights Out were fewer and farther between.

But nothing lasts forever.

“We’ll still see each other, Case. Just maybe not as often and I’ll probably be dragging kidlets along when I come. They’ll need to get to know their aunties, after all.” Lauren nodded emphatically as she spoke.

Abby felt her lips peel back in a grin. The minute Lauren had stepped off the plane this morning she’d announced that she and Greg had decided to have a baby.

She had it all planned. Six months to eat healthy and give up everything that was bad for her and then she’d get pregnant.

Just like Lauren to expect her life to go according to a timetable.

And knowing Lauren, it probably would.

“Here you go, ladies. Nobody’s driving tonight, I hope?”

The waiter’s features seemed to blur a little as he held the tray in front of him and placed each little glass and an accompanying large one together on the table.

“Nope. Staying right here at the hotel,” Lauren assured the young man. “Got early flights out.”

Abigail blinked hard, reaching with an unsteady hand to pick up her shot as her friends did the same.

Lauren and Casey were both staying at the airport hotel tonight, but since she lived in town, she was going home in a taxi.

“No matter what you say, Lauren, it won’t ever be the same again.

” Casey shook her head, her drink untouched.

“Sam keeps talking marriage and family and we all know it’s just a matter of time before I cave to the pressure.

Abby’s going off on this dig thing this summer and now that she’s a big mucky-muck international archaeologist, she’ll end up all famous and giving lectures on the Discovery Channel.

And you! You’re going to freakin’ have kids, for God’s sake.

We won’t ever be the same again. We’ll be officially grown up. ”

“Not an archaeologist yet.” The words rattled around in Abby’s brain until she finally managed to blurt them out loud.

Granted, she had her undergraduate degree, but the year she’d taken off to work before pursuing her master’s had slowed her down.

With money an issue, she’d had no choice.

Just the thought of her student loan debt made her reach for the glass of beer sitting in front of her.

“You will be. And you’ll be the best one ever, too. Nobody can find stuff like you can.”

Abby only wished she could feel as certain of her future as Lauren sounded.

It had been her life’s dream from the time she’d been old enough to know there were ancient cultures waiting to be discovered.

Her only goal in life was to follow the voices calling in her head and to make a success of it.

She hadn’t the slightest doubt that her destiny lay in finding something ancient, something wonderful meant for only her to find.

“Absolutely she will,” Casey agreed. “And didn’t you say this new archaeology job is everything you’d hoped for?”

Everything and more. Like manna from heaven this opportunity had dropped in her lap.

Some wealthy archaeologist wannabe was footing the bill for a three-month dig in Scotland trying to prove some theory of his about original inhabitants that would get his name immortalized in archaeology textbooks around the world.

All Abby cared about was that they’d be excavating the site of an ancient stone circle. It was a chance the likes of which she’d only dreamed of in the past. Like chocolate syrup on top of a sundae, Mr. Wannabe Famous was paying a generous salary to the candidates he chose.

And, wonder of wonders, he’d chosen her as one of them.

How an introvert like her had made it through the interview process and actually gotten on the team, she had no idea.

She’d been a nervous wreck when she’d met with the representative.

All she knew was that she’d received a letter yesterday welcoming her onto the team.

Being selected meant that four months from now she’d be flying to Scotland and starting the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her in her entire life.

“Does Craig know you’re leaving the country for two months?” Casey tried unsuccessfully for an innocent look, batting her long lashes over the rim of her beer glass.

“No.” Why would she tell him? That relationship had been over and done with more than a year ago. “He’s moved on, Case. Last I heard he’s engaged or something now.”

“It could have been you he’s engaged to, you know,” Lauren accused. “You could have had that one if you’d tried a little harder.”

“Didn’t want that one. Craig’s a nice enough guy and all, but he’s just not .

. .” Abby stopped, thinking of the man she’d come so close to marrying.

He really was a decent guy. Handsome, wealthy family, good job.

Craig was pretty much perfect. Perfect hair, perfect manners, perfect smooth, clean hands that were softer than hers.

He was perfect, all right. Perfect for someone other than her.

“Oh, let me guess. He’s just not The One,” Casey finished for her, dramatically wiggling her fingers in the air to signify quotation marks.

“Exactly,” Abby agreed with a shudder. “Besides. Like I need a man to complicate my life right now? I’m totally fine on my own, you guys. Totally.”

That was the story she was sticking to with these women. The parade of horrible blind dates her well-meaning friends had subjected her to after her breakup with Craig was all too clearly etched in her memory.

“Oh, yeah? Well, I think a man is exactly what you need,” Lauren responded. “If we get you and Casey both married, then we could all do the mom thing together. Our kids could grow up and maybe even get married to each other. We could be our own in-laws! How perfect would that be?”

The idea sent the three of them into a fit of giggles as Lauren twirled her hand around her head like a cowgirl with a lasso, signaling the waiter for another round.

“Last one for me, girlies. I got to get me some z’s or I’ll never make that plane in the morning.

Correction. This morning.” Lauren grinned wickedly as the waiter delivered their drinks.

“So let’s make this a good one. Just like old times.

We have to drink to our heart’s deepest secret wish. Casey?”

Casey lifted her drink first. “My secret wish. Okay. Since it’s you guys, I’ll admit this.

In spite of all my crap about not ever getting married, I’m really not going to mind so much when I let Sam talk me into it.

My wish would be that since I’m getting home just in time for Valentine’s Day, he asks again so I can surprise the shit out of him and say yes this time. ”

“Good one. No real secret there, but good, nonetheless.” Lauren grinned and lifted her drink. “My turn. I want twins. I’d wish for two girls so I can name one after each of you. Greg has already agreed. Now you, Abby. Your deepest, most passionate wish.”

Abby lifted her glass, trying to focus her thoughts through the alcohol haze, horrified when she blurted out the truth. “I do want to find The One. Not some soft-handed man. I want a real man’s man, you know? The sooner the better.”

“What happened to our Miss I-don’t-need-any-man?

” Lauren started to giggle, holding her perfectly manicured fingers in front of her lips.

“Oh, honey, I wondered when you were finally going to admit it to yourself. Frankly, I’m amazed that the girl who can find anything hasn’t already found her perfect man. ”

“Wait, wait. I know exactly what she needs,” Casey interrupted, setting her glass down and leaning forward. “Total alpha male, just like in those romance books you read, Abby. All hot and bothered, right there in your bed, muscles rippling with every move, just waiting for you to jump his bones.”

“That’s perfect for her! An honest-to-God hero in all his naked glory,” Lauren added with another giggle.

“Exactly. That’s what I wish for. I want to find The One,” Abby agreed, nodding her head as she tried to picture that mysterious Soulmate who lived only in the dark recesses of her imagination.

She lifted her glass and clinked it against those her two friends held. “I wish that all our wishes come true.”

For an instant, the lights in the room seemed to dim, casting a green glow over them, and the empty glasses on the table rattled.

“Whoa, those planes must be flying low tonight,” Lauren laughed. “Here’s to us, ladies. May all our wishes come true.”

“May all our wishes come true,” Abby and Casey echoed.

They clinked their glasses together again and emptied them, sitting quietly for a few minutes after their laughter died away.

“Won’t you change your mind and stay here with us tonight, Abby? It’d be like old times,” Casey offered as she and Lauren rose to their feet.

“Yeah, you really should. There’s no reason you need to drag your butt home at this time of night . . . or morning,” Lauren agreed.

“Nope.” Abby stood, hugging each of her friends in turn.

“I’m on the schedule to work at the museum this afternoon.

I’ll just finish my beer and then grab a taxi home.

No big deal. Really. I should be able to get a few hours of sleep before I have to get my day started.

You guys have good flights out tomorrow. And call me when you get home.”

Another round of teary hugs accompanied by promises to stay in touch, and Abby sat back down, watching her friends disappear through the door toward the elevators.

It had been so much fun to spend the day with them.

If only she hadn’t ruined it by stupidly admitting her desire to find that one perfect man.

She suspected she’d be dealing with the fallout from this evening for quite some time.

She downed the last of her beer and then fumbled in her purse for cash to leave as a tip. The waiter had more than earned it by putting up with them all evening.

Two steps away from the table she grabbed for the nearest chair back to steady herself. Those cute little drinks might taste like liquid candy but they sure packed a wicked punch.

She headed for the lobby and the front doors, grateful that though the room spun lazily around her, at least she didn’t feel like she was viewing the world through a glass of green liquid as she had earlier at the table.

Maybe if she was lucky, Lauren and Casey would be in as bad a shape as her. Maybe, just maybe, they wouldn’t even remember her whole I-want-to-find-the-perfect-man debacle.

“Yeah, right,” she snorted to herself, causing the doorman to jump as if he hadn’t realized anyone approached.

She was so screwed. Those two women would never forget.

And they’d never let her forget, either.

Both Lauren and Casey would be scouring their lists of single men the second they got home, searching through every possible candidate.

They’d be pushing every single man they could find her direction until she was old and gray.

A future filled with scores of crappy dates and Not The Ones lay before her thanks to that one little slip.

Oh, yeah, there was no doubt that she was so going to regret tonight in the morning.