Page 17 of Kilts and Kisses at Highland Hall (Kilts and Kisses #1)

Bex was sure she had to have misheard. Katty? Was Katty a name? Maybe Lorna’s thick accent was making it hard to understand. She opened her mouth, ready to ask Lorna to repeat herself, but as it turned out, there was no need.

‘You heard me right,’ Lorna said, continuing to glare at the door. ‘Katty McLeod. And trust me, never has a person been more aptly named.’

Bex glanced across at the woman in question.

Katty looked to be about their age, with bright blonde hair woven into an intricate braid that fell over her shoulder.

She was one of those women who made simple look stylish, in light blue jeans, with a black vest top and a pair of strappy sandals.

But despite Lorna knowing who she was, the way Katty’s eyes darted around the room as she stood there reminded Bex of herself when she had walked in only a few minutes before.

She looked nervous. Unsure if she was in the right place.

‘Pretend you haven’t seen her,’ Lorna hissed, suddenly swivelling back around to face the bar, putting her back to Katty.

‘I don’t think that’s going to work,’ Bex whispered back. ‘She’s heading this way.’ And it was more than heading – Katty was striding directly towards Lorna, her eyes locked, as if she had a mission.

‘Crap. Crap!’ Lorna muttered under her breath.

‘Lorna, I was hoping to see you,’ Katty said, utterly ignoring Bex. Bex didn’t mind; whatever was going on here, she was glad not to be a part of it. Lorna’s entire body was tense, a bulging vein visible on her neck.

‘Katty,’ she said, turning slowly around. ‘What an unpleasant surprise this is.’

Katty’s smile faltered and her lips twisted tightly together. Bex assumed the woman would hold her ground. Perhaps send a scathing remark back in Lorna’s direction, but instead, her face dropped into a deep scowl as a heavy sigh blew from her lips.

‘Look, I get it, I messed up. But I need your help. If you could just ask Duncan to listen to my messages – or to sit down and talk to me?—’

‘Okay, stop right there,’ Lorna said, raising her hands in front of her. ‘Let’s make two things clear. One, you’re a grown adult, and I am nobody’s messenger. You want to speak to someone, then you speak to him yourself.’

‘But he won’t?—’

‘And two,’ Lorna continued, cutting Katty off, ‘you cheated on my brother. You screwed this up – literally – when you made a not-at-all-metaphorical bed with Archie Campbell. There is nothing you could say to make me help you speak to my brother again. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, his life would be a thousand times better if he never crossed paths with you again. Do I make myself clear?’

Bex felt her breath catch in her lungs and she didn’t dare exhale.

Katty didn’t look like the kind of person who would be happy about being spoken to like that, especially not now that half the pub had gone silent and was staring at them.

But Bex didn’t need to know Lorna well to sense that she wasn’t going to back down.

At least now Bex knew that Lorna’s warning about Duncan wasn’t personal.

She had very good reason to want to protect her stepbrother’s heart.

With the tension growing tighter and tighter by the second, Bex watched the two women, locked in a silent battle of wills, until finally, Katty flicked her hair back.

‘Well, I think I might stay for a drink anyway,’ she said, forcing a smile. ‘Since I’m here and all.’

‘Do whatever you like,’ Lorna replied. ‘Just do it away from me – and my brother.’