Page 43 of Kilts and Kisses at Highland Hall (Kilts and Kisses #1)

The dessert was mouth-wateringly good, but even so, it didn’t come close to Bex’s number one spot of the night, though it was hard to know what had.

At some point, their chairs had shifted around the table so that they no longer had to lean across it to kiss one another, and it felt like any second Duncan’s hands weren’t occupied with cutlery, they were touching her.

Touching her legs, stroking her arm, running his fingertip in lazy circles across her palm.

Bex had heard of people talking about their love languages before, but she never really thought about it too deeply; yet now, if she was asked, she would have to say that Duncan’s was touch.

And judging from the way her body reacted to him, hers was too.

He was busy stroking the top of her thigh with the back of his hand when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen.

‘So, our taxi is waiting outside,’ he said.

‘Taxi? You already sorted one?’ Somewhere between the first kiss and now, Bex had totally forgotten that she needed to find a way to get home, but thankfully, Duncan seemed to have the issue sorted. Although when, she had no idea. He hadn’t left the table, or her side, all night.

‘Sort of. It’s pretty difficult to get one here, so I just pulled in a favour instead.’

‘Well, now I’m intrigued,’ she replied, gently pressing another kiss against his lips.

‘Just don’t set your expectations too high, all right?’

Bex backed away, her eyes wide. ‘After this evening? I should probably tell you now that if there’s not a limo waiting outside, then this entire night’s going to be bust.’

The first hints of a grin formed on Duncan’s face. ‘The entire night? Does that mean it’s already over?’ he said, kissing her again.

‘Well, let me see how bad this taxi is before I make up my mind.’

‘Sounds fair enough,’ he said.

Duncan’s ‘taxi’ turned out to be a Land Rover, driven by none other than Roddy.

‘Ma’am, we meet again,’ Roddy said, tipping his head as Bex approached.

She couldn’t help but arch an eyebrow. ‘Roddy, I don’t know what I may have done to make you think I’m old enough to be referred to as a ma’am, but please, never do it again.’

‘Aye, gotcha,’ Roddy said, quickly backing up towards the driver’s seat.

‘Do you want to sit in the front or back?’ Duncan said, reaching to open the car door.

Bex paused. What she actually wanted was to sit beside him.

She wanted her body to be as close to him as possible.

After the last hour, the thought of not being able to touch him caused a deep throb to ache in her chest. But she was being ridiculous.

It was just the wine talking, that was all.

Not that they’d had that much. One bottle between the pair of them throughout the entire meal.

They’d been too busy talking and kissing to manage more than that.

However, not wanting to seem crazy, she simply said, ‘I’m fine in the back. ’

After helping her up, Duncan slid into the front seat and Roddy started the car as he began asking Duncan questions, mostly about Fergus and the grounds.

Bex watched as Duncan tried his best to answer, but he wasn’t focusing on Roddy.

Instead, he kept glancing back at her, and each look made her stomach flip.

This was ludicrous, she thought. Absolutely ludicrous.

There was no logical reason for this to work and as far as she could tell, even in the best-case scenario, one of them would come out with a broken heart.

But the thought of forgetting about the night, the kisses, the conversation, his damn laugh, just felt impossible.

‘Am I dropping you at the castle or the lodge? Or both?’ Roddy asked, throwing Duncan a look.

‘Umm, I’m not sure. I’m at the lodge.’

A pause slid into the car. One Bex knew she was responsible for filling.

‘Well, I wouldn’t mind seeing Kenna again,’ she said, the grin on her face stretching involuntarily.

Duncan twisted around to look at her, his eyes alight. ‘I’m sure she’d love to see you, too. Although, what will Ruby do without you?’

‘She might have to spend the night with Fergus and the other dogs.’ Even as she spoke, she couldn’t help but think she was being crazy, but what was it Fergus had said about making memories? This night definitely felt like one of those.

‘To the lodge, please,’ Duncan told Roddy.