Page 9 of Kilts and Kisses at Highland Hall (Kilts and Kisses #1)

How the hell was there no food in a home this size?

For the last forty minutes, that was the only question Bex had been asking herself.

How was there not just a box of cornflakes or Weetabix somewhere?

There was a kitchen bigger than most restaurants, not one, but two walk-in pantries, and enough shelves and cupboards to store her lifetime’s belongings three times over.

Yet so far, all Bex had found was dog food.

Sacks of dried biscuits filled the pantry floor, along with tinned food on the shelves, and then, in the freezer, where she’d hoped to come across a loaf of frozen bread, there was only raw meat, of which several packets more were defrosting in the fridge.

There was also half a pack of butter, an open jar of cranberry sauce and a bottle of vinegar.

None of which could be made into any kind of meal.

As she stood there in the large kitchen, Bex contemplated whether she could just push through until lunchtime.

But she knew how hangry she got, and the last thing she wanted was to face the study and get her first glance of the task ahead on an empty stomach.

No, that wouldn’t work at all. As her jaw ground together, she didn’t know what she was more annoyed about.

The fact that her day was already derailed before it had even started, or that the irritatingly attractive Duncan had been right.

Yes, that definitely made matters even more frustrating.

Trying to shake off the cloud that had well and truly settled on her shoulders, Bex went back upstairs and grabbed her boots.

She needed to head into the village and driving there would be the quickest option, but she suspected that once she had actually got started on the job, she was unlikely to get much free time, which was a shame considering how beautiful the scenery was.

Walking while she had the time to do so seemed like the most sensible option.

Besides, it gave her a chance to fill the girls in on her latest development.

‘Oh my God! This is fate!’ Claire exclaimed from one corner of the screen. ‘It’s just like Daisy and Theo, walking in on him in the shower. It’s meant to be.’

‘No, it’s absolutely not,’ Bex replied. ‘And he walked in on me. Let’s remember that. Surely he should have seen the bag on the floor in the bedroom – that should have been a sign that the bathroom was occupied.’

‘So other than the ruggedly handsome groundsman, have you met anyone else?’ Daisy asked.

‘I didn’t say he was ruggedly handsome,’ Bex protested.

‘No, but he is, right? The way you keep talking about him makes it sound like he’s ruggedly handsome.’

‘I keep talking about him because he walked in on me in the shower. And no, I haven’t met anyone else yet, apart from Fergus, the Laird, and his dogs. The dogs are nice.’

Before Bex could continue, she heard a voice calling for coffee on Daisy’s end. Daisy crinkled her nose. ‘Sorry, I’ve got to go.’

‘Yeah, me too,’ Claire said. ‘I need to get Amelia to school. But fill us in on the rest of the day soon, okay? Especially any more chance encounters with attractive Scottish men.’

Bex rolled her eyes. ‘Love you both,’ she said, before hanging up and slipping her phone back into her pocket.

She was grateful she’d packed her boots, that was for sure, as the dew from the grass seeped into the hem of her jeans.

Had she been wearing her trainers, her feet would have likely been soaked through.

Either that or she would have been forced to stick to the path, and there was no chance she wanted to do that.

There was just too much to see. Too much to take photos of.

Every direction offered something different, from the way the light dappled through the branches to the manner in which the sun reflected off the grass.

And then there were the birds. Sure, she had hated them for waking her up so damn early, but she could hardly blame them.

It was a million miles from even the greenest of London’s parks.

Of course they wanted to sing every morning if this was what they woke up to.

It was something special. A place that seemed untouched from the modern world, and she suspected she’d appreciate it even more if she weren’t so hungry.

By the time the village came into view, her stomach was growling angrily, but once again, Bex was slowed by the sight that met her.

Last night, when she’d driven in, exhausted and fed up after a series of delays, she hadn’t appreciated just how lovely the place was.

If her room at the castle belonged in a period drama, then this village looked like it could be the setting for some cosy romance film.

The type where the female main character packed up her big city life to take on some new challenge in the middle of nowhere only to fall in love with the most eligible bachelor in the village.

She laughed at the thought. Those women obviously didn’t have a massive promotion waiting for them when they got back to their real life.

Maintaining a steady amble, Bex took in as much as she could.

The main street was easily identifiable, with cobblestones stretching up the hill and buildings of all different heights and styles giving it a charmingly haphazard feel.

She already knew from what Duncan had said that there were places to get food at this time of day, and her plan was to go to whichever one she found first, but as she approached what appeared to be a café, the door swung open and out stepped a now familiar figure.

‘No luck finding any food in the house?’ Duncan asked, the slightest hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Bex didn’t bother responding; instead, she glowered at him. Annoyingly, Daisy had been spot on – he was ruggedly handsome, and he looked even more so here. It was like his hair and skin glowed in the sunlight.

‘Well, I thought that might be the case, so I bought you a few bits and pieces,’ he said, lifting a bag in his hand. ‘Nothing too exciting. Croissants. Bread. A couple of pieces of fruit. You can take them now, if you want, or I can put them in the kitchen for when you get back?’

Bex’s eyes narrowed. He was winding her up, wasn’t he? He hadn’t really bought her breakfast. Not after she had insisted on ignoring the advice he had given her.

‘I guess this is your way of apologising for walking in on me?’ she said, placing her hands on her hips. His smirk widened.

‘No, the apology I gave you outside your room was my way of apologising for that,’ he replied smoothly. ‘This is breakfast. Food. I do believe you still have that “south of the border”, don’t you?’

He clearly thought he was amusing, but he didn’t seem to understand the concept of hangry.

That cute little smirk might work on other women, but she had dated hundreds of men just like him.

And that wasn’t an exaggeration. One night she had done a two-hundred-person speed dating event, with a hundred men and a hundred women, and she had left with one firm conclusion: the ones who believed they were attractive were the ones you needed to be most wary of.

And there was no way Duncan didn’t know how attractive he was, with those massive eyes of his that she inadvertently found herself looking in to.

With a slight shift, she cleared her throat. ‘Well, whatever the reason, I’m perfectly capable of getting my own food, and if you don’t mind, that’s what I’m going to do.’

She had hoped that her words, matched with her tone, would have been enough to make Duncan move out of the way so she could get into the café, but he continued to stand there, looking at her. Although rather than smirking, a single frown line had formed between his brows.

‘Look, I’m sorry for the rough introduction,’ he said. ‘We clearly got off on the wrong foot. Maybe we can start over? I’m Duncan. I hear you’re working up at the castle.’

He stretched out his hand and raised an eyebrow, signifying the ball was now in her court.

Bex felt the muscles in her jaw twitch. There was no way she couldn’t take it.

Not without looking like she was being petulant.

And that wasn’t who she was at all. With a slight sigh, she lifted her arm, ready to shake his hand, yet as his fingertips brushed against her palm, a static jolt shot through her skin, strong enough to make her heart stutter.

Her eyes snapped up and met his gaze, and from the way his pupils had grown, she was certain he had felt it too.

‘I… I…’ She wanted to say something, wanted to step back, but her mouth had grown uncharacteristically dry, and her feet refused to respond.

As for her hand, rather than moving away, it had remained there and was now enclosed in his grip.

Was all his skin this warm? she wondered.

What would it feel like if he moved his hand to the back of her neck, or…

‘Right!’ Bex jumped back, pulling her hand from his grip and putting as much distance between them as she could in one leap.

‘I… Food. Need food,’ she stammered, pointing at the café door, wishing words would leave her mouth in more than single syllables.

She half expected Duncan to respond with some quip, or at least that smirk he had shown her before, but he remained standing there, his hand frozen mid-air, as if he hadn’t been able to move either.

‘Right. Sure… food,’ he said, his eyes still locked on hers. Somehow, it was even more unnerving than when he’d seen her naked, and she wouldn’t have thought that was possible.

Unable to take it any longer, she pushed open the café door, not even checking if anyone was behind it, and rushed inside. All she needed was to get away from Duncan, his electric handshake and that penetrating gaze.

As she heard the door click shut behind her, a gasp of relief escaped her lungs.

What the heck was that? Lightning in a bottle?

A spark? All those things romance novels tried to make you believe were real, just to sell more copies.

That was all she’d ever thought it was. And yet, for the first time in her life, she had felt it.

No, she told herself. She hadn’t. It was just tiredness and stress. Either that or it was static, caused by the weather. That happened, didn’t it? Of course it did. Lightning happened because of the atmosphere, and they were up in the Highlands. Yes, it was just a weather effect.

Slowly taking in her surroundings of white tables and the aroma of freshly baked goods, Bex took a deep breath.

She was fine. Whatever had happened, she was completely fine.

She was here to do a job, and Duncan would not interfere with that.

Actually, if she had it her way, she wouldn’t see him again at all.

Feeling like she’d once again gathered some composure, she headed over to the counter.

There were two women behind it. One was an elderly lady who looked frail enough to be knocked over by a strong gust of wind yet somehow was managing to carry several trays of baked goods, and the other, who was around Bex’s age, had auburn hair and perfectly winged eyeliner.

‘Hi,’ Bex said, her voice coming out more breathily than she’d expected. ‘Can I have a large cappuccino, please? Double shot. And a food menu.’

The younger woman tilted her head to the side, her gaze fixed on Bex. ‘Sure you can,’ she said. ‘But first you’re going to have to tell me what’s going on between you and my stepbrother.’