Page 31 of Sadie’s Highlander (Highland Protector #1)
CHAPTER 30
A lec slid lower in the seat, watching Jarvis help Sadie and Miss Martha emerge from the limo parked beside the sidewalk. He held his breath when Sadie glanced in his direction. Even though the car’s windows were darkly tinted and he knew he couldn’t be seen, age-old hunting instincts were hard to overcome. “Where is he taking them now?” he murmured in a hushed tone without twitching so much as an eyelash.
Dwyn glanced down at his watch and made a face as though struggling to search his memory. “The spa—no, no. The library. Or hair salon. Maybe. Hell’s bells, I dinna remember which. We scheduled the woman at nearly every place in the city that might possibly provide her with a bit of pleasure.”
Jarvis and the two women hurried a few feet down the busy sidewalk, hugging their coats tight about their throats and cringing against the bite of the cold, windy day. Alec scooted back upright into a more natural position. “Esme outdid herself, she did.”
“Aye,” Dwyn agreed. “And if ye return home without Sadie, ye’ll have hell to pay with that one, ye will. That wee lass worried the living daylights out of me, what with all her blasted internet searches of New York City and where Sadie might like to go.”
“Sadie needs every last bit of the pampering my little sister has planned.” Alec watched Jarvis hold open a door for the ladies. He read the fancy lettering on the door. Ahh . . . the spa . “Did ye see the dark circles beneath her eyes? She doesna look well at all.”
“Mistress Martha says she cries every night.” Dwyn scowled as he propped his arms atop the steering wheel and stared out the windshield.
“Then why the hell could I not go talk to her in Brady and end this foolish suffering for us both? Why the blazes did she avoid me like I carried the plague?” That was one thing he never understood. Sadie refused to speak with him—wouldn’t even stay in the same building if she thought he was in one of the rooms. All he needed was a long enough moment of her time to convince her that none of what happened was her fault and the only way she’d find one person in the entire world who blamed her would be if she looked in the mirror. He grabbed the latch of the door and popped it open.
Dwyn stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “Nay. Ye will not toss all aside and thwart this grand plan we’ve put into play.” He nodded toward the partially ajar car door. “Pull the door to and lock it, fool. We’re easy targets sitting here in the street.”
Alec slammed the door shut and clicked the lock. “Then explain this to me—why?” He clamped his arms across his chest, fighting the urge to tell Dwyn to head straight to hell, then stomp his way into that damnable spa and find Sadie. He ached for her. Body and soul. He needed the feel of her, the sound of her laugh. He needed the very scent of her just as badly as he needed air to breathe.
“For one thing,” Dwyn started with an impatient growl, “ye would never get the woman to stop dodging ye long enough to hear what ye had to say. Ye told me yerself that whenever something has her upset, she pretends it doesna exist and changes the subject rather than faces it.” He shook his head, scowling at the closed door of the spa. “Never in all the history that I’ve walked among humans have I ever seen a female as hard-headed about shouldering blame and sticking her head in the sand as yer woman.”
He turned to Alec, shaking a finger as he spoke. “And even if ye had managed to convince her to wed ye, she’d ever be filled with doubts. Mistress Martha told me she overheard Sadie tell Harold that she knew in her heart that ye hated her for destroying the Heartstone and dooming the world to certain darkness.”
“But the stone is safe,” Alec argued. “The chamber and the tunnels withstood the blast well. She saw us with the weapons that day. How does she think we managed to retrieve them?”
Dwyn shook his head and shrugged. “I dinna ken. All I ken for certain is what Mistress Martha said she overheard Sadie say that to that infernal cat.”
“Then what the devil makes ye so certain this plan will work?” Alec’s hope sank like a rock, desperation taking its place.
“When she sees what lengths ye would take to help her achieve her dreams, she’ll ken for certain how much ye really love her and wish her to come back. She’ll also see ye dinna hate her—nor blame her for the actions of her idiot sister. And when my agency presents the deal they’ve obtained for her, she’ll also ken for certain that she’s not the only one who enjoys her writing.” Dwyn shook his finger faster. “There’ll be no doubts in her mind about anything.”
Alec blew out a strained breath, hoping like hell Dwyn was right. He jerked his chin in the general direction of the spa. “What sort of things do they do in there? Esme didna say.”
“Smear strange-colored mud on their faces and put sliced vegetables on their eyes.”
“Ye lie.”
“The hell I do.” Dwyn fished his phone out of his pocket, tapped on the screen a few times, then shoved it under Alec’s nose. “What does that picture look like to ye?”
A smiling woman—Alec supposed it was a woman—wore a thick white robe and was lying back in a chair with a towel wrapped around her head. Her face was covered with greenish-brown muck that looked like horse shit he’d scraped off his boots. And damned if she didn’t have a thick slice of a cucumber covering each of her eyes.
Alec looked up from the picture. “Why?”
Dwyn held up his hands and made a hell if I know face as though to claim no responsibility whatsoever for the strange customs invented by humans.
Scrolling down the screen, Alec stopped and stared at another picture a few pages down. “This woman’s not wearing a stitch of clothes.” He shoved the phone into Dwyn’s hands. “Look at that. There’s naught covering her but a towel across her arse and that man has his hands upon her.”
Dwyn studied the picture, his brows knotted together. “Esme said that’s a deep-tissue massage.” He went to hand the phone back to Alec. “We’ve arranged for Sadie to have one of those as well. Esme said they’re verra good for stress.”
“Like hell she is!” Alec felt a slow burn kindle in his gut. “I’ll not have another man touching my woman.” He pushed the phone back to Dwyn. “Ye call that place this verra minute and tell them she’s not to have that done.”
“She may already be having it done. ’Tis well past two.”
“Then I’ll end this m’self.” Alec grabbed the door handle to exit the car, quickly releasing it when Dwyn grabbed hold of his shirt and yanked him back. He whirled around, one hand knotting into a fist. “What the hell are ye doing?”
“Ye ken damn well ye canna go inside. Sadie will see ye and this will all be for naught. Everything will be ruined.” Dwyn’s face suddenly brightened and he shook his phone at Alec. The demigod smiled like a man who’d just been told he’d won the lottery. “I’ve an idea and if it works, I believe ye’ll like it.”
It had better be a damn good idea or Seven Serenities Spa was about to be introduced to the MacDara battle cry. Alec jerked his chin down with a stiff nod, bending the handle of the car door in his crushing grip.
Dwyn tapped on the screen of the phone, then placed it to his ear, his eyes narrowing as he waited for someone to answer. “Yes—this is Dwyn MacKay. Yes, I’m the owner of the agency who booked your entire facility for this afternoon.” A knowing grin spread across his face. “Aye. That would be me and I’ve called to ask a favor of ye. The CEO of my agency wishes to surprise his future wife and is counting on ye to help him.”
Alec released the door handle and straightened in the seat, Dwyn’s idea sounded promising already.