Page 2 of Time to Stirrup Love (Harmony Glen #10)

"Well," Jim said as they walked off the dock. "That went better than I expected. Finn is notoriously…reclusive."

"I gathered," Margaid remarked. "Do you mind if I ask, what…"

"A glashtyn," Jim stated.

“Glashtyn? Never heard of that word before.”

“Not many around. They come from Manx folklore. Usually, they're associated with trying to carry off women to their underwater homes, or if a crafty farmer could trap them, they would be put to work. One of the local farmers is a big troll who might be strong enough to wrangle Finn, but Ogram’s not the type to do that, even as a joke.” Jim laughed. “Would’ve been funny to see, though.”

"That sounds horrible." And what she meant was the being trapped and made to work. A quick vision of Finn carrying her off to his underwater home, bare chested, flowing mane, with her heaving bosoms like an old bodice ripper cover came to mind, and she didn’t mind it one bit.

I wouldn't mind taking him for a ride.

Heat bloomed in her cheeks and she touched them, hoping she wasn't blushing from the naughty thoughts racing through her mind. Her mother always did say she had an overactive imagination. Since coming to Harmony Glen, it seemed to be going into overdrive. Or maybe it was the fact she hadn’t had a date in three years.

Whatever it was, it was unwelcome at the moment.

"It's not true. Thankfully," Jim said, breaking her little fantasy. "They are known shape-shifters, but the females are much better at that. I've never seen Finn shape-shift and I've known him for a couple of years. His later father could, but always retained his long horse ears."

Margaid chuckled trying to picture that. "Well, I'll have to learn more about it. Manx you say? My ancestors are from the Isle of Man."

"Oh? Well, maybe you'll have something in common with Finn. Like I said, he's a bit reclusive."

"I doubt we’ll have that in common, Jim. Not much of my family left. The only thing I retained from my ancestral heritage is my name.”

In reality, none of her family were left. Not since her mom passed away two years ago.

Actually, she doubted she could find any common ground with someone who did hunting or fishing for sport. Her life's mission was to preserve the ecosystems of the waterways, not hunt it into extinction.

As long as Finn did his part of the job and took her out on the lake, she didn't really care too much about getting to know him. And in a year, it wouldn't matter. She’d be moving on to the next job.

After filling out all the paperwork necessary for her grant, Jim Mason returned to the head office, which was not in Harmony Glen, and she went back to her place to gather equipment, which included her backpack, electrofishing gear for streams, her fin clips for the mark and recapture method, and her sonar, which would allow her to track schools of fishes beneath the lake’s surface.

All of it she could easily carry in her very large knapsack.

She also brought her hip waders and a hat, because she doubted that Mr. Clague would allow her to use any of his equipment, given how territorial he was of a charm on a post.

Margaid finished packing and checked her GPS watch and knew she had to get down to the docks toot sweet.

He had made it abundantly clear that he was leaving at noon sharp, so she planned to be down at the docks and ready to go before his scheduled departure time. There was no way she was given Finnbar Clague an inch. She was going to prove to him she wasn't scared off by his surliness.

She'd dealt with worse in her male-dominated line of work, she could deal with him. She wasn't afraid of monsters lurking under her bed.

I wouldn't mind someone like Finn lurking in my bed right about now.

Her stomach did that annoying little flip of anticipation, which made her blood heat and her pussy throb with arousal.

Margaid shook that thought away, annoyed it had even popped up.

No matter how hot she thought that particular monster was, there was no way she would ever sleep with someone she worked with.

Certainly not a curmudgeon like Finn. With determination, she headed back down to the marina.

The temperature was rising and the sun was shining brightly in a clear blue sky.

It was the perfect day to be out on the lake and collect her samples.

Finn had his back to her, but at least he'd put on more clothes, not that it did anything to stop her from admiring his physique.

Kind of hard to not do that when his rippling muscles were quite visible under the snug confines of his jeans and the tight t-shirt he wore.

It was almost like his biceps muscles were going to bust right out of that shirt.

His arms were crossed and he was in a deep conversation with someone, or rather he was just nodding his head and listening to someone having an intense discussion directed at him.

Margaid was a bit taken aback when she realized that the person Finn was chatting with wasn't even really there at all.

An apparition was floating above the dock and gesturing.

The ghost, or what she thought was a ghost, had to be at least the same height as Finn and had very intense red, glowing eyes and sharp fangs, but the rest was human looking, but it was hard to make out any features of the other party to the conversation, because the apparition or ghost or whatever it was, was glowing and rippling in different shades of blue and white.

I can't stand around here all day and wait.

"It's almost noon and I'm ready, Mr. Clague," she chirped brightly from behind the ghost dude.

The apparition materialized and landed on the dock with a thud. The various blues that had been emanating from him melted away. His skin was very pale, white, but yet gray. The eyes were still red, but friendly. Other than the clothes and red eyes, the rest of the being was whitewashed.

"Are you going to introduce me to your friend, Clague?"

Finn rolled his eyes and let out of a huff. "Dr. Davis, this is my friend, Magnus Alfson."

It was something about the way Finn said friend that made her chuckle under her breath, because Finn clearly didn't want to make the introductions.

"Charmed to meet you, Dr. Davis," Magnus purred, a thick Nordic accent evident. He took her hand in his and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "If this were back in the days I was a human, I would've sacked your village and carried you off."

"And I would've squarely kicked you in the nuts," Margaid responded just as sweetly.

A small smile crept on Finn's face, but it was brief.

Magnus threw his head back and laughed. "My apologies, Dr. Davis. Trust me when I say I don't live the same way as I did when I was a human,” Magnus explained. “It’s my way of appreciating your beauty.”

“And kicking you in the nuts is my way of telling you I’m not interested,” she said through clenched teeth.

“I like her, Clague. She’s fiery.”

Finn rolled his eyes again. “She doesn’t need a cursed former human breathing down her neck, Magnus.”

"I thought monsters were born?" she asked, curious, because there was still a lot of mystery about monsters since they came out a few years ago during the Great Revelation.

"Not ghouls, sadly. We were cursed,” Magnus stated.

“We?” she asked, wondering if there was a missus ghoul.

“Me and my twin brother Sven, a thousand years ago, by a wicked sea witch who didn't like two Viking way finders getting stranded here.

We became ghouls, though we don't eat the flesh of the dead as is told about our kind.

We're just kind of cursed to live forever until true love breaks our immortality curse. "

"True love?" Margaid asked.

"Yeah, just like fucking Cinderella," Finn groused.

Magnus rolled his eyes. “Wrong fairytale, my long-faced friend.”

Finn let out a huff. "I think Magnus needs to be on his way."

"Indeed. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Dr. Davis.

I hope I'll see you around. When Sven and I get our Dead and Breakfast up and running, you'll have to stop by for a lunch. Room with a Tomb will be the destination place soon, we’re still unsure about the name, so you can refer to it as both.” Magnus waved and then turned back to his free-floating form and drifted away.

"Dead and Breakfast?" she asked, curious. It sounded fun.

"Yes. It's an old funeral home. He and Sven bought it. It was a massive Victorian mansion, but it's no longer a funeral home, and they're renovating it to be a bed-and-breakfast, but also serve lunch and host events,” Finn explained.

"It doesn't sound appetizing, having a meal at a Dead and Breakfast with a ghoul, but I’m intrigued.”

Finn didn't respond. "You have everything you need? Because once we're on the water, I won't be turning back."

"I have everything." Margaid picked up her large duffel bag.

"Well, come on then. We're burning daylight." He marched up the gangplank.

Margaid hefted the duffel over her shoulder and followed him up, set the equipment down and then turned to get the rest.

"Where are you going?"

"To get the rest of my equipment. I need to make a couple of trips; I don't have multiple arms."

Finn rolled his eyes. "I'll help."

He stormed down to the dock where the remaining box was and picked it up, grumbling some kind of language she didn't quite understand under his breath.

"I didn't ask for your help," Margaid stated. "I appreciate it all the same."

Then she smiled at him, just to annoy the shit out of him further.

Finn set the box down. "I wanted to quicken this process up. I have a business to run as well and it's now five past twelve. We're late."

"As I said, I do appreciate the help, but I also wasn't the one engaged in a conversation with a pal. You wanted to leave precisely at noon and I was here before that."

Finn opened his mouth to say more, but just clapped it shut. "Make sure your equipment is secure and I'm going to get everything ready to ship out."

"Aye aye, Captain.” She saluted.

Finn just rolled his eyes and stormed away to the prow of the houseboat and disappeared.

The man was infuriating, but it really didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

He'd been hired to ferry her around the lake so she could conduct her study.

As long as he did that, then nothing else mattered.

She was in Harmony Glen for a year, whether he liked it or not.