There’s just the slightest roll of his eyes. “Right, well that rubbing butter over our naked bodies didn’t really help now, did it?” He takes a sip of his coffee and closes his eyes. “By the way, love, this is bloody good. If you can make me coffee every morning for the rest of my life, I will die a happy man.”
There’s brevity in his eyes, but his words still hit me hard. God, could that even be possible? My thoughts trip and suddenly I’m imagining myself right here, in this kitchen, weeks from now, months from now, years from now. What would that be like? To be with someone like him for that long? Contrary to how I used to think, at least with Kyle, that thought doesn’t scare me anymore. Instead, it makes my heart warm, skipping a beat.
“Only thing is,” he continues, as if he hasn’t just put the most wonderful imagery in the world inside my head, “I wish you could actually be here to see me in action. Our first game starts the week you leave, and I highly doubt I’ll be put on the pitch.”
My heart may have been skipping a beat but now it’s sinking.
I swallow hard and grip the edge of his shirt. “New rule. Neither of us are to mention the fact that I’m leaving in three weeks.”
His eyes narrow and he nods. “All right. That’s fair. What about when you book your flight back?”
“Leave that to me,” I tell him, knowing he’s already offered to pay for my return. “I’ll take care of it when I do.”
“Or maybe you could not, and just stay here indefinitely,” he says, focused on his coffee cup until he briefly looks up at me. He shrugs one shoulder. “It might be an option.”
This man is tempting me at every turn. First it was coming here, now it’s the idea of never leaving.
“We both know I can’t do that,” I tell him. Then I playfully punch his rock hard shoulder. “And hey, what did I say about that? We don’t mention it, okay? Let’s just…enjoy this.”
“For as long as we can?” he says, and damn if I don’t see sorrow in the way he scrunches up his brow.
“For as long as we can.”
***
A couple of hours later, after a quick breakfast of sausage and eggs, courtesy of Lachlan (and no, that’s not an innuendo), we leave the dogs behind and pile into his car. I’ve never been inside a Range Rover before, but damn if it’s not a perfect car for him—big, tough, and rugged. But instead of taking it out into the wilderness, we cruise through the busy city streets, heading to his organization which is across town.
I can’t help but ogle out the window at everything we pass. The buildings are so different, so old, so charming and full of character you can’t duplicate. They bleed history, and I find myself getting antsy over exploring the city. Already it feels like there’s not enough time to do everything, and even though I want to soak up as much Lachlan as I can, I want to take in as much of Edinburgh as possible. It’s probably because of my present company, but it already feels like the city is leaving a stamp on my heart.
We pull up to a stone building near what seems like the outskirts of downtown. I get out of the car, remembering to look right before I’m run over by a car and stare up at the sign above the dark wood door.
“Ruff Love Animal Shelter?” I repeat. I look at him in awe. “That is absolutely adorable.”
“Aye. It is. People were surprised how saccharine it was, considering it came from me. But most of these animals can use a sweet bit of PR. Having people view them as cute and adorable is what helps get them adopted.”
Agh. Once again, this man has found another way to sweep me off my feet. I look down the building, back up at the sign, then over to him, standing there on the street in black boots, black jeans, and a grey t-shirt, looking about as rough and rowdy as they come, and yet from the goodness of his heart he’s managed to do all of this.
“Shall we?” he asks, holding out his arm.
I eagerly latch on to it and let him lead me inside.