“It does no’ matter,” Scotty said shortly, and ended the conversation by saying, “I did no’ sleep well last night. I’m going to get some shut-eye.”
Beth lay awake for a while. At first she was hoping Donny would get Scotty to say more, but then she got to thinking about the fact that Scotty had met his life mate. It might be the reason for his suddenly being nice to her. After all, that would make anyone happy. Of course, his not being able to claim his life mate because she was too young was a wrinkle. Especially since, having met his life mate, all of his hungers would now be reawakened. He’d have a taste for food again . . . and sex. Food wasn’t a problem, but if his life mate was too young to claim, he would have no way to sate his reawakened urges for sex other than to look elsewhere.
For a moment, Beth briefly toyed with the idea that he might be open to an affair with her. The idea of actually having real sex with the man instead of the fantasies and dreams she’d been enjoying for over a century was not something she’d ever even considered. Now she did, and just the thought of it set her body tingling.
It wouldn’t be like cheating for him either, she assured herself. After all, if his life mate was too young, and he hadn’t yet claimed her, they weren’t a couple. That sounded reasonable to her.
The stumbling block was that Scotty had never seemed to like her very much. And still might not, she considered. His behavior toward her had been pleasant enough so far, but it wasn’t like they’d had much of a chance to talk. No, she was probably the last person he’d be interested in bedding. Which might be a good thing, she decided. After over a century of sexual fantasies about the man . . . well, it wasn’t likely that he’d be able to live up to the Scotty of her dreams. That would be terribly disappointing.
Sighing, Beth let the brief idea go and allowed herself to finally drift off to sleep.
“I don’t see anybody,” Donny said. “Do you see anybody?”
Beth stifled a yawn as she glanced around the small airfield where they’d landed. It was made up of a long strip of tarmac, at the end of which was a large hangar, and a small building with huge glass windows making up the wall that overlooked the landing strip. Not spotting the standard black SUV either parked or driving toward them, she shrugged and suggested, “Maybe they’re a little late.”
“Maybe,” Donny allowed. “Or maybe Mortimer wasn’t able to get a hold of anyone. He said to call him if no one was waiting here for us. I better call.”
“Be my guest,” Beth said wearily. Once she’d fallen asleep, she’d fallen hard and hadn’t woken again until Scotty had shaken her awake to let her know they’d landed. She still wasn’t quite awake. She needed a coffee. Her gaze focused speculatively on the small building next to the hangar, and then she headed for it. They might have a coffee machine or something. Maybe. Hopefully.
“Wait!” Donny said, lowering his phone when she started away. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to see if they have any coffee inside. Do you want one too?”
“But—Scotty’s still talking to the pilot. Shouldn’t we wait for him?”
Scotty had taken on the duty of retrieving the envelope Mortimer had mentioned from the pilot. Beth had been too tired to be annoyed at his taking over again and had merely headed out of the plane to see if their ride was here. Now she paused and turned back to say, “Yeah, and you can do that. I’m getting coffee and coming right back. Again, do you want anything?”
“Uh . . .”
Shaking her head, Beth turned to walk away, saying, “One regular coffee coming up.”
“A hazelnut latte if they have them,” Donny called after her. “With skim milk, and sweetener.”
Beth just shook her head and kept walking. What did he think? Was he expecting there to be a fancy café inside serving lattes, cappuccinos and biscotti? And . . . really? A hazelnut latte with skim milk and sweetener?
“Dear Lord, he’s a girl in disguise,” Beth muttered to herself as she reached the building. Opening the door, she stepped inside and cast a quick glance around the small, empty waiting area. It wasn’t very impressive. The floor was a dull gray tile, the walls a muddy cream. A single row of six upholstered seats sat on a supporting beam that was bolted into the floor facing the windows, but the faux leather of the seats was torn in several places and marked with graffiti. Beth noted two doors on her right—a men’s room and ladies’ room—and then focused wholly on the vending machines along the wall on the left. She headed for the one with a picture of a cup of coffee on the top and another picture, this time of coffee beans, on the bottom.
Much to Beth’s surprise, the machine offered more than standard coffee, and she had her choice of coffee, cappuccino, mocha, Americano, espresso, hot chocolate, tea, apple cider, and yes, even a latte. However, it was just a straight latte, not a flavored one, and she was quite sure it was made with a flavor packet and hot water, not milk of any kind.
“Donny’s going to be so disappointed,” she murmured with amusement, digging in her pocket for change.
“Who is Donny?”
Beth glanced around with a start to see a tall, good-looking and slender dark-haired man crossing the waiting area toward her. He’d obviously just come out of the men’s room. The door was still closing behind him. She stared at him blankly for a minute, surprise battling with recognition, and then whirled around squealing, “Oh my God, Matias!”
Before she’d fully turned, he had crossed the room. Grabbing her by the waist, he whirled her around, laughing.
“Is good to see you, Beth. You are beautiful as ever,” he said warmly, pulling her into a bear hug as he stopped turning.
“You too,” Beth said with a smile, and then pulled back to look at him. “How long has it been? Two years?”
“Sí, so long,” he groaned, hugging her tightly again and this time lifting her off the ground. “I think about you all the time. And I miss you every day.”
Beth chuckled at his words, then wrapped her legs around his waist and used the position to force her upper body back so she could look him in the eyes. She did hate dangling in the air like a child. “I think about you often too, Matias,” she assured him solemnly. “Spain just wasn’t the same after you left.”
“And so you followed me here to Canada, sí?” he teased with a grin.
“Actually, I followed Drina,” she said almost apologetically.
“Ah, sí, I heard she found her life mate here,” he said seriously. “I am very happy for her. But for me,” he added, the solemnity falling away to be replaced by a wide grin, “I am happy because you are here.”
“And I’d be happy if someone’d explain just who in the bloody blazes ye are.”
Beth blinked in surprise at those words in a deep growl, and turned her head to see Scotty standing just inside the door to the terminal, scowling at her like she was a misbehaving child. Her eyes widened slightly, but she merely smiled and said politely, “Scotty, this is Matias Argenis. My cousin.”