Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
There was no ring on his finger. No sign of a woman or a man or any companion except for Akiva.
That, of course, didn’t mean he was single.
He could have a girlfriend or boyfriend on the island.
Not that I should care.
The man was clearly a bachelor, even if he had a partner out there somewhere.
And I was pretty sure by the way he dismissed me earlier, he found me annoying.
Around six o’clock, I was three quarters of the way through my romance book, which was way too steamy for me to be consuming in my current situation. The last thing I needed was being turned on while trapped on an island with my sexy yeti.
I heard his footsteps on the porch first so I’d lowered my book to watch him stride into his house.
A house I’d made myself at home in.
I had my legs stretched out on his sectional and Akiva was asleep across my lap. My eyes met Ramsay’s as he stepped inside. He took in his dog. I felt the tension in Akiva’s body, like she was trying to decide if saying hello to her owner was worth giving up my comfy lap.
“Thrown over so easily,” Ramsay murmured, amusement in his pale beautiful eyes. “I’ll remember that.”
As if she understood, Akiva suddenly jumped off me and the couch, hurrying over to greet her dad.
He lowered to his haunches, scratching behind her ears while murmuring affectionate words.
Attraction rippled in my belly as I watched this tender side of him.
In fact, the level of attraction really was ridiculous considering how little I knew about Ramsay.
“Do you play the bagpipes?” I blurted out.
Ramsay turned to me, his piercing gaze still surprising, knocking the breath right out of me. Slowly, he stood from petting Akiva. “Been snooping, Silver?”
My cheeks flushed because I had been. I also might have grown hot at the familiar use of my surname as a nickname. “They’re right there.” I gestured to the other side of the room where I knew the bagpipes laid.
“Aye, I play.”
“Where? When?” I got up off the couch to follow him into the kitchen. I kept the island between us as he opened the refrigerator.
“Pipe band. Quinn’s in it too.”
Which meant I might get to watch and hear Ramsay play. “Do you play locally?”
“Sometimes. Sometimes at events on the mainland. Why?” He glanced over his shoulder.
“I like the pipes. My mom was Scottish, and we’d visit my grandmother in Edinburgh every other summer. After my first Tattoo, I made my dad take me every time we visited my gran.”
“Sounds like you have Scotland in your blood. In more ways than one.”
“Yeah.”
“Dinner?” he asked abruptly.
In answer, my stomach gave a rumble of approval. “Sure. Thanks. I really appreciate your hospitality.”
He grunted in response.
Thirty minutes later, I sat across from Ramsay at his dining table eating the basic pasta dish he’d thrown together. It was far from a culinary masterpiece. Now that I was pretty sure he found me annoying, I felt self-conscious and remembered to keep my questions to myself.
It was interesting because growing up the way I had, I’d become a pretty confident person. The last time I remembered feeling self-conscious was when I was thirteen. It was the first time a boy kissed me and I’d agonized over if I was any good at it.
I’d barely taken a bite of the bland pasta when I felt Ramsay’s attention on me.
Looking up, sure enough, Ramsay searched my face.
“What?”
“You’re quiet.”
“Am I? Do you know me well enough to ascertain that quiet isn’t my usual mode?”
“Our earlier interaction suggests otherwise.”
I frowned.
“I’m not suggesting you’re overly talkative, Silver. You just … are less so than before.”
Silver. Why was him calling me by my surname so hot?
“I’m already imposing. Just trying to stay out of your way as much as possible before it’s safe to cross back to Leth Sholas.”
We ate in silence for a bit after that and I tried not to be hurt by Ramsay’s lack of response or denial that I was imposing or needed to stay out of his way.
“So … you really plan to stay here permanently?” Ramsay asked out of nowhere. “You’re not planning to move on once the B and B is up and running? Leave someone else to manage it?”
“No.” I frowned. “Why? Is that what people think?”
He shrugged. “I think we think you don’t know what island life is like. It’ll be hard for someone who has had every convenience at her fingertips.”
Irritation heated my skin. “You got used to it. You’re not an islander by birth.”
“No. But I was in the military. I know life without convenience.”
Anger overtook my irritation. So that was his problem, huh? He thought he had me pegged. Just like everyone else.
Spoiled little rich girl playing dress-up with a building on Glenvulin. That I’d get bored and go running back to my life as it was before.