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She arched an eyebrow. “The lesser spotted haggis?”
“Mmm.” His face was serious as he lifted his mug to take a seat at the table. “Even less common than the, er,morespotted haggis.”
She smiled affectionately at his asinine attempt to change the subject. She wished he’d stop being so reluctant to take on any help. Getting him to accept it sometimes felt like hitting one’s head against a brick wall.
Granted, if she could convince him, she’d need to be wary. She could hardly cope with watching the poor guy eat baked goods.
Arran blew on his tea, eyeing her. “Are we definitely good, after the David Tennant rendezvous?”
Her cheeks only heated slightly this time, so that was an improvement. “Yeah. We’re good.”
He nodded, then glanced away as he sipped his drink. “By theway, I need to point out that it wasn’t disappointment that made me swear when I saw you arrive.”
She looked at him as he met her gaze again, something squeezing in her chest. “No?”
He shook his head. “I was just…surprised is all.”
She smiled. “You and me both.”
He returned her expression. “Surprised to see you, and then surprised at the fact that you can lip-read.”
Liv laughed.
He ran a hand over his hair. “Seriously, though. I’d hate for you to think I’d ever be disappointed to see you, in any situation.”
A flicker of something flashed in her mind as she tried to parse his meaning.
His gaze grew more intense as he seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say next. Then his voice came out a little thick. “You looked beautiful. I should have told you that at the time.” He swallowed. “I mean, you look beautiful all the time, but particularly so that night. I don’t think I’ve seen you all dressed up before.”
Her heart was pulsing in her ears and she could swear that electricity was crackling in the small space between her and Arran. Was he trying to say that…he found her attractive? Her cheeks heated up to about a million degrees.
He glanced at her cheeks—no doubt because they must have been as red as a baboon’s bottom—and gave her a reassuring smile. “Anyhow. My point is, you scrub up well, mate.” He cleared his throat. “Right. Let’s get down to weekend-away planning business.”
Liv took a breath, disappointed and confused. She pushed her feelings aside and tried to focus. “I’m so glad Nico got that cottage.”
“I know,” Arran said, raising his eyebrows. “Proper posh. I thought a cottage on Skye would be all low ceilings and crumbling brick, not glass patios and sweeping terraces. But then Nico still mixes in all the big-shot-lawyer circles.”
Liv shrugged, smiling. “Friends in high places, that’s us.”
“Too right,” he replied, clinking his mug with hers. “Okay. Nico and Elise have done their part, and we get free rein on activity booking.”
Her pulse fired with excitement as she opened her laptop. “I’ve found a couple of things I think they’d love.”
Arran shifted his chair closer, his arm brushing hers and causing a tingling sensation to rush across her skin. She ignored it as she opened the web pages she’d bookmarked.
“I wonder if you’ve come up with the same stuff as me,” Arran murmured. She loved the smooth, deep sound of his voice. “Here,” she said, showing him what she’d come up with.
“I knew it.” He grinned as he studied the images. “I really want to go to the Fairy Pools too.”
A warm feeling soaked into her skin. “I figured we could take wet suits and have a swim.” She flicked through the pictures of the scenic Isle of Skye. The clear, glittering pools sparkled invitingly from the screen, with multiple cascades of misty falls pouring into them from the rocky face behind. “Sam and Maya will love it.”
“They will.” His honey eyes seemed to glow as he chuckled. “Hey, remember when we went with school, and Nico stripped off and skinny-dipped in there?”
She laughed, remembering the berating Nico got from the teacher and the open-mouthed drooling he’d received from all the girls.
“I also thought we could go to Neist Point,” Arran said, leaning over her to open a new page.
His scent filled her airways and she tried to ignore the resulting flip in her stomach. “Way ahead of you.” She moved on to the next tab, where Neist Point, the most westerly part of Skye, was pictured. The narrow strip of green land fell off into sharp cliffs as itgreeted the dark blue sea, a white lighthouse standing proudly at the edge of the last step of land, looking out over the Atlantic.
