Fergus wasn’t at the mews, so I left the SUV outside and walked down the gravel drive toward the path through the golf course that led to Eredine’s studio. Two actors and current heartthrobs of our generation appeared out of the main entrance with a golf caddy leading the way. They stopped at the sight of me, and I gestured for them to continue.
One of them, a sexy Michael B. Jordan look-alike, grinned at me. “Never. Ladies first.”
“Thank you, gentlemen.” I nodded with a smile, pleased to discover manners still existed in the world. Unable to resist, I glanced over my shoulder as they walked toward the golf course and the Jordan look-alike stared back with a certain glimmer in his eyes.
It was nice to be admired.
It was also a nice distraction from my guilt.
Almost at the path that led toward Eredine’s studio, I felt a tingling sensation on the back of my neck. Glancing over my shoulder again, this time at the castle, then seeing nothing out of the ordinary, I almost turned around when movement in a large, top-floor window stopped me.
A shiver tickled down my spine when I realized the window had the same aspect as the one from Lachlan’s room.
Was he watching me?
I turned away, walking sightlessly toward the studio as the memory of two nights ago came at me in flashes of heat and musk. The sound of Lachlan’s groan of release, his taste, the tight fullness of him thrusting inside me, the scratch of the wool of his kilt on my thighs—
“Stop it,” I muttered to myself.
He’d insinuated we’d have sex again. He’d wanted to right away. Yet I wasn’t sure it was such a good idea. Mac complicated everything. Besides, I’d never been a casual sex kind of girl.
Lucy and Eredine greeted me as I strolled into the studio. They chatted about the ceilidh and things said and done by this person and that (names I didn’t recognize because I still didn’t know everyone all that well), and I laughed here and there, but my mind was elsewhere.
Last time we’d had a session together, I was trying to teach them dirty boxing, a style of fighting for when you were caught in an opponent’s clinch. It was a combination of wrestling and boxing. Somewhat distracted, I decided to show them ground and pound. It was a great technique for a woman against a stronger opponent because it enabled them to grapple their attacker to the ground and then incapacitate with chokeholds and joint locks.
I’d suggested the girls get back into position to try it again, but my mind wandered to the owner of Ardnoch and whether I’d see him today. Or whether he was going to do what he was good at and avoid me.
He was slightly drunk when we had sex.
Did he regret it?
My cheeks flamed as I remembered our quick and furious interlude in Gordon’s office.
Oh my God, I had sex on that poor man’s desk.
So rude.
Not that I’d been thinking clearly in the moment. Obviously.
One minute we’d been arguing, as per usual, and the next minute, the man was inside me and I was so turned on … I was almost embarrassed by how quickly I’d ignited.
“Robyn, am I doing this right? I think Eredine’s turning purple. Shit, sorry.”
Thankfully, I’d acted cool as a cucumber after the sex and walked out of the office with my head held high. And I’d rejected his offer for more.
I was pretty pleased about that.
Especially since I’d wanted more.
“Robyn? Earth to Robyn?” Fingers snapped in front of my face.
I flinched.
Lucy stood before me while Eredine got to her feet, rubbing her throat.
Oh damn. “Are you okay?”
“No, she’s not. Our coach was off in la-la land, and I did the chokehold thingie wrong. Or a little too right.” She patted Eredine’s shoulder. “Sorry, sweetie.”
“It’s okay.” Eredine gave her a reassuring smirk. “But Robyn isn’t.”
I blinked owlishly. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re definitely distracted.”
“I’m fine,” I insisted. There was no way I was talking to Lucy about this.
Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and jutted out a hip. “Wrong answer. It was clear from the moment you walked in here, you have something on your mind. Does it have anything to do with you disappearing from the ceilidh at the exact same time as Lachlan?”
She noticed that, huh?
“I’m not discussing this with you.” I crossed the studio to grab my sports bottle. I’d barely worked out, but I was instantly overheated.
Eredine and Lucy followed, their gaze interrogative. Ignoring them, I said, “Why don’t we just do some yoga today?”
“Need to relax, do you?” Eredine teased. “Something on your mind?”
“Oh my God, you two, stop.”
“Not until you confide in us. We’re pretty sure what happened, anyway, because Lachlan has been very closemouthed.” Lucy grinned. “And usually I can break him in minutes.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “What did you ask him?”
“I asked if something happened between you two. Leighanne left. Then you both disappeared at the same time, which Ery and I noted, and then you came back for, like, two minutes before leaving with Mac. And Lachlan was brooding-no-fun-guy for the rest of the evening. When prodded, he wouldn’t say a word. He avoided me all day yesterday—I’m sure of it.”
Part of me wanted to talk to them about it. Ask their opinions. Get an outsider’s perspective. I was too close to it, my hormones warring with my common sense, on the brink of winning. Yet, I didn’t want things to be weird with Lucy. I said as much to her.
Lucy waved off my concern. “Robyn, Lachlan and I are not a thing and were never a thing when we were a thing. We’re just friends. You can talk to me about this.”
Reassured, I confessed what happened in Gordon’s office.
Eredine’s eyes widened, a scandalized grin stretching her mouth. “I thought you’d say you made out … not that you had sex. On Gordon’s desk!”
Groaning, I buried my head in my hands while they laughed.
Someone tugged on my wrists, and my hands were forcefully removed from my face. Lucy, though still looking like she was struggling not to smile, asked after my well-being.
“He’s Mac’s best friend and boss. It’s complicated. Is it worth making it complicated for just sex? I don’t think so. It shouldn’t happen again, right?”
“Just sex?” Eredine pushed.
“Well, amazing sex. There’s no denying it’s hot between us.”
“But just sex,” Lucy replied to Eredine before turning to me. She was no longer laughing, a little pucker of concern between her brows. “When he said that to you, you have to know he means it.”
“I know he means it. It’s just … physical. But it doesn’t matter because it’s not happening again.”
Lucy shrugged. “If you’re both on the same page, then it won’t get complicated. If you start to feel like you’re slipping off the page onto a different one, then extract yourself. Immediately,” she warned, “or he’ll break your heart.”
I didn’t think I was in danger of having my heart broken by Lachlan. Turning to Eredine for her opinion, she said, “I’ve never been good at casual, but if you can separate emotional entanglement with physical pleasure, then go for it. You’re both grown-ups. You wouldn’t be hurting anyone.”