As Josh ushered his clearly exhausted wife over towards the food, Rainne came up alongside the couple. “I’m leaving in the morning. I just wanted you to know that I am really happy for both of you. The wedding was perfect. Even with Betty’s dress.”
Kirsty frowned in the direction of Betty, who was dancing with four young men Kirsty had never seen before. When she’d asked about them, Betty had said they were her dates, then cackled.
“We’ll miss you.” Kirsty hugged her sister-in-law. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay a couple of days? See Alastair when he gets out of hospital?”
“This is for the best.” Rainne’s smile was forced. “Besides, I need to get back to work.” She gave her brother a hug, kissed his cheek and made excuses about needing some champagne before she rushed off.
“I worry about her,” Kirsty said as she rested her cheek on Lake’s chest.
“Don’t.” He kissed the top of her head. “Alastair won’t let her go this time. It will be fine. Now, how about a dance for your husband?”
Kirsty beamed up at him as she wrapped her arms around his waist. This was it. Her happy spot. The place she always wanted to be.
As the music played, Kirsty and Lake swayed together on the spot they’d said their vows. Lights twinkled over the snow. Laughter and conversation formed a cocoon around them. With Dougal in charge of the food, everyone was well fed and happy. And Lake and Kirsty danced into the early hours of March the first.
Husband and wife at last.
32
* Rainne and Alastair *
Five long days they’d kept Alastair in Fort William hospital. All because of one tiny little infection. He’d begged to be sent home with some antibiotics, but no, that wasn’t allowed. Instead he was hooked up to an IV and had to listen to Mitch wax lyrical about his near-death experience. If Alastair heard the word “epiphany” one more time, he was going to lose it and massacre his way out of Scotland just to get away from the American.
By the time he made it back to Invertary, he discovered Lake and Kirsty were married, and Rainne had gone back to Glasgow. He’d figured as much when she’d failed to appear at the hospital. Alastair demanded her address from her brother and packed a bag for his trip south. This time, he wasn’t going to skulk off back home when she closed the door on him. This time would be different.
She’d said she loved him.
She’d said she wanted him.
Well, she was bloody well going to get him.
It was raining in Glasgow. Alastair couldn’t remember ever visiting the city when it wasn’t raining. The further he got from the Highlands, the more the scenery dulled. The green hills around Loch Lomond gave way to grey high-rise housing, red sandstone tenements and concrete-covered ground. Alastair wondered why Rainne would want to live in a place crawling with people. A place where you had to go to a park to see some greenery. It made him feel claustrophobic just driving through the busy streets, with their buildings squeezed together until there was no space left to think.
Alastair sent up a prayer of thanks for GPS as it led him through the narrow streets in Glasgow’s West End. It took three turns around the block until he found a place to park his truck. He grabbed his bag from the back seat, pulled up his collar against the relentless rain and ran up the steps to Rainne’s tenement building. The old building had been modernised to include a security door with an intercom beside it and a button for each flat. Not that it did any good to keep out strangers. Someone had propped the door open with a brick.
Shaking his head, Alastair climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. Rainne’s door was the middle of three. His stomach roiled as his system fought between nerves and anticipation. He’d had a three-hour drive to think about how best to tackle this meeting with Rainbow. After great consideration, taking into account all the things they should discuss, he’d decided the best way forward was to keep his mouth shut and let his actions do the talking.
He lifted his hand to brush his hair off his face and smacked himself with his fluorescent green cast. Great start. He put the cast to good use and thumped the door with it.
“Just a minute,” Rainne shouted, and the sound of her voice had the blood rushing through his system at warp speed.
Without checking the peephole, or even asking who was there, she threw the door open. Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. Perfect. Alastair threw his bag into the hallway behind her, took two steps into her house, placed a hand on each of her cheeks and took her open mouth with his.
Home. He
was home. The anxiety within him fled at the taste of her. He’d missed this. He’d missed her. Not just this past week, but these past three years. He felt her melt against his body. Heard a tiny mewl of need escape from the back of her throat. Her hands clutched at his hips, her fingers clinging to him as Alastair walked her backwards, further into the flat and kicked the door shut behind them.
He pressed her up against the wall, feeling the soft curves of her body flatten against him. He kissed her until they were both panting with need and his lips felt bruised. Keeping their bodies touching, Alastair leaned back to look down at her. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, her cheeks were pink and her lips were red. Need surged through him. It was a living beast that couldn’t be tamed. He had to have her. Now.
She was wearing purple leggings and a purple and yellow striped oversized sweatshirt. There was a pair of thick woollen socks on her feet, also yellow, and her hair was up in a high, messy ponytail. He wrapped his left hand in the bottom of her sweatshirt and tugged it up.
“Need help,” he said. “Cast.” He held up his broken arm.
“Help?” She blinked up at him.
“I want this off.” He tugged at the shirt again. “I want you naked. Now.”
A low moan escaped her lips. Alastair felt it go straight to his crotch. He took a step back.