As she reached to open the gate, he prepared to step out into the lane but stopped when the door to the house opened again.
“Abigail! Wait a moment!”
Jonathan Flynn. Colin recognized him immediately from the surveillance photographs included in the packet Pol had given him. This was the man who’d arranged for Abby to be in Scotland. The man Pol suspected of having ties to the Nuadian Fae.
“Abigail!” He called out again, a big smile creasing his face as he drew close to her. “I feared I’d missed you and I wanted to chat about our next move on the site.”
For Abby’s part, her entire posture had stiffened at the man’s first hail. It appeared obvious to Colin that she had no desire to speak to her employer at this moment.
“Hi, Jonathan.” Abby dropped her hand from the gate, crossing her arms in front of her. “I’m just headed down to the pub for a bite. I’ll be back in an hour or so and we could talk then, if you like.”
As for Flynn, he didn’t seem to be picking up on the silent messages Abby was sending. In fact, he seemed a tad too determined altogether for Colin’s liking.
“I’ll join you. We can take my car and drive over to Aviemore for a nice dinner, just the two of us. How does that sound?”
“I can’t.” Abby appeared as surprised by her hasty refusal as Flynn.
“Why not?”
Insistent bastard! The lady had said no. Why she refused was none of his business. Enough of this.
Colin stepped from behind the shelter of the trees, silently making his way toward the oblivious couple.
“I can’t because . . .” She paused, brushing a hair away from her face as she dropped her gaze to the ground. “Because I. . .”
“Because she’s joining me this evening.”
Abby spun on her heel, her eyes wide with surprise.
“Colin!”
Once again, his expectations were off the mark. Rather than greeting him with a rebuke, she threw herself at him.
He opened his arms and she was in them, her soft fingers locking at the back of his neck, the expression onher face all the thanks he needed for intervening in her interaction with Flynn.
Holding her close as he did, it seemed only natural to dip his head, to capture her mouth with his as he had so many times in his dreams. Her lips, so soft as they brushed against his, sent a reverberation of familiarity zinging through him, like a sip of his favorite whisky after a long, hard ride. The feeling persisted even as the kiss broke.
“What are you doing here?” She made no move to back away, her eyes staring up into his, a thousand questions brimming in them.
He’d come for her. To keep her from harm. To demand the truth of why she’d brought him here. To insist she return him to his own time. So many reasons had brought him to her side.
But this was neither the time nor the company in which to confront her with any of them. That was a conversation for after they’d rid themselves of this overzealous intruder who thought erroneously to spend his evening in her company.
From what he’d seen and overheard, providing her an excuse to get away from Flynn seemed the obvious course of action.
“Yer late, Abby. I grew tired of waiting for you at the pub.” She had said she was on her way to the pub. That should satisfy the pushy man.
She nodded her head up and down, her eyes reflecting her understanding before she turned away.
“Colin, this is my employer, Jonathan Flynn. Jonathan, this is Colin, my. . . my boyfriend.”
Boyfriend. An odd word, not one he’d heard before,but the meaning seemed clear enough from Flynn’s look of shock. He could be that for now if it was what she needed of him. Herboyfriend.
“I was unaware you had any social attachments, Abigail.” The chide in Flynn’s voice was unmistakable as he extended a hand to Colin. “A pleasure to meet you, Mr. . . .” Flynn left the word hanging, waiting, the question clear.
“MacAlister. Though there’s no a need for formalities between us, sir. No with my Abby being in yer employ.” Colin smiled broadly, possessively snaking one arm around Abby’s waist as he accepted Flynn’s hand.
Nuadian!