The knowledge spread over him in a jolt of recognition. Only the years of discipline spent as a warrior allowed Colin to maintain his outward show of calm and friendliness. The man whose hand he held was Fae. Full-blood. Without a doubt Nuadian.
And without a doubt, the source of danger to Abby.
“The pleasure is all mine. Shall we go, Abby?” With a nod of farewell, he steered her away from Flynn and down the cobbled street toward the center of the village. Behind him, he could swear he felt the Fae’s anger seething.
Abby was silent until they were well away from Flynn’s hearing. “How did you know where to find me? And why? Why did you find me? What are you doing here?”
“Finding you was easy enough. You’d told me you were coming to Scotland this summer.” That would hopefully satisfy her for the moment. Somehow he didn’t think she’d react well to learning she’d hadpeople watching her every move for months. “And as to what I’m doing here, I’m taking you to eat, am I no?”
The sounds of music and laughter spilled from a doorway just ahead of them, along with an enticing smell that set Colin’s stomach rumbling.
He held open the door, allowing her to enter first, and followed her to a small table in one corner of the crowded room.
She was quiet again until after the serving woman handed them a sheet of paper printed with the pub’s fare. “No, I mean, why did you come looking for me at all?”
He absolutely intended to tell her everything. This very night. Just not yet. For now he simply wanted to enjoy the feel of being in her company again.
“Is being yerboyfriendno reason enough to come to call on you?”
Her cheeks colored a delightful pink and her eyes danced away from his for a moment.
“Okay. I totally deserved that. I do appreciate your not giving me away when I introduced you to Jonathan. I suppose you’re going to want an explanation for that now.”
“Only as much as yer willing to tell.”
“Have you decided then, dearies?” The serving woman had returned, a pencil and pad in her hand, an expectant smile on her face. “We’ve a special on the haggis tonight. Comes with tatties and neeps, fresh from my own garden.”
“I think I’ll give that a try.” Abby returned the woman’s smile before turning her attention to him. “Classic Scottish fare, probably sounds like regular home cooking to you.”
“So you might think.” In truth, he’d found the food in this time both challenging and absolutely fascinating. There was so much variety to it, in so many combinations, and all of it with special names and ingredients he’d never tasted before. In those first two weeks, he’d paid little attention to the foods his cousin had served him, and certainly the foods he’d eaten in Wyddecol were nothing like here in the Mortal world. “I’ll have the same, thank you.”
“As to the whole boyfriend excuse, there’s not really much to tell.” Abby picked up the thread of their conversation as soon as they were alone, launching into a litany of praise that sounded more memorized than from the heart. “Jonathan is a great guy and a dedicated researcher. He’s given me the chance of a lifetime by allowing me to participate in his archaeological dig. This experience, and the paper he’s chosen me to write summarizing the findings from the expedition, will help me considerably in working toward my graduate degrees and, depending on what we find here, maybe even in my career beyond school.”
“But?” Obviously, in spite of the halfhearted positives she mouthed, there had been some reason she had so desperately wanted to leave Flynn behind.
“But,” she repeated with finality. She smiled and paused to take a sip from the mug of beer the serving woman had delivered to their table as if trying to decide how much to say. “I’m a little uncomfortable that Jonathan sort of seems to think our relationship might have the potential to be more personal than professional.”
“And does it?” Based on her earlier actions, hethought he knew the answer but he wanted to hear her say the words.
“Absolutely not.” She shook her head emphatically, setting the long tail of curls swaying back and forth in a tantalizing dance at her shoulders. “I mean, don’t get me wrong; like I said, he’s a great guy. I’m just not, you know, into him.” She shrugged one shoulder and looked down at her beer.
Her admission was a relief to hear, though he told himself it was only because he didn’t want to see her involved with a Nuadian. After all, his priority was returning to his own time and he needed her safe and healthy in order to send him home.
“Okay, so I came clean. Now it’s your turn. Why are you really here? I assume your showing up tonight isn’t some random accident, so why did you come looking for me?”
The serving woman’s return with their food bought him a few minutes to gather himself, but not nearly long enough now that he actually faced telling her what he needed to.
“I need yer help.”
Of course he did.
Abby continued to chew the bite she’d forked into her mouth, though what had started out as truly delicious had quickly taken on the feel of just so much mush. Disappointment roiled in her stomach. What had she expected? That his one night with her had sent him scurrying across the Atlantic hunting for her? That maybe he dreamed of her every single,wretched night, just as she dreamed of him? That sort of thinking obviously would be the epitome of stupid, now, wouldn’t it?
She flickered her gaze in his direction, darting her eyes away just as quickly when she found him staring at her.
Stupid of her, yes, but you’d think a great-looking guy like Colin MacAlister would have more than enough experience with women to at least lead her on for a bit. Appeal to her vanity, maybe. Lull her into thinking he had a thing for her. To, at the very least, try to make her feel like he actually had some tiny bit of interest in seeing her for, well, for her. But no, he was here because he needed something from her, and he wasn’t making the slightest effort to hide the fact.
Was it she who’d always claimed she valued honesty in a man? She might have to reconsider that particular “virtue.” A little white lie to soothe her wounded ego wouldn’t have been so awful.