Page 9 of Love Bomb

“Go away,” he said, returning his attention to the TV. “I’m no’ blowing up your bloody folly.”

Rona shoved his feet out of the way and sat on the table where they’d been—blocking his view of a surprisingly interesting documentary about cheese.

“I’m told you’re feeling delicate because yet another woman wants to claim you as the father of her child,” Rona said with undisguised judgement.

Bain took a sip of beer while he silently cursed his loose-lipped brothers.

“That’s none of your business,” he said when he was done.

“True.”

Of course, she didn’t stop there. Nope, Rona had always been quick about sharing her opinion on his life. Seemed thirteen years away hadn’t changed that.

“I told you,” she said, “back when we were teens, that if you didn’t show some restraint and keep it in your pants, your behavior would come back to bite you in the arse.” She held up her hands in a ‘look what we have here’ gesture.

“Thank you,” he drawled. “I don’t know how I’ve managed to live without you telling me ‘I told you so’ every five minutes. I feel much better now.”

“I tried to save you from yourself, but you never listened,” Rona said, like it was perfectly reasonable that he would have taken the advice of an annoying kid. “Now you’re fathering babies all over the highlands. When are you going to grow up?”

That was just insulting.

“Not that it’s any of your business,” he said, even though he didn’t owe her an explanation and had no idea why he was offering one. “But I didn’t father this woman’s child. Or any other child. But I definitely didn’t father this one because I never slept with the baby’s mother.”

She pursed her lips before speaking. “Are you sure? I’d hardly set foot back in town before people were falling over themselves to tell me all about your sexual escapades. From what I hear, there’s a veritable parade of women going through your bedroom. How do you keep them all straight? Do you have a little black book? An online spreadsheet? Do you take a mugshot after every experience and keep a photo album of your conquests?”

It was tempting to tell her that his sex life was far tamer than rumors suggested. For years his reputation had been built on myth and he’d done nothing to challenge it, because no one would believe him anyway.

And yes, he’d been a little wild in his youth, but after a while it’d become boring to bed every woman who caught his eye. The chase just wasn’t what it used to be, and waking up beside a nameless stranger got old fast.

The truth was that, contrary to what people believed, Bain had matured. In fact, he wouldn’t have minded a committed relationship. The only problem was that he knew everyone in town. Worse still—they knew him. There wasn’t a woman within fifty miles of Invertary who’d believe he wanted more than a roll in the hay.

But again, none of this was any of Rona’s business.

“Why are you still here,” he said. “I already told you I’m not blowing up the folly.”

For a second she looked torn between continuing the discussion on his fictitious sex life or getting back to business. He was surprised when business won.

“I didn’t want to do this, but you’re forcing my hand.” Rona reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a thumb drive.

She tossed it at him, and he dropped the remote to pluck it out of the air.

He examined the drive with a smirk. “Blackmail, Rona? Really? What’ve you got? Some photos of my youthful indiscretions? I hate to break it to you, but in the highlands I’m what’s commonly called a rake and a scoundrel. Nobody will be surprised or impressed by anything you have on here.” He tossed it back to her.

She fumbled the catch. It made him smile to see she was still as uncoordinated as she’d been as a kid.

“Please,” she said. “I am way more devious than that. You should know better.”

She lobbed it back to him. With a bit more force this time. He had to react fast to keep from being smacked in the face.

Rona got to her feet and tossed a folded piece of paper into his lap. “That’s my number, call me once you’ve had a look at the drive,” she said. “And don’t take too long. I’m on a deadline.”

Then, nose in the air, she stalked from the room.

Bain stared at the drive, wondering what it could hold, while he listened to his brothers bid their fond farewells to Rona.

“Did she blackmail you then?” Darach asked once the demon was gone.

Bain snorted. “Of course she did.” Rona was nothing if not predictable.