Page 57 of Love Bomb

“She’s probably just busy,” Bain said.

The morons laughed.

“Or,” Kade said, “she’s just not that into you.”

“No,” Bain said, genuinely at a loss. “It cannae be that.”

They laughed harder and Bain flipped them off.

He missed his brother Brodie. There was only a year between them in age, but his maturity level was infinitely higher than the rest of his brothers. The sooner Brodie found the old airplane he was hunting and came home to Invertary, the better. Bain needed somebody sensible to talk to.

“Never thought I’d see the day Bain MacGregor was ghosted after a night of passion.” Darach grinned while he tidied up his paperwork.

They were done for the day and Bain had never been so pleased to see the back of work. It was seriously getting in the way of his personal life.

“There was no night of passion,” Bain said, as he shrugged into his coat. “Rona isn’t a one-night-stand material.” He took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. “In fact, I’m thinking of having a relationship with her.”

There was a stunned silence, which Bain thought was a bit insulting. You’d have thought he’d just declared he was going on a murderous rampage.

“Does Rona know you’re thinking of having a relationship with her?” Kade asked.

“Not yet, but I’m sure she’ll be okay with it,” Bain said. “She’s wanted to go out with me since she turned twelve.”

“Okay,” Darach said, nodding. “So we’re just going to skip right over the years she was gone.” He cocked an eyebrow at Bain. “Has it occurred to you that her feelings might have changed?”

“Not after last night,” he smiled with satisfaction. “You were there. Did it sound like she was over me?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this—to you,” Kade said. “But she might have just wanted a good time and you were available. It doesn’t mean she wants to settle down.”

“I’m not talking about a lifetime commitment,” Bain said patiently. “I’m just talking about a relationship.”

“I’m curious,” Darach said. “What do you think a relationship is?”

Bain thought about it. “It’s a series of one-night stands, but with the same person.”

His arsehole brothers started laughing again.

“Fine,” Bain snapped. “What do you think a relationship is?”

“I’m not giving you the answer,” Kade said. “That’s cheating.”

Bain glared at them, picked up his toolbox, and headed for his truck. He’d have gotten more sense out of Rona’s cat.

Rona’d had a lovely day, hanging out with Kirsty. It was a nice break from the testosterone overload she experienced around the MacGregor brothers. It was also exhausting. Kirsty’s two wee girls were a handful. By the time she’d left them, she was more than ready for a good meal in the hotel restaurant.

The day away from Bain had also helped to clear her head, and she’d come to a decision. If she didn’t want to get hurt, she needed to keep her relationship with Bain on a purely professional footing. He was helping her to blow up the folly. Nothing more. That meant no hanging out, no dancing, and no eating cake together. It was totally doable. After all, she’d already spent more than half her life not doing stuff with Bain.

Dougal came rushing up to her as soon as she entered the hotel restaurant. “Where have you been?” he said, clearly flustered. “I’ve been trying to call you for hours.”

“Sorry.” Rona winced. “I went to visit Kirsty and I left my phone in my room.” Because she’d been avoiding Bain. “What’s wrong?”

Dougal wrung his hands in front of his bright yellow sweater, this one adorned with a large highland cow. “I wish I’d been able to get ahold of you,” he said anxiously. “I wanted to warn you that⁠—”

“Rona!” A sharp voice interrupted Dougal, cutting through the noise of the dining room. “Rona! Is that you?”

Rona felt the blood drain from her face as she stared at Dougal.

“Oh, no,” she whispered. “My parents.”