Page 88 of Love Bomb

“When I came back home, I spoke to Dougal, who told me he’d been stonewalled by your parents and that nobody who’d tried to contact you had been able to get through. He even hired a private investigator at one point. That’s how we found out you were in boarding school in England. We were just relieved that somebody knew where you were every day.”

Rona’s heart was racing. Dougal had looked for her too?

“I tried asking Kitty Baxter for information on you,” he said. “She slammed the door in my face. But every time I was in Edinburgh, I’d try to get in to see your parents or grandfather, in the hopes of finding out how you were. Once, your father got so angry with me that told me you were in university and had forgotten all about Invertary—and me. I stopped asking after that because I figured you’d found a life of your own, and that you were okay.”

Rona heart was racing so hard it was distracting her.

He hadn’t just tried to look for her, he’d searched for her—over years.

“I thought you’d just forgotten me,” Rona said.

Bain gave her a lopsided smile. “Rona, you’re unforgettable.”

“I’m sorry I was holding a grudge over feeling abandoned,” she said in a rush. “I know it wasn’t rational.”

The smile grew wider. “Since when have you ever been rational?”

“Moron,” she said, squaring her shoulders. “If you cared enough to look for me, why were you so mad when I came back to Invertary?”

“I fell into old habits,” he said with a grin. “I spent years being annoyed at you turning up unannounced. Give me a break, okay? It took a wee while to adapt to the new you.”

“Are you adapted now?”

“Oh, aye,” he drawled, making her shiver.

“Do you still want to take me to bed?”

“Rona, how can you even ask?”

“Then, I think I’d be okay with that,” she said.

Bain was on his feet and scooping her up before she could blink.

“Wait,” she said through a grin, as he headed for the stairs. “I have conditions.”

“Talk fast,” he said. “You’ve got until the bedroom to get it all out.”

Rona laughed as she wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. He took the stairs two at a time, making her squeal.

“No more stupid marriage proposals that you don’t even mean,” she said.

“Oh, I meant it. I’m even thinking of having Darach put together a PowerPoint presentation with all the reasons it’s a good idea.”

“That’s your dick talking again, Bain. Give it a day or two to shut up and then you’ll think differently,” Rona said. “In the meantime, I don’t want a one-night stand. I want a week before you leave me.”

“Rona,” he said, it sounded pained. “What if I want more than a week? Even taking marriage off the table, I told you I’m looking for a relationship.”

“Let’s just see if you can manage a week and then we’ll reconsider.”

But she knew that a week would be pushing it for him. At least this way, when he left, she wouldn’t have been one of Bain’s one-night stands.

He stared at her with such intensity, it took her breath away. “Fine, but we count the week from our first kiss, and not from today.”

“No way, you said that first kiss was under duress.”

“Then we count from the coat rack.”

“Whatever,” Rona said.