CHAPTER TWO
FOR ONE MOMENT, Claire was in disbelief, and then she got the joke. Amy! Her cousin was her best friend. Amy knew she was on her way to Mull, where she would stay at Malcolm’s Arms, and she also knew that Claire had fantasized about meeting the laird of Dunroch. Her cousin had decided to play a prank on her by sending this wannabe actor to impersonate a medieval Highlander. And Claire laughed.
Normally, she would not be amused, but she was so relieved.
The man pretending to be Malcolm of Dunroch stopped smiling. He stared at her, first in suspicion, and then his expression hardened, becoming dark. “Be ye laughin’ at me, lass?” he asked too softly.
“Amy sent you!” Claire cried, still having one last chuckle. “God, you are good! You had me for a moment—I thought you were a loon. The truth is, I almost believed, just for a second, that you were the genuine article.” She grinned at him.
He scowled. “Ye be mad, lass. An’ you accuse me of bein’ the loon?”
His quick anger almost seemed real. “I know you’re not mad,” Claire said quickly, instinctively appeasing him. “Just one damn good entertainer.”
“I dinna ken ye, lass.” His regard was piercing.
His theatrics were no longer amusing. He was an actor, not a loon, not a burglar. Her cousin had hired the most gorgeous hunk she had ever seen as a joke. And not only was he gorgeous, he was clearly attracted to her, too. She became still. She hadn’t been with anyone in three years, not since her last relationship had ended. Claire began to think hard about the fact that he was not an insane burglar and that men like him were not a dime a dozen. But what was she going to do, exactly?
He was as still. “Lassie?”
Then she came to her senses. He was a stranger. In a city filled with vicious murdering criminals, only crazy or desperate women met men without a friend’s introduction. She wasn’t crazy and she wasn’t desperate. She should not be thinking about sex.
But she was.
Claire wet her lips, aware that her body was turned on, no matter her common sense. “Enough with the brogue. Cat’s out of the bag.” She turned away from him and as she did so, she was faced with the devastation in her store.
Her attention was instantly diverted. Claire stared at the precious books littering the floor. Her cousin would never condone such destruction.
That woman had not been a joke. He might be an actor, but Sibylla had been a burglar. She had ransacked Claire’s store and assaulted her, and Claire still didn’t know what she had taken. Suddenly, Amy’s joke wasn’t funny anymore. Malcolm had scared her, considering what had happened before he had appeared. And it didn’t even make sense. Sibylla had also asked about a page from the Cladich. What did that mean?
As she tried to make sense out of the events of that evening, he walked past her and began retrieving the books.
“What are you doing?” she asked tersely, riddled with tension all over again. This wasn’t right; everything was still wrong.
He faced her, a dozen books in his arms. The imitation leine had short sleeves, and his biceps bulged. “I will help ye, lass, but ye need to help me in return.” He sent her that engaging and alluring smile.
Claire steeled herself against his magnetism, jerking her gaze away. It was almost too late, as her body heat was climbing. She hugged herself defensively now. “That was improv, right? I told you about Sibylla and the page from the Cladich and you went with it. That’s what actors do.” That was the only possible explanation…except she wasn’t certain she had mentioned Sibylla before he had asked her about the page.
He slowly shook his head. “I dinna ken. But if ye be thinkin’ I be an actor, ye be wrong, lass. I be the Maclean of south Mull an’ Coll.”
Claire became angry. She folded her arms against her chest, then regretted it, as his gaze moved to her breasts. “Please stop,” she said harshly. “This has been a terrible night. I know Amy sent you as a joke, but Sibylla assaulted me and ransacked my store.”
“An’ that be why I wish to help ye now. Where do ye want me t’ put the books?”
Claire shook her head. “No. I appreciate the offer, but I’ll clean up by myself.” She wanted him gone. She needed to think and she needed to call the police.
But he ignored her, placing the books in a neat pile on the floor, as if he understood there was no point in putting anything back on the shelves. He glanced at her as he straightened.
Clearly he intended to stay and help. Did that make him decent, as well as gorgeous? Softly, she said, “The joke’s done. Really. You can go now.”
He muttered something in Gaelic and she froze. “You’re really a Scot.”
“Aye.” He held another armful of books.
Claire told herself not to panic. He could be a Scottish actor, just like Sean Connery, and some Scots continued to speak Gaelic. “Amy did send you, didn’t she?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he stacked the books next to the first pile.
She shook her head, her unease about to become full-blown panic again. If Amy hadn’t sent him, then who and what was he?
He bent to retrieve more books, and Claire was faced with the sight of the leine riding high up on his powerful, corded hamstrings. The fact that he was so masculine didn’t help alleviate her confusion. Her body continued to vibrate with all kinds of tension, but she wasn’t as frightened now as she had first been. If he wasn’t going to leave, what should she do?
She should call her cousin and find out the truth, but damn it, she was afraid of what Amy would say.
He straightened and caught her staring. “Ye be too hungry fer such a beauteous lass,” he said softly. “Where’s yer man?”
“There isn’t one.” She was flushing.
He stared blankly at her. “I dinna ken this world,” he finally said, shaking his head. “Ye live here alone?”
Claire nodded. “Yes, I do.” They were having a conversation that was almost normal. She debated how to innocently make that phone call without his becoming alarmed. There was no way to avoid it.
He was incredulous. “And who’s t’ protect ye in danger?”
“I protect myself.” She smiled weakly.
He made a sound. “With that weapon?” He nodded disparagingly toward the hall, where her Beretta lay on the floor.
“I also have Mace, pepper spray and a Taser.”
His eyes narrowed. “More weapons?”
Surely he knew what Mace and pepper spray were, at least. “I am hardly the only single woman in the city.”
“A woman needs a man to keep her safe, lass. ’Tis the way o’ the world, the way o’ men.” He was firm.
Claire was briefly speechless. This man spoke as if he were from a past century. “It’s not the way of my world,” she finally said. “And you’re scaring me. I admit it. I’m a wuss and you need to get out of character.” Her cheeks were hot.
“I dinna wish to frighten ye, lass,” he murmured. “But what man in his good mind would leave ye to yerself?”
She couldn’t help being flattered. And the way he was regarding her now, from beneath thick black lashes, left her in no doubt that he was oversexed. Claire swallowed. She couldn’t just sense the sexual tension coming from him, she could actually feel it. It was almost a third presence there in the room with them. She had not a doubt he would be an amazing lover.
“Ye need a man, lass,” he said softly. “’Tis a shame it willna be me.”