Gift-Wrapped in a Kilt (Hot Scots #4)

Chapter One

Emery

My name is Emery MacTaggart, and I'm the newest member of the American Wives Club, three ladies from the US of A who each married a MacTaggart man and moved to Scotland. I'm not writing this to talk about myself, though. I want to tell you a story. It's about two people who believe nothing can save their love. They're wrong, and I've resolved to prove it.

I adore my sister-in-law, Jamie MacTaggart, because she reminds me of myself in many ways. She has spunk and fire and a cheerfulness I thought knew no end. Gavin Douglas pulled off the impossible, though. He broke her heart and shattered her positive outlook. I know he didn't mean to, but still. It happened. Gavin — brother of Calli MacTaggart, my sister-in-law and fellow American Wives Club member — has never felt at home among the MacTaggarts. I know he can be if he makes an effort. If he does what he needs to do, Jamie and Gavin's love can be saved.

Here comes my story. Well, their story.

After more than a year of intercontinental romance — Gavin in America, Jamie in Scotland, traveling back and forth to see each other — Jamie has had enough. She wants a commitment, and Gavin thought he was ready for it. Ah, that poor, misguided man. Like every man I've ever met, he has no clue how he really feels. The male of the species doesn't go for self-examination. Instead, these guys bumble around until the right woman straightens them out. Ask my hubby, Rory. He's an expert on denial, repression, and the value of a feisty American woman.

Rory taught me all about men who refuse to acknowledge, much less deal with, their fears. I married him four days after we met, and though he believed I'd done it for the money and excitement, I hitched my fate to his because I saw his potential. He's lived up to it and then some. If the most repressed man in Scotland could shed his fears and find happiness, I know Gavin can too.

Getting back to Jamie and Gavin… You might wonder how I know all of these things about their relationship.

"You meddle, that's how."

Strong hands grasped the top of my high-backed chair, hands belonging to the owner of that sexy-as-hell voice. I tilted my head back to gaze up at my husband.

"Hey, Rory baby," I said, snapping the laptop's lid shut. "Are you spying? Reading what I'm typing over my shoulder?"

Rory kissed my forehead. "How else will I know what nefarious plots you're cooking up?"

"This plot's already happening. Too late to stop it."

He sighed. "I doubt I want to know what your plans are for Jamie and Gavin."

"Better leave it to the expert." I patted his cheek, his face upside down to me. "Go get naked and I'll meet you in the office in ten minutes."

"The office again? Every surface in there is hard and sharp, and you're pregnant. We will not have sex anywhere except a well-padded bed until the bairn is born."

"Oh please, I'm not even showing yet." I looped my arms around his neck, pulling him in for a soft, sweet kiss. His hand drifted down to my breast, giving it a light squeeze. I broke the kiss, hissing in a sharp breath.

He snatched his hand away. "Are you all right?"

"A little tender. It's normal pregnancy stuff." I rubbed my lower back where an ache had started. "But you may be right about those sharp surfaces. Let's swap the office for the bathtub, and you run ahead to get the tub filled. I'll catch up in a jiff."

"When you're done documenting your meddling."

"Is it my fault people like to talk to me? I don't get judge-y, like some grumpy-but-sexy people I know and love." I tickled his lips. "I meant you, by the way."

"Judge-y? That's not a word, Em."

I reached around to slap his ass. "Scoot. I'll meet you in the ground-floor bathroom."

Rory ambled out of the sitting room. Yes, we lived in a home that had a sitting room. We lived in a castle, actually, one with four levels but only three floors. Don't get me started on that craziness.

I flipped my laptop's lid open again, fingers poised over the keyboard.

What was I saying? Oh yes. Jamie and Gavin.

The trouble started this morning when Gavin decided to give Jamie what he thought she wanted. Being a man, though, he lacked the self-awareness to see the train wreck looming ahead of him.