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

Chapter Thirteen

Emery

I found my husband in his office, the old library attached to the castle tower. Rory reclined in his leather executive chair with it tipped back slightly, his feet on the desk with his ankles crossed, hands folded over his belly. When I walked into the room, his gaze swiveled from the tall windows to me.

He had the good sense to look guilty.

Swinging his feet off the desk, he straightened and coughed. "Emery, I —"

"You've been hiding from me," I said as I tromped around the desk to drop my butt onto his lap. "It's okay. I know you're a recovering uptightness addict. A few slips now and then are to be expected."

He relaxed into the chair and slipped an arm around my waist.

"I may be forgiving you for avoiding me all day," I said, turning sideways in his lap to loop my arms around his neck, "but you're still on the hook for the Trevor thing."

"Trevor thing?" He adopted a look of pure innocence.

"You know what I'm talking about." I leaned in to stare straight into his amber eyes. "Why did you invite Trevor to the Halloween party?"

"He rang me to ask if I'd help him with the legal issues surrounding his purchase of an old distillery." Rory averted his gaze to the desk. "I told him I don't have time. He accepted that answer, but then he asked after Jamie. I may have suggested he come to the party to catch up with her."

"Catch up?" I leaned in more, our noses bumping. "Are you trying to drive a wedge between Jamie and Gavin? Do you even know why she and Trevor broke up? What did you hope to accomplish with this little invitation of yours?"

" Mhac na ghalla , Emery, I was being friendly." He cast me a mulish sidelong glance. "You keep insisting I should be more welcoming."

"Swearing at me in Gaelic won't help. You're the one who decided bringing Jamie's ex to the party was the perfect way to start your friendliness campaign."

"Jamie always said they parted ways amicably. I thought she'd like to see an old friend."

I groaned. "Honey, I know you meant well. But this was a truly knuckleheaded idea."

My husband bristled. "I am not a knucklehead."

"Oh, Rory baby." I stroked his cheek. "All men are knuckleheads on occasion. It's one of the defining traits of manhood."

His lips twisted into a wry smile. "I think I should be insulted, but given my transgression, I feel the irritating need to apologize."

"Yes, apologize to Jamie."

Rory jerked his head back. "Jamie? No, I meant apologize to you."

I tapped his nose, more amused than annoyed by his display of manly embarrassment. "Apologizing to me won't help. You screwed up, so you get to beg your sister's forgiveness."

He grumbled and slumped as much as he could with me on top of him. "Fine, I'll talk to Jamie."

I opened my mouth, but he cut me off with a roll of his eyes.

"And I will also apologize," he said, "to Jamie."

I patted the top of his head. "Good boy."

He rolled his eyes again.

Snuggling into him, I said, "From here on, baby, leave the meddling to me. You suck at it."

Those whisky eyes of his rotated to study me sideways. "What have you done now?"

"Nothing much." I grinned. "Just told Gavin he needs to bromance you MacTaggart brothers."

"What?" Rory virtually screeched, sounding not terribly masculine. "Ahmno being… Donnae want him doing that with me."

"Calm down, sweetie. All I meant was he needs to make friends with you three." I tipped my head to the side. "Did you know Iain calls you the Three Macs, and he told Gavin you're a three-man Scottish mafia? No wonder he's afraid to speak to you."

A smug smile curved his lips. "Serves Gavin right."

I gave him a weak punch in the shoulder. "Behave, Rory. We want Jamie to be happy, and Gavin makes her happy."

He grumbled again, slipping both arms around my waist. "Am I meant to be friendly with him? The man who broke my sister's heart?"

"You broke my heart over and over and over and —"

"I get the idea. That was different."

"Right. Different." I feathered my lips over his. "Pretty sure Gavin never told Jamie to sleep in another room, or told her not to say his name during sex, or commanded her to keep her eyes open during sex, or —"

"Again, I understand your point." He made a petulant face. "I don't do that anymore."

"Nope, you got over it. You're almost freewheeling these days." I licked at the seam of his lips. "If you try to be nicer to Gavin, I'll reward you in many and varied ways."

"You can't keep placating me with sex, Em."

"Sure I can." I took his bottom lip into my mouth and sucked, then released it slowly. "Works like a charm."

"Maybe it does. And maybe I could make more of an effort with Gavin." He slid a hand up my side to cup my breast. "Now show me one of these rewards, mo gaoloch ."