Among the Heather (The Highlands, #2) (29)

“No, of course not.”

She relaxed marginally. “I really am sorry, Ari.”

I sighed heavily and sat back down in my chair, feeling light-headed. “I know.”





A few hours later, a knock sounded on my door and I braced myself, knowing who it was. “Come in.”

My boss and owner of the estate, Lachlan Adair, strode inside. The Adair siblings were all tall, blond, and blue-eyed, suggesting a line of Viking blood in their ancestry. Lachlan, the eldest, was also one of the tallest among them, and his impressive height and good looks had helped him on his path to stardom. For about fifteen years, he’d played the game in Hollywood, making a name for himself as an action star. However, he’d retired early from the movies to return home to Scotland and open Ardnoch.

Smart man.

Straightforward, fair, honorable, even, Lachlan was a good boss, and I appreciated he entrusted me with his club. When his wife Robyn gave birth to their daughter, Lachlan wanted to be home more. I made it possible for him to do that. Especially now that he’d gone into business with two of his brothers in separate ventures.

It irked me to no end that I had to have this conversation with him.

“Are you all right?” Lachlan asked as he sat down. I leaned against my desk, my hands curling tightly around the edges. “You look a bit pale.”

“I’ve barely slept.” I exhaled shakily. “An incident occurred last night.”

He straightened in his chair. “Is anyone hurt?”

I gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Just my reputation.”

“What?”

At his confusion, I sat down in the chair next to him. “My younger sister has come for a visit, and unfortunately, last night she played a prank on me and a member.”

“Prank?”

“I was working late, and she lied to me and to North Hunter to get us in the library together after the staff had been dismissed. Then she locked us in. All night.”

“Why?”

This was the embarrassing part. Well, another embarrassing part. “She was trying to play matchmaker.”

“With you and North?”

“Nothing is going on between us,” I reassured him. “I wouldn’t cross the line with a member.”

Lachlan grimaced. “Aria, not that I’m encouraging you to sleep with our members, but I’d be a bloody hypocrite if I enforced a no-fraternization rule between you and them. I married my head of security’s daughter. And before that, I’d had relationships with club members. It’s different for us than for other staff members. We run in the same circles as our members. Attraction happens.”

“Nothing is happening between me and North Hunter,” I insisted. “But we drank some whisky that I will replace, I promise.”

Lachlan’s lips twitched in amusement.

“And, um, Wakefield discovered us this morning and let us out, and I haven’t explained to him what happened.”

“No need.” My boss waved off the suggestion. “Wakefield is the soul of discretion. He won’t mention it to anyone.”

“You’re not mad?”

“That depends on North Hunter’s response.”

“He is …” I felt a pang of emotion I didn’t quite understand. “An easygoing guy. He didn’t seem to be put out by the situation.”

Lachlan grinned. “Oh, I bet not.”

I could feel my cheeks heating and was glad my olive skin didn’t blush. “Well, I was thinking we should compensate Mr. Hunter for his night. Maybe even a few nights.”

“Make the entire week complimentary.” My boss peered at me. “Is this why you called me in?”

“Yes, in part. The other thing is that there was no way out of the library once we were locked in. If there was a fire and someone got locked in there, it’s a problem.”

Lachlan nodded. “It came up when we were refurbishing the castle, and the windows were enough to pass fire inspection. Plus we’d thought the likelihood of anyone getting locked in there was slim.” I flushed again at his dry tone, cursing my sister to hell. “What do you suggest?”

“I think the least intrusive idea has some expense to it.”

“Go on.”

“I think we should convert one of the windows into a door.”

Lachlan nodded again. “Aye, that sounds logical. I’ll deal with it.”

“Are you sure? I can handle it.”

“No, it’s fine. I have a contact who helped refurbish some windows years ago. I’ll call you to let you know when they’ll be out to measure. Is there anything else?”

“That’s it for now.”

“Great.” He stood, towering over me. “Now go home.”

I gaped up at him. “What? Now?”

“Aye, now.”

“But I have work.”

“I’m here. I’ll handle what needs to be handled. You go home and sleep.”

“But—”

“No buts. Go home.”





“Oh my God, please tell me you did not get fired?” Allegra asked as soon as I walked through the door.

“No,” I grumbled as I kicked off my heels. “Lachlan sent me home because I haven’t slept. I had to tell him what you did in case North complained.”