Five Days in Skye: A Novel by Carla Laureano Read Free Book Online Page A

sunsets were just distant memories.
    They emerged from the mountains and descended toward the water. Andrea took note of the whitewashed buildings on either side of the road as they passed through a tiny town that reminded her of a New England fishing village. Then the graceful concrete arch of the Skye Bridge lay before them, stretching over the short span of water and framing a lighthouse just beyond.
    James pressed a button and rolled the front windows down.
    “What are you doing?”
    This time, his smile made him look downright boyish. “You can’t tell me you don’t love salt air.”
    “I suppose I do.” Andrea inhaled the tang of salt and the earthy scent of peat beneath. When they proceeded over the wide multilane bridge, she allowed herself to peer out the window at the water.
    “I’ve got you now. Don’t try to deny it.”
    A smiled stretched across her face. “It’s spectacular. I’m beginning to understand why you decided on Skye.”
    “Just wait, love. You haven’t seen anything yet.”
    “Love?” She shot him an exasperated look.
    He frowned, taken aback. “It’s just an expression. Like—”
    “—sweetheart, honey, pumpkin.”
    “I swear to you, I have never used pumpkin as a term of endearment for anyone over the age of ten, nor will I.”
    She scowled at him.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I thought we were having a nice friendly conversation. It just slipped out.”
    His abashed expression summoned a twinge of guilt. Maybe she was being too sensitive. She just despised the diminutives men used for her. Too often they felt like subtle put-downs, a way of minimizing her position. But James didn’t seem to have meant anything of the sort.
    She quickly changed the subject before she could embarrass herself further. “You grew up here on Skye?”
    “Until I was twelve,” James said. “Then I went to boarding school in Edinburgh.”
    “Why?”
    “My parents were divorced. I got myself into so much mischief after my mother left, she was sure I’d turn into a delinquent. I didn’t want to go back to England with her, so we compromised on an independent school in Scotland.”
    “I can’t imagine leaving home at twelve.”
    James shrugged. “I enjoyed myself. Of course, I wasn’t the most serious of students. I got tossed from my first two schools anyway.”
    “I don’t believe that. You don’t get into the University of Edinburgh without good grades.”
    “Oh, I earned high marks. I just spent as much time in the headmaster’s office as I did in class.” His mouth curved upwards, secretive, mischievous. “I had a rather unfortunate propensity for practical jokes.”
    “Which, apparently, you have not lost.”
    “Perhaps not.” He made a face. “Do I owe you an apology for last night? I couldn’t resist.”
    Andrea sighed. “No. I should have been better prepared.”
    “If you’d been prepared, you’d have been perfectly polite. Maybe you would’ve felt you needed to flatter my ego. Trust me, Andrea, I get enough of that as it is.”
    “Yes, it must be terrible to have women fawn all over you.”
    He glanced over long enough to catch her eye. “Do you enjoy turning the head of every man who gets within ten feet of you? Tell me the truth.”
    Heat rushed back to her cheeks, though she couldn’t quite say why. Of course men looked. They looked at all moderately attractive women. It wasn’t as if it meant anything. “It depends on the man, I suppose.”
    “Is that right?” Something in the way his gaze slid over her before it returned to the road made her heart trip. The flush deepened. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him smile. Blast him. He’d noticed, and he knew why.
    She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut. In the course of a three-hour drive, she’d managed to destroy her only chance of keeping things on a strictly professional level. James was intelligent enough to recognize the effect he had on her,