My Tempting Highlander (Highland Hearts #3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

automobile’s engine settled into a low, steady purr as toasty warm air finally blasted out of the vents. Mairi aimed one of the blowers toward her feet, and in the rearview mirror watched the garage door slowly rise. “Well, dammit.”
    Lilia looked up from her ever-present smartphone. “What?”
    “It’s sleeting. That’ll slow us down even more.”
Just what I need to make this day worse.
Sleet-covered roads would be slicker than penguin shit on ice. Mairi switched on the wipers and re-aimed the heat toward the windshield. She’d have fun scraping ice off her windshield at the end of her shift tonight too. Pinging sleet rattled a chilly good morning against the car as she backed out into the street.
    Squinting through the deluge, Mairi picked up speed. Apparently it hadn’t been sleeting long. Ice hadn’t coated the roads yet. The cobbled bricks of the historic street seemed to be only wet. Good. She just might reach the hospital before the two-hours-late mark. If she cut over to Princes Street Gardens, she could shave off even more of her lateness. During the wee hours of Edinburgh’s early morning, that would be the speediest route to Lilia’s stop and then on to the hospital. Mairi zipped up a side street and cut a hard left.
    A silver gray blur cleared a low stone wall and charged into the street.
    Lilia lunged forward, slapping both hands on the dash. “Don’t hit that dog!”
    “Shit!” Mairi slammed the brake pedal to the floor. She cringed at the sickening thump-bump-bump against the left front of the car.
Dammit all to hell.
She’d hit the dog. Mairi killed the engine and bolted out the door. It had happened so fast. There was no way she could’ve swerved and missed it.
    Mairi’s heart knotted up in her throat as she eased around to the front of the car.
Double damn dammit.
Tears stung her eyes. She couldn’t bear the thought of what she’d been unable to avoid. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered as she knelt beside the motionless body.
    “Is it…” Lilia squatted down beside Mairi.
    “I don’t know.” Mairi moved around to the front of the dog and peered closer at its rain-slicked head. Eyes closed. Mouth slightly ajar. Tongue relaxed and hanging out one side of the beast’s mouth. It didn’t look good. She swallowed hard and hesitated. She had to touch it. Had to check for a heartbeat. No way could she just take off and leave the poor animal in the road like a discarded rag doll.
    Mairi smoothed her hand up the furry rib cage and pressed into the warm softness where the canine’s limp foreleg joined its chest. A faint heartbeat tickled beneath her fingertips, along with something more. Something strange…a gentle zap of energy that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Mairi rolled back on her heels and scrubbed her still-tingling palm up and down her thigh.
What the hell was that?
    “Oh no. Is it too late?” Lilia’s voice broke as she wiped the back of her hand across her cheeks and sniffed.
    Mairi stared down at the huge motionless dog. She flexed her hand against the unbelievable sensation, shaking her head as she turned to Lilia’s worried gaze. “No. Not yet. I felt a heartbeat. Go get the emergency blanket out of the car and fold down the backseat. We’ve got to get him out of the road before I can try to save him.”
    Lilia sprinted back to the car.
    Mairi quickly glanced around the vacant street. Thank heavens it was too early for many to be about, but that wouldn’t last for long. They had to get the dog out of the street before anyone else came along and called the authorities to put the poor beast out of its misery. Mairi rubbed her still-tingling hand against her thigh. She had to save this dog. It wasn’t just some stray. This animal was…special. She couldn’t explain it, but she damn sure felt it in her heart.
    Boots splatted through the puddles behind her, then Lilia nudged her with the heavy wool of the emergency blanket always kept in the car. “He’s a pretty