Smokeheads Read Online Free PDF Page A

colour and legs, taking a noseful then a sip. The Swedes monopolised her with more questions about tasting notes, expressions and rare bottlings.
    Roddy sidled up to Adam as he drank. ‘Well?’
    ‘Well what?’
    ‘You gonna make a move, Loverboy?’
    Adam shook his head. ‘You’re like a dog with a bone, Roddy.’
    ‘A boner, more like.’ Roddy looked down at his own crotch, Adam following his gaze.
    ‘Made you look,’ Roddy laughed. ‘Fucking hellfire, you think I’d be walking about a distillery with a hard-on?’
    ‘Nothing would surprise me.’
    ‘You crack me up, Tiger.’ Roddy slapped his back.
    ‘What do you think?’ said Ethan coming over.
    ‘About what?’ said Adam.
    Ethan raised his glass. ‘The quarter cask. It’s pretty special, isn’t it?’
    ‘Too sweet for me,’ said Adam. ‘Laphroaig doesn’t need bloody citrus overtones.’
    Roddy snorted and shook his head. ‘Never mind all that shit, what about the cute girl?’
    ‘What about her?’
    ‘Just go talk to her.’
    ‘What about?’
    ‘What do you fucking think? Whisky, you dolt.’
    ‘She’s busy with the Swedes.’

    ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake.’ Roddy raised his head. ‘Hey, Molly.’
    She looked thankful for the interruption, made her excuses and headed over. ‘Yes?’
    Adam pressed the button on his watch. Ninety-nine bpm. Shit.
    ‘We’re looking to party tonight,’ said Roddy. ‘Any idea where four guys might find a bit of action on this island?’
    Molly smiled. ‘It’s not exactly party central. Where are you staying?’
    ‘B&B in Port Ellen.’
    ‘The Ardview is your best bet on a Friday night. You know it?’
    ‘Sure, we’ve been in already. What are you up to this evening? Fancy joining us for a wee snifter?’
    Molly looked from Roddy to Adam, then back again. Adam felt the skelf in his finger ache. ‘Actually I’ve already got plans to meet my sister in there tonight. Maybe I’ll see you at the bar.’
    ‘It’s a date,’ said Roddy. ‘Looking forward to it.’
    Molly began tidying as they finished their drams, the Swedes cornering her for more information.
    ‘There, that wasn’t so difficult, was it?’ said Roddy.
    ‘It’s not a date.’
    ‘We’re meeting her and her no doubt equally cute sister in the pub, it doesn’t matter what you fucking call it. It’s a gold-plated snatch opportunity is what it is.’
    Adam looked at Molly, who smiled at him. He looked at her hand on the Laphroaig bottle, definitely no ring. He looked at his own finger and noticed the skelf had worked its way a little deeper under the skin. He was never going to get it out now.

7
     
     

    Adam lifted an embossed leather dog collar from a shelf. The Ardbeg gift shop took branded tat to a whole new level. Cufflinks, memory sticks, rucksacks and little tins of peat cones, there was nothing they couldn’t stamp their wee Celtic logo on. He threw the collar down and walked back to the table where Luke was slouched, drumming his fingers on a menu.
    The other two had gone on the tour, but Adam and Luke had stopped in the Old Kiln Cafe to grab something to eat. Ethan had been keen to see round the distillery, Roddy joining him when he saw the tall, perky redhead taking the tour. Adam had been round the place before, of course, and besides, he wanted a bit of time to think about Molly.
    Roddy had been a total dick back at Laphroaig, but you couldn’t argue with his results. They were on for joining Molly and her sister in the pub tonight, and the absence of a wedding ring made Adam reassess his chances from zero to almost zero.
    His lack of success with women was legendary amongst the gang, Roddy never missing an opportunity to rub it in. He’d never had a relationship lasting more than a few months, which for someone with one eye on forty was pretty worrying. He was plenty interested, but always overcome by a crippling lack of confidence, his psyche riddled with self-doubt. Not the most appealing trait in a boyfriend, he