The Trouble with Scotland Read Online Free PDF

Ross.
    â€œI know what you mean. Gigi and Oliver wanted me to become a dental hygienist, so I became one.”
    Ross could hear the frown in her words. He wanted to ask her about it, but then she spoke.
    â€œHave you ever lost anyone?” Her voice was quiet, but her grief was palpable.
    He thought about his da.
    â€œA close friend?” she clarified.
    The images of Duncan, his best mate, flashed through his mind. “Aye.” It had been one of the hardest things he’d ever gone through, to watch his friend fight leukemia and lose. “What about you?”
    â€œGigi was my closest friend.”
    â€œI lost my closest friend, too.” Ross found himself opening up about Duncan. He hadn’t talked about it with anyone, because everyone he knew had lived it along with him. Even though it tore at him to share with Sadie what had happened, it felt right at the same time. Then he went back a little farther and told her how the loss of his da hadn’t been any easier. It had been sudden, no time to prepare, and no time to say
I love you
once more.
    Sadie’s bed creaked. He saw her rise and pad toward him. “Scoot over. I’m cold.”
    He could’ve argued that he was a big man in a small bed. But who was he to turn away a woman who needed him? He opened his arms and she slipped in. She didn’t feel cold, but warm, and smelled of the outdoors, the ocean, and sunshine. He pulled the covers around them.
    Sadie spoke into his chest. “I know what you mean about not getting to say
I love you
one more time. My parents went out for the evening and never came home. They were hit by a tractor trailer. I was six.” She shivered.
    He rubbed his chin over her hair. “Aw, lass, I’m sorry.” He’d been lucky at least to have his father until he was grown.
    â€œWhat about your mother?” she asked.
    â€œShe’s in Glasgow. She moved in with her sister to care for her. Aunt Glynnis isn’t well.”
    Sadie was quiet for a long moment. She was probably thinking about how she wasn’t well either. Her silence gave him time to dwell on how bizarre this was. He was holding this sweet woman with no intentions of putting the moves on her. Not because he didn’t find her intriguing, and not because she didn’t fit up against him perfectly. He just wasn’t the sort of man to take advantageof a woman in distress. She was completely safe with him. She was nice, and even adorable in a quirky kind of way, but not his type. He yawned. In the middle of it, he had a fleeting thought . . .
This lass is the opposite of Pippa.
    *   *   *
    Sadie couldn’t believe she’d been so bold. But she had to do it. She wasn’t cold when she’d crawled into Ross’s bed. He was the one who needed to be held. He was hurting and needed a hug, something a man like him would never admit. She had not done it for herself, no matter how good it felt to be in his arms. His yawn made her yawn, too.
    She closed her eyes and snuggled in deeper. “Ross?”
    â€œHmm?” The hum of him relaxed her even more.
    She sighed contentedly. “I know I promised to return to Gandiegow.” She yawned again. “But can I have one more day to sit on the rock by the ocean before we go back?” She breathed him in and fell asleep.
    Sadie woke, relaxed, well rested, and still snuggled against the Scotsman’s chest. For a moment, she could imagine having this pretend life—whole, healthy, and sleeping in the arms of a kind man. But her current reality wasn’t real.
    His breathing was even and she was afraid if she moved, she’d wake him. But the restroom called. She slipped from his arms and stood. He rolled over, an arm and leg hanging over the side of the bed in the process. He was even more handsome in his sleep, if that was possible. She quietly left and went down the hall.
    When she returned, Ross laid his