Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
“And filming is only scheduled until Christmas.” North pressed a kiss to my temple. “I can’t wait.”
I grinned as we watched the SUV disappear out of sight. “You haven’t even started filming and you’re already wishing it over?”
“I’ll miss you.”
“You’ll see me every weekend.” I turned in his arms. “But let’s not think about it while we actually have uninterrupted time together.” We had the entire weekend to ourselves. “What do you want to do first?”
North chuckled, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Oh, I can think of a thing or two.”
“Yeah?” I gently shoved him toward the door. “Then what are we waiting for?”
“I thought Sundays were for sleeping in?” I teased as I hiked behind North, who checked his phone for his bearings.
After a delicious Saturday spent mostly in bed, North had woken me up at the crack of dawn to tell me he had a surprise for me. He’d then instructed me to wear comfortable clothes and hiking boots.
Now we were in the middle of nowhere, walking through woodland.
“We’re almost there,” North muttered. “I think.”
I laughed, and he shot me a cheerful smile over his broad shoulder.
The truth was, I didn’t care where he was taking me as long as we were together. Being kidnapped and almost murdered by my ex-friend put life into perspective. I’d already decided to work my ass off to deserve North and to make sure he knew I had every faith in him. But when I saw him in Little Tokyo, his face a pale mask of terror mixed with relief, I knew there was no one else in the world I wanted to find me whenever I got lost.
Somehow, having never fired a gun before, I hit Caitlyn in the shoulder. She lived but has been charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. The district attorney concluded that Caitlyn should be hospitalized, and if she responded well to treatment, she would face a lengthy prison term.
I hoped she got better, for her sake. I truly did. However, I felt safer knowing that if she did improve, she’d go to prison.
It was hard to keep the story out of the press, and I found myself caught up in a media storm all over again. Thankfully, North could handle it and we had Ardnoch to retreat to on the days I felt like I couldn’t.
I still woke up in the middle of the night from nightmares, and North always woke up with me. He held me while I tried to fall back asleep. The nightmares bothered him as much as they bothered me, but Allegra’s therapist told me they were normal. Eventually, they would dissipate.
North had practically moved into the beach house, but Lachlan had told me a member who owned the beach house three down from us wanted to sell. I hoped to broach the topic with North. See if he would be interested in buying the house together. Of course, it was a big move, and I was totally putting myself out there by even suggesting it … but I felt brave.
Smiling to myself, I watched my handsome boyfriend as he stopped, frowned at his phone, and then looked to his left. His cheeks were unshaven, and just staring at them reminded me of this morning and the rasp of his whiskers against my inner thighs.
Heat swirled low in my belly. “Hey, boyfriend, any chance we’re lost?”
He looked at me, a slow grin lighting his face. “We’re here.” With a wink, he stepped off the path that hikers had created in the woods and started walking through the trees on our left.
Bemused, I followed and as I did, a sense of familiarity tingled through me. “Wait,” I called out to his back. “I know this place.”
Then suddenly we were out of the trees and standing in a field of purple heather.
My field of purple heather.
North turned to gaze at me, and my breath caught at the love in his expression. “I asked Lachlan where your field might be … did he get it right?”
I nodded, emotion thick in my throat. “This is it.”
He took off his backpack, keeping his eyes on me as he unzipped a pocket … and pulled out a dark blue velvet jewelry box.
Shock, joy, anticipation, love, so much love, flooded me as North dropped his backpack and walked toward me with that box in his hand.
“North?” My eyes flew to his from the box.
He swallowed nervously. “You once told me that this is where you realized you were lost and that maybe staying in Scotland would help you find yourself again.”
He remembered.
He remembered everything.
“I wanted to bring you back here because I know what it feels like to be lost.” North stepped closer to me. “I’ve been lost since I was seven years old.”
Tears for that little boy who’d had so much taken from him burned my eyes.