He said not a word as he walked with long, sure strides to a far back corner. Somehow she wasn’t surprised when he moved a chair so that it was situated in the corner and then sank into it.
The patrons in the pub went back to their drinks and conversation. Laura cleared her throat and returned her attention to Ben.
“I mean it,” Ben said. “I’m going to keep asking you out until you agree.”
She licked her lips as Ben’s blue eyes held hers. “Let me see to this customer,” she said and hurried to the newcomer.
“Hi,” she said when she reached his table. “What can I get you?”
“Your best scotch,” he replied in a rough voice, as if it hadn’t been used in a while.
Laura went to the counter and grabbed the bottle of scotch and a glass. She went back to the table and poured the scotch before scooting it across the table in front of him with a smile. “You’re in luck. We have one bottle of Dreagan left.”
The man began to laugh as he looked at the glass and amber liquid inside it. “Of course it would be Dreagan,” he muttered.
“I’m sorry?”
His gaze lifted to her, and she found herself held by the eerie light of his golden eyes. “What’s your name, lass?”
“Laura,” she answered.
“Well, Laura, life is nothing but one ironic thing after another,” he said as he lifted the glass in a mock salute.
Laura went back to the bar, unnerved by the man’s response.
“Well?” Ben urged. “Let me take you to dinner. One dinner. If you doona want to see me again after that, just say the word.”
She’d been putting him off with one excuse after another for weeks. The excuses had run out. He was nice enough. He sent her flowers and called often to talk. He’d done a good job of wooing her, and it wasn’t his fault that she was interested in someone else.
It had been so long since she’d been on a date that she wasn’t sure she knew what to do. But she also didn’t want to spend the rest of her life alone. Life was too short. She needed to have some fun.
“All right,” she agreed. “Dinner it is.”
“Perfect. I’ll call you.” Ben lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. “You’ve made me verra happy, Laura.”
She was still grinning when he exited the bar. It slipped, however, when she saw the black-haired man staring at his glass of Dreagan as it sat untouched.
“If you don’t like it, I can get you something else,” she said as she walked to him.
“Dreagan is the best. I asked for the best.” His voice was flat, as if just saying those words had cost him untold torture.
“Yes, but why do I get the feeling you don’t want that particular brand?”
A half grin tugged one side of his mouth slightly upward, giving him a devilishly handsome appearance. “A perceptive one you are. What are you doing in this place?”
“I like it.”
“Aye, but neither of us belongs here. You should be in England.”
“And you?” she prompted.
His golden eyes darkened a second before he looked away. “Nay, I’m no’ meant for this place. Let me give you a piece of advice I wish I’d adhered to: Watch the decisions you make, sweet Laura, because they’ll change your life in a second.”
He drained the scotch in one drink. Laura tilted the bottle and refilled his glass.
At his questioning look, she shrugged. “I know when I see a man who needs a drink.”
“And your price?”
“What makes you think there’s a price?” she asked with a grin.
He leaned back in his seat, one arm on the table and the other dangling over the back of his chair. “Nothing is free in this world. Ever. What do you want?”
“Your name.”
He looked away and inhaled deeply, a muscle jumping in his jaw. “You’d be better off no’ knowing.”
“What does it matter if I know your name?”
His head swiveled back to her to pin her with his gold eyes. “Ulrik.”
“It suits you, I think.” She nudged the glass at him again. “Now, take your drink.”
She started to walk away when he said, “Leave the bottle.”
Laura turned back to find two hundred-pound notes on the table. “That’s too much.”
“For your trouble then.”
She looked into his golden eyes as he returned her stare. “This is a good place to hide from the world. This village, I mean. It’s quiet. Private.”
His head cocked to the side. “You think I’m hiding?”
“I think you have a look of a man who is trying to find something. Peace, maybe?”