And if he wanted more time alone with her, well, that was an indulgence he allowed himself after the hell he’d gone through with Wallace.
Laura continued her argument to stay behind as soon as he arrived at her flat that morning. He simply ushered her to the car, stopped at the café to get them coffee and some breakfast, and started driving. Her reasons were long and varied. Before he could respond to one, she went on to the next.
So he sat and quietly listened.
It was just thirty minutes later she looked over at him and said, “You’re going to make me go, aren’t you?”
“Since we’ve been on the road for some time now, the answer is aye.”
“I won’t leave the car.”
He glanced over to see her looking straight ahead, her fingers clenched around the paper coffee cup. “What are you afraid of? That you’ll say something wrong?”
“Yes,” she said, and briefly closed her eyes. “I don’t want to mess this up for you.”
“Laura, I say the wrong thing all the time. If we doona get the account, then that’s Dreagan’s loss. I’ll continue to buy it myself and sell it to special clients.”
He caught her swinging her head to him out of the corner of his eye. She had her hair loose about her shoulders this morning, the long, dark wavy strands lying tantalizingly over her shoulder to stop just short of touching her breast.
It was tempting him, tormenting him.
Exciting him.
“Getting Dreagan whisky has been important to you.”
Charon shrugged and changed lanes as he dragged his thoughts away from her amazing breasts. “We’ve given them all we can. I want the best for my customers, but I willna beg for anything.”
“I still think it’s a mistake to bring me.”
“You doona know your worth, do you?” he asked, and cast a quick glance at her. “Men melt in your wake.”
She rolled her eyes. “As if. In the two years I’ve been here, I’ve had one man ask me out.”
A sharp pain cut through Charon. He hadn’t known anyone had asked her out, and the feeling wasn’t a pleasant one. He wished her the best, but to know she was going out with someone felt as painful as the blade that had been pulled from his chest just weeks before.
“Someone asked you on a date?”
“Yes,” she said softly, and looked at her hands. “Our first date is tonight.”
Charon tightened his hands on the steering wheel. He should be happy Laura had found someone. It wasn’t as if he could have her. Oh, he could, but he wouldn’t do that to her or himself.
So why did jealousy sizzle through his veins at the thought of her smiles directed at another man? That she would eagerly walk into the arms of this man and welcome his kisses?
“We’ll be back in plenty of time,” Charon finally said.
They sat in silence for several minutes before he heard her soft exhale. He recognized it as a prelude to her troubled thoughts.
He might have deciphered her moods based on the music she chose, but there was so much about Laura he didn’t know. He could have done a background check. It wasn’t necessary though. Not when she wasn’t a Druid.
Since she had no magic, she would mean nothing to Jason Wallace. It was the only thing that kept her safe. Her proximity to him, however, was a different matter entirely if Wallace ever turned his attention to Charon.
Another reason he might have to leave Ferness.
“Do you think it’s wrong that I actually checked my date out online? I mean, I found Ben’s credit score.”
Charon couldn’t stop the smile or the laughter that bubbled up. “Nay. You can no’ be too careful. How long have you known this Ben?”
“Just a few months. He was persistent though.”
Charon nodded. “Do I know him?”
“I doubt it. He lives in Inverness.”
Charon wanted to ask the bastard’s last name, but he managed to hold back the question. If Laura wasn’t going to offer it, he wasn’t going to ask for it. “What made you finally give in?”
“His perseverance,” she said with a laugh. “I figure if a man wants to take me out to dinner that badly, he should get the chance.”
“After you checked him out, of course,” Charon said as he stole a look at her.
She nodded, her laughter growing. “Of course. What kind of woman would I be to just agree?”
How he loved her laughter. She gave it freely, honestly. There was nothing held back. The sound always managed to wring a grin from him, no matter what kind of mood he was in.
“You deserve happiness.”
Her smile died as she placed her hand on his arm. “So do you.”