“But Anjuli won’t be there. She’s coming with me to Edinburgh, all day,” Mac said, crestfallen. “And she said she’s moving in with Ash as soon as work gets underway.”
Rob took another bite, chewed, and tried to swallow. Had Anjuli made those plans with Mac to avoid him? So far she’d managed to be out when he’d come by the house, and at the pub she busied herself with others or disappeared to the back office as soon as he arrived.
“You should go see her tonight,” Mac insisted.
“She’s no’ the one I need to survey.”
Ben frowned. “But you want to.”
Mac slapped his arm. “Stop being disgusting. That’s my friend you’re talking about, and your future sister-in-law.”
Rob gave Mac a dark look. If she continued on he’d have to say something to convince her to stop pestering him. He took a sip of his wine, allowing the Rioja to mellow his response. “Anjuli was an immature, selfish girlfriend and now she’s an immature, cruel celebrity.” He saluted Ben with his wineglass. “Why waste my long-term on a woman like that?”
Mac glared at him, her frustration evident. “When she came back I thought you two deserved a second chance and that she would make you happy. Now I think Anjuli deserves better. You’re too proud for your own good and she’s a caring, selfless woman, a good friend and—”
“Anjuli Carver is a callous user and all I want from her is an orgasm, preferably at my home so she can see herself out.”
Mac never swore, but she didn’t need foul language to get her point across. Her fist was good enough. “You nasty, unfeeling oaf!”
Rob rubbed his arm. “What the hell was that for? I’m your brother, in case you’ve forgotten. Your loyalty should be to me.”
Ben laughed. “The sisterhood take no prisoners, you idiot.”
Hell, he was an idiot for saying that to Mac, of all people. She was a churchgoing, straight-down-the-line “no sex without love” sort of woman. And she defended her friends to the death.
“Now I’m happy Anjuli’s going with Damien to the ceilidh.” Mac refused to say another word to him for the rest of the night, walking out after kissing Ben and sending him another wrathful look. His sister could hold a grudge like a miser his gold, and she had an unforgiving streak when she was angry. Hell, she’d lambasted him for occasionally spending time with Sarah, but what was wrong with that? Should he ignore a friend simply because she’d once wanted more?
Ben took out two tumblers and a bottle of Jura from the drinks cabinet and followed him into the sitting room. He was staying the night, leaving early the next morning on a trek starting at the back of the house and ending on the other side of Halton Forest National Park. Exercise he enjoyed, and a chance to scout the terrain for anything out of the ordinary.
“Mac isn’t going to get over that one for a while,” he said.
Rob shrugged, affecting indifference he didn’t feel. “It’s about time our sister knew where I stand regarding Anjuli.”
Ben poured out the whisky and sat back, a faint smile on his face. “You, little brother, are full of crap. You’re going to restore her house, run yourself ragged for a woman who won’t appreciate it. All because you want sex? I don’t buy it.”
“I wouldn’t have taken on her renovation if I didn’t know I could do it. Everything should be finished by the end of the summer. All my builds are on schedule.”
“And what about your career, is that on schedule also? You’re turning down the opportunity of a lifetime so you can stay in Scotland for...what did you call her? A callous user, I think you said. That’s the height of stupidity. Even Mac would agree if you told her.”
Rob took a sip of the mellow whisky, jaw set as stubbornly as Ben’s. “I don’t need the projects in America. I’ve already designed and built two ecological schools.”
“In Boston and Washington, D.C.? Hopping over the pond for a year and possibly staying on to design schools all over the country is no longer attractive to you? If you didn’t want the job then why did you tender?”
Because I was once accused of lacking an adventurous spirit and told I was stuck in archaic Border ways, too rigid to change. And because after seeing Anjuli in London I wanted to get as far away from the U.K. as I could.
“I haven’t turned it down yet.”
Ben sipped his whisky in silence, making him feel more defensive by the second. It was little wonder toughened criminals were scared bloodless by Ben. He had a way of making you spill your guts without lifting a finger.