Callum

“I want you to stay away from Angus. He doesn’t need you leading him on.”
She blinked. “You think I was trying to seduce your cousin?”
He said nothing, letting the silence speak for him.
“I assure you, I wasn’t trying to seduce Angus. I wouldn’t even know how to begin.” She was turning to leave when she said, “I know that you dislike me.”
“It isn’t that I don’t like you. I don’t trust you.”
She paused and turned to face him. “Don’t worry. I get that—loud and clear. You made sure I knew that the first day I met you.”
“I have no reason to trust you.”
She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. “There’s something more.”
“Does the name Kenneth McWalton mean anything to you?” The moment he said the words, he wanted to call them back, afraid of her answer.
She didn’t so much as twitch. “No.”
“Are you sure?”
“I think I would know if I met someone.” She cocked her head to the side and studied him as if he were a bug. “Can you tell me exactly what you think I can or cannot do to your family?”
“I don’t like coincidences.”
“And that’s an explanation?” She raised her hand to prevent his answer. Truly, he didn’t have an answer. The questions she asked made him feel uncomfortable. “You’re suspicious by nature. Most businessmen I know have a touch of it. You are over the top, especially when it comes to your cousins.”
“I protect what is mine. I’ll not allow you to use Angus.”
She moved away from the counter, her body tense with anger. “I have never used another person, especially never in that way. You’ve convinced yourself that I decided to somehow use my considerable wiles on your cousin to somehow gain who knows what.”
When she said it like that, he felt juvenile and petty.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Lennon. I’ll avoid your cousins from now on.”
Which is what he wanted, but at the same time, he felt like the lowest form of scum, even if it was the best choice. The diary could hold their secrets, and the less she connected to them, the better. They just needed it translated and for her to leave. As soon as that happened, he would be free of this affliction, he was sure.
“I’ll do my work and take my meals in my room.”
He heard the hurt in her voice. His need to banish Phoebe was as unexplainable as the need to ease her pain.
She attempted to brush past him, but he stepped in front of her, blocking her one exit. “I didn’t say you needed to avoid my cousins.” It was what he wanted, needed, but here he was contradicting his own thoughts, again.
When she looked at him, there was no humor in her gaze, no studied interest as he’d seen before. Now all he saw was loneliness, and he ached.
“No. I’ll finish my task and leave. I know you must have a very good reason, although I can’t understand what it could be. I will respect your wishes.”
Again, she tried to move past him, but he refused to budge. That same fresh scent of her reached his senses, seducing him. Even as he was reaching for her, his mind was screaming stop. He ignored it and every other protective instinct. The only thing roaring through his head was to take, to claim.
“It isna my family that has me worried, lass.” The moment he wrapped his hand around her upper arm, her head shot up, surprise lighting her eyes and her mouth falling open. “It seems being around you isna good for my peace of mind.”
He jerked her against him. She gasped, the sound filled with both fear and excitement. Arousal spiked and his body craved—demanded—more intimate contact. Knowing it was wrong, even knowing it was dangerous, he bent his head and took possession of her luscious mouth.