Page 41 of Scotch on the Rocks

“Fucking fine.” I rolled the sleeves of my coat up, goosebumps pebbling as my entire forearm was exposed. “If this is your go-to move to impress a woman, try harder next time.”

“Again, so curious about my dating life. If you want to know, all you need to do is ask.”

I scoffed and held out my cupped hand. “Can we just get this over with? You promised I’d have fun; all I’m feeling right now is cold and dissatisfied.”

“Is this the wrong time for a ‘that’s what she said’?”

Was there a wrong time for a well-placedthat’s what she said? But I could never give him the satisfaction of confirming he was occasionally funny, so I schooled my features into boredom. “I’d forgotten I had the honour of spending time with Scotland’s most promising comedian.”

“That’s your mistake, harpy.” He echoed my earlier words, eyes dancing.

I stuck my tongue out. “Are we doing this?”

He answered with a wink and tipped a heap of grain into my palm. “We’ll start small and see how you go.” Despite the chill, my palm was clammy, the grain sticking to it. “Just hold your arm over the fence and she’ll come to you.”

“Are we allowed to be here?”

“I play shinty with the farmer.” Of course he did. Social and sporty? Perhaps I should elevate him to Superstar Ken. “And I helped him deliver a calf last spring.”

“I thought you only worked with domestic animals?”

“It was an emergency. I was the closest.” He shrugged like it was nothing while I was still backtracking to the image of this man with a baby cow in his arms. Shirtless of course.

“Is there anyone you don’t know?”

He thought about it, gracious enough not to point out that I was stalling. “Nope.” He shrugged. “People like me.” It wasn’t a dig and yet something sharp scoured my throat. Unlike me, Callum had one of those personalities that people easily gravitated to. “Let’s go.”

Resigned to my fate, I swallowed and edged closer to the fence. “Okay, here I go. I’m doing it,” I said more to myself than Callum. “I’m approaching the cow.”

“Yes, you are.” He sounded amused. “Don’t forget to breathe.”

“Easy for you to say, Mr Animal Whisperer.” I hookedmy trembling arm over the beam and grain spilled into the wet grass. “Like this?”

“Harpy, it’s a cow, not a grenade. Hold it steady … yep, like that.” A finger pressed lightly beneath my elbow, nudging it higher. “Perfect. Flatten your palm a little, it will make it easier for her to take it.”

I complied, looking the cow right in the eyes as she leant in to sniff the offered food … but came no closer. After a minute, I deflated. “Am I doing it wrong?”

“No. She’s just sussing you out. Deciding if she likes you.”

Remembering the fresh cut Shakespeare had left on my knuckles only this morning, the sharpness in my throat expanded. My hand trembled.

Take it.

Take it.

Please –I urged the stubborn animal –don’t embarrass me like this.Still, she came no closer, and my hand fell completely, rejection and embarrassment scorching like fire down my chest. I’d failed. Even atthisI’d failed.

What was it about me that made me so easy to dismiss?

Before I could crumble completely, heat enveloped me. Callum. His wide chest flush to my back. Steady breath at my ear. Salt and soap and Skye filling my nose. He smelled like the mountain thyme candles we burned at the inn. Earthy and a little wild.

“Don’t give up.” His hand cupped my wrist, rough fingers folding all the way around my bare arm as he lifted and held it steady. “Sometimes you need a little persistence to make something spectacular happen.”

His other arm curled around me, fingers grasping the fence panel. My chest met the wood, his every breath pressing me deeper as we waited. I don’t think I breathed at all.

“Come on,”I thought I heard him murmur. It could havesimply been a whisper on the wind because I was no longer paying attention. Not when the cow finally lumbered closer and seized the offering. Her hot nose brushed my wrist. Tongue, as rough as sandpaper, lapping up every single grain.

“I did it.” The words punched out of me. Giddy. I was utterly giddy. “Did you see that?”

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