Charming The Highlander

Morgan struck a match and lit the kerosene lamp on the table, flooding the room with soft yellow light.

He stole a brownie off the plate and leaned against the table, crossed his legs at the ankles, and stared at Jonathan as he chewed.

“I’ll give you twenty thousand dollars for the use of that machine for one day. That should put a good chunk of its cost back in your pocket,” her boss said.

Grace wanted to shake her head in dismay. Jonathan had no idea what he was doing.

Grey never even looked at him. He just kept staring at her.

“Thirty thousand,” Jonathan said then.

“It’s not for hire,” Grey repeated, still not looking at him. “Pack some things, Grace. You’re coming to Gu Bràth until the power comes back on.”

“She can’t,” Jonathan said. He moved to stand between them so that Grey would have to look at him. “I need her for work.” He waved his hand to encompass the house. “And she seems quite comfortable here.”

“What work would that be?” Grey asked, finally giving the man his attention.

Jonathan squared his shoulders. She couldn’t see his face because his back was to her, but Grace would bet a pe

Grace blinked. Wasn’t he supposed to be mad at her?

“It seems Grace was in a plane crash a few days ago, up in the mountains,” Jonathan told Grey. “There’s important equipment still up there, and I need to get it back as soon as possible. I’ll give you forty thousand dollars to help me find it.”

“We gathered everything we saw, lass,” Morgan said around a mouthful of brownie, frowning. “What is it you’re missing?”

“A small black case containing computer disks,” she told Morgan. “I remember taking a blank disk out of it to pack in my bag, but I must have set the case on the snow instead of back in the suitcase. It might have slipped under the fuselage.”

Apparently not caring one whit about her disks, Grey turned and walked into the living room. Stu

“Dammit, Grace. Do something,” Jonathan hissed. “We need that snowcat.”

Grey returned from the living room with Baby in his arms. Morgan was carrying Baby’s cradle. Grace moved around Jonathan to intercept them.

“I’m not going to Gu Bràth,” she told Grey in a whisper, standing on her toes and grabbing his arm. “I don’t want to.”

“Ah, lass,” Morgan said from right behind her. “We’re sorry we frightened you earlier. We promise to be civil this time.”

“You can’t stay here,” Grey said, reaching out and ru

“You don’t have water, either.”

“We do. We have generators enough to run the entire resort if need be,” he told her. He shifted Baby in his arms, tucking the sleeping child’s head under his chin. “And you have a ski lift to save.”

She let go of his arm, walked to the sink, and turned to face him. By God, she would stand her ground on this issue. “No, I don’t. Not unless you set up your snow-making equipment in Michael’s field.”

“That damn equipment will get set up,” he said.

She darted a look at Morgan, then back at Grey. “By whom?”

“I’ll do it myself if I have to,” he told her. “Now, are you content to live in what you’re wearing, or do you want to pack some things?

“But…”

“Believe me, lass,” Morgan interjected. “You’re going to Gu Bràth, and it’s a lot easier if you just come along peacefully.”

“Now, wait a minute,” Jonathan suddenly said. “You can’t force Grace out of her home.”

Grey gave her boss a look that clearly said Jonathan was welcome to try and stop him. Jonathan, being the intelligent man that he was, turned to Grace for help.

“My boss comes with me,” Grace said, conceding defeat. Besides, Father Daar was at Gu Bràth, and she wanted to talk to him.

“He can stay in the resort hotel,” Grey said.

“I need to be with Grace,” Jonathan foolishly said, pushing the issue. “If you’ve got electricity, then we can use our computers. But we need to find those disks before they’re ruined.”

“I’ll get your damn disks,” Grey told him. “Just as soon as I’m free to.”

“But it can’t wait. There might be other people already here, trying to steal them from us. We need to go now.”

Grace tensed when she saw Grey’s eyes suddenly narrow to sharp slits of green ice. “Are you saying there are men here wanting something from Grace?” Grey asked in a whisper-soft voice.

Apparently reading the threat in Grey’s eyes, Jonathan nodded hesitantly. “There’s a problem with the satellite we sent up, and Grace is the only one here who can retrieve the data without destroying them.”

“Then those disks will be no good to these other men.”

Grace saw Jonathan swallow hard, obviously hoping to push his heart back down in his chest. She was getting a bit alarmed herself, seeing Grey standing so still, hearing the steel in his voice.

“They’ll…ah, they want the disks, but they also want Grace,” Jonathan whispered, swallowing again, just before taking a quick step back from the look that came into Grey’s eyes.

Grey turned that look on her. It was all Grace could do to keep from backing up herself. But then, she had the counter to hold her up. Never in her life had she witnessed such fierce foreboding.

And it dawned on her then that the raging scene at Gu Bràth had been nothing close to what Greylen MacKeage was capable of. Even his anger after the plane crash was nothing compared with the lethal rage she could feel radiating out of every pore of his body, filling the room with enough tension that even the air seemed to withdraw.

And then Grace remembered to breathe.

“Pack up,” Grey snapped. “I’m putting you in that snowcat in five minutes.”

Baby stirred in his arms, and Grey looked down at the child. Grace watched with fascination as Grey forced himself back under control. When he looked at her his eyes were still hard as flint, and his complexion had dulled only slightly, but his voice, when he spoke, was clearly controlled.

“This is important to you?” he asked, again ru

She nodded. “It could alter the future for mankind. Those data could mean putting people on the moon or on Mars to live,” she said, deciding she didn’t quite dare mention the possibility if it being used as a weapon. Grey was mad enough as it was.

“Really, lass?” Morgan asked. “You’re thinking men can travel to the moon?”

“And women,” she said, just to tease him.

His face reddened with embarrassment. “I meant that.”

“I know,” Grace said, patting his arm on the way to her bedroom. “I’ll just be a minute. I need to get some things together.” She stopped and looked around the kitchen.

“Will you put Mary in Baby’s crib, Morgan?” she asked, again enjoying first his surprise at seeing the tin, then his obvious reluctance to touch it. But bless the man, he gingerly picked up Mary and carefully set her in the crib. Now it was the crib he didn’t want to pick up.

Grace looked around the silent house. “I hate to leave this place unattended during this storm.”

“We’ll keep an eye on it for you,” Grey assured her, his voice nearly back to normal, his smile tight.

“Oh, the animals. I can’t leave them.”

“Ya can leave that damn goat,” Morgan said, rubbing his backside.

“I’ll have Callum fetch them,” Grey told her. “We can put them in our barn with the horses.”