Page 23 of Wild Scottish Love
“Oh!” Lia turned, surprise on her pretty face. Her curls were wrapped up in an intricate knot on her head, and her dusky skin was flushed pink from the heat of the stove. “I wondered what all that barking was about.”
“Sorry about that. I wanted to pop in and see how you were getting on.”
“Good, I think?” Lia laughed at the look on my face. The kitchen, which had been fairly organized when we’d first seen it, now looked as though the insides had been vomited out. Cutlery was stacked in piles, bowls of varying sizes were strewn about, and a variety of food items were on the prep table. Every drawer in the spice cupboard was pulled open, contributing to an interesting mix of spicy and sweet scents, and Lia’s apron was dusted with flour. “I swear it looks worse than it is.”
There was something about the way Lia’s smile lit her face that made my heart shiver and dance in my chest. Everything in me quieted when she was around. The outside world’s stress and anxiety faded away, and I could just be, existing in this moment with this beautiful woman, my only goal to keep her smiling.
“I’m certain there’s a method to your madness,” I said, stepping into the chaos. I held out the gift bag. “I come bearing gifts.”
“Munroe. You don’t have to get me gifts.” Lia put her hands behind her back, like a child who refused to pick up their mess.
“I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do,” I agreed, and held the bag out to her. When she just looked at me, the moment drew out until awkwardness took over. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It was just a wee welcome gift.”
“No, no. It’s me.” Lia shook her head and took the gift from my hand, pressing her lips together. “I’m not used to getting gifts. It’s my own issue.”
“Oh, I didn’t want to…” I trailed off, my brain failing to come up with the right words. I thought I was doing something nice to make her smile, and instead, I’d unknowingly stumbled on something that made her unhappy.
“God, I’m a real bitch, aren’t I?” Lia sighed and pinched her nose. “I don’t really ever get gifts. I grew up in a family that could only ever afford to give practical gifts, and I’ve never really dated someone seriously enough to…” Lia trailed off, tapping a finger on a knife in front of her. I wasn’t sure if she was going to use it on me or was showing it to me, so I kept my mouth shut and didn’t make any sudden movements. “This knife was the last real gift that I received, well, aside from a necklace from my mother.”
I noted the pretty gold heart hanging from a chain. It nestled at her cleavage, and I had to force my eyes away, so I wasn’t a creep who stared at a woman’s breasts while she talked about her insecurities.
“Tell me about the knife.”Please let it be from a friend.
“This knife…” Lia held it up, and opened her palm flat, so that the handle of the knife rested against her skin. “See how it is perfectly balanced to my hand? It is a custom-made knife, given to me as a gift from my former boss, and I treasure it like it is my baby.”
“Is that right? I had no idea they could make knives that were customized in that manner.” Which made my gift even better, at least I hoped it would be taken as such, and I waited to see if she would open the bag. “You must have enjoyed working for your last boss.”
“I did. I really, really did. I thought…” Lia’s voice caught, and I stepped forward, wanting to hug away the pain that flashed into her eyes. “Suzette and I had built a beautiful restaurant together. I’d…well, I’d thought it was my future. The place had been my everything. In the kitchen each night? That wasmydomain. Until it wasn’t anymore. Suzette died. Blood cancer. And her son, well, he didn’t care. Not really. No interest in continuing her legacy. Instead, he wanted to feed people grasshoppers and try to sleep with as many women as he could.”
“Wait…hold up. Grasshoppers?” I scrunched my nose up. “Surely they can’t be all that tasty. Let alone filling. They aren’t all that hearty, right? No meat on the bones.”
“Grasshoppers don’t have bones.” A perplexed look crossed Lia’s face. “Wait, do they? No. They can’t. They’re insects. Insects don’t have bones, right?”
“I don’t believe so, no.” Was this going to be another discussion like the one about bee tongues? “What happened with the grasshoppers?”
“Oh, get this…” Once again, a smile lit Lia’s face. “Damien had overnighted them from Brazil. Except, maybe because he doesn’t speak a lick of Portuguese, he’d ordered them live. When he opened the box…” Lia motioned with her hands.
“No…” I laughed, imagining an explosion of grasshoppers.
“Everywhere, Munroe. It was like a bomb had gone off. I quit on the spot, and Sophie called me that night. So, here I am.”
I’d never been so thankful for grasshoppers in my life.
“Who knew the power of a tiny grasshopper to change the trajectory of your path,” I mused, leaning one hip on the table and flicking my finger on the gift bag. “Go on. Open it. I promise no live insects or even dead ones, at that.”
“Fine, but, as I said. You didn’t have to—”
“Wheesht.”
“What’s that?” Lia eyed me suspiciously.
“Hush.” It was a nicer way of telling someone to shut up, I suppose.
“Wheesht.” Lia rolled the word around on her tongue, and I desperately wanted to kiss her again. I moved around the edge of the table, just to be closer to her. She reached into the bag and pulled out a wide flat package and made meticulous work of unwrapping it. I noted how she savored the moment, smoothing the paper back and folding it neatly, before lifting the lid. “Oh,Munroe.”
The way she said my name made me feel like a king among men. It was as though I’d given her a diamond bracelet and not a pretty walnut cutting board with her name etched in the corner.
“This is incredible,” Lia breathed, pulling the board from the box. The wood was stained in alternating colors, creating a striped pattern, and her name was underscored by a thistle design. My friend handmade these boards, and we sold them in a few of our gift shops at various distilleries. He’d had no problem putting a rush order on customizing this for Lia, and now I was happy to see that I’d hit the right mark with the gift. “What a beautiful piece. Thank you, Munroe, truly. I’ll treasure this gift.”