1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Moira

M y cousin told me to meet her here, at this restaurant, at one o’clock. As I glance at my watch, I see that I’m the usual amount of time early. Except for when I’m delivering a baby, or if I’m in surgery. Stephanie is a billionaire in the aerospace industry, while my career as a gynecologist pales by comparison. We meet up almost every week, not always at the same place, and if it’s for an hour or for ten minutes, it doesn’t matter. Our relationship is like that. For all intents and purposes, Stephanie is my best friend, despite the fact that we’re related. Through both our careers, we built each other up, when some were tearing each other down. How we developed such a bond that led to that, I’ll never know for sure...but I can guess.

Our families.

Simple as that.

Complicated? That’s putting it mildly.

Both born in Scotland and emigrated to the states recently, for equal personal and professional reasons, Stephanie and I have leaned on one another better than most married couples.

The waitress recognizes me and brings me over a menu. “The usual?” She asks.

“Aye, I think I’ll wait for my cousin, if it’s all the same to you, lass.” I tell her kindly.

“Absolutely, Moira. Take all the time you need.” She smiles, walking away. A moment later, she brings me a glass of water, and then she leaves me, as I send a text message to Stephanie, letting her know that I’m here, a practice we do each time we meet.

The view of the side parking lot is clear, and I catch a glimpse of someone exiting their vehicle. It’s a large male. Very handsome from the back view, with a tight rear, sculpted body, dark, curly hair, and tall…very tall. But when he turns around, my eyes bulge. Normally, seeing a man I’ve only met once, it would take me a moment or two to realize who it is. But not this man. This is the same man that stormed into the emergency room, when I was tending to a patient. He was looking for his brother, but something happened when our eyes met, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him since.

I thought I’d never see him again.

It was one of those things, you know? When you just catch a glimpse of a handsome stranger, yet you know, in your heart of hearts, that you’ll never set eyes on them again. But here he is, plain as day, walking up to the restaurant entrance. He’s probably here for a date, as there’s no way he’s here for business at this place. The food is fantastic, but it doesn’t have a professional ambience, admittedly. Sure, I checked him out. Personally speaking, that is. He’s well out of my league, not like I’m in any position to even be thinking of such things, anyway. Piquing my curiosity, I watch him enter the restaurant and announce himself to the hostess. My nose is half behind a menu when he walks by me, but I can’t help the forced double take, as he makes eye contact with me.

“Dr. McTavish?” He asks, I’m guessing pleasantly surprised to see me.

“Aye. It’s...it’s nice to see you again.” I pause. “Are you here to meet someone?”

“My brother Maverick. He said he wanted to whine about my family somewhere outside of the office.” He scans my face. “Are you here with anyone?”

“My cousin, too. Stephanie. But she seems to be running late.”

“Maverick, too.” He nods.

The hostess intervenes. “Would you two like to sit together?”

He blushes. “Oh, no, lass. I don’t want to impose.”

I wave. “It’s fine, Declan, is it?” I ask, playing coy. I could never forget that name.

He nods.

“Stephanie’s running late and she won’t mind. Sit. Please. I hate eating alone.” I lie. I do it all the time at home. Sometimes I don’t even bother to use a plate...or a fork. And don’t get me started on using glasses, either. Let’s just put it this way...anything in my fridge that has a spout also has my D.N.A. all over it.

“Well, when you put it that way.” He says with a smile, taking a menu from the hostess. “Aye, I’m Declan. I don’t think we were properly introduced at the hospital there.” He says, sticking out his hand for me to shake.

But we did. I remember it well. His soft hands, his sincere, shy gaze, his sensual voice, and those eyes...blue-green, and what’s more is they’re mood eyes. They seem to be changing color with the sun reflecting on them. God, he’s a sight to behold. Trying not to appear too into him, even though I totally am, I purse my lips into a smile, glancing at the menu, after shaking his proffered hand. “Moira.”

“I remember. Such a bonnie name.”

I lived all my life in Scotland. Met many men. Went to school with tons of jocks and nerds, and everything in between. Many were Scottish, but many were also from other areas. Never have I met such a beautiful Scot before. “How long have you been in the states for? You don’t seem to have lost much of your drawl.”

He grins. He gets that I just paid him a compliment. “I still have a place there, lass. I come here for business. I’m here at least half the time. But being as I’m with my family almost all the time, and we still have the full Scot in us, that’s probably why I have it all still, as do you. Have you been here long?”

I shake my head no. “Not long at all, actually. I still have many ties in Scotland.” I tell him, but I pray that he doesn’t dig deeper. The last thing I need to do in front of this beautiful man is steer away from the subject of my family. Especially since he clearly regards his fondly. Only Stephanie knows the truth about my family, at least in the states, that is. If anyone were to find out, I’d be in a whole other predicament. It’s too much of a risk. I could lose my practice. Thinking about it makes my stomach turn, so I try to avert my thoughts back to Declan.

He nods. “Aye, same here.” Then he changes the subject, thank God. “Have you ordered already, lass?”

“No, not yet. Have you been here before?”

“Many times.”

“Same.” I can’t help but smile at him. He has honest eyes. And they’re so gorgeous. What it is about a man with nice eyes, I don’t know, but he’s doing things to me with just a quick glance as he speaks. “So, tell me, are you really as rich as the state of North Carolina thinks you are?” I ask comically, testing the waters.

“My business is money. We’re like a giant game of Monopoly, only we use thousand-dollar bills as notes.” He answers, playing along.

I have the grace to chuckle. “My business is...lady parts.”

"Well, that’s quite a noble business. Money is dirty.”

I scoff. “Make no mistake, lady parts can be dirty, too.”

Now he has the grace to chuckle. “I bet they can.” We order our meals, and the waitress brings Declan a water, as he tips his head in thanks. “So, I’m not sure if we’re being stiffed here, or what. Maverick was the one that called this lunch meeting, and now it seems like he’s a no-show.”

Just as he says this, I hear my phone beep with a text message. I glance at it. “And Stephanie is stuck in a meeting.” I lift a brow. “She usually pulls out all the stops for our lunch dates. This is so unlike her.”

“Maybe she’s got a big project on the go?”

I frown. “She would have told me about it.”

That’s when Declan’s phone beeps as well. He looks at it and scoffs, smiling. “It seems like my brother is tied up, too.” Tipping his head, he stuffs his phone back into his pocket. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think we were being set up.”

“That’s impossible. Stephanie and Maverick don’t know each other, do they?”

Now he frowns. “Dunno, lass. But how they would have put us together, if this is a set-up, now that’s a mystery.”

“Unless...” I trail off.

He’s intrigued. “Unless what?”

God, I can’t stop looking into his eyes. They’re mesmerizing. And the way he searches my eyes as I speak...I could just kiss him right now...but I won’t. “Well, I think your brother...Maverick, is it? The one with Trudy.”

He nods. “Aye, yes. They’re together. Even though they won’t own up to it.” He adds with a soft chuckle that sounds so sexy I can feel my body heat.

“Well, he was alluding to the fact that you looked a little...distracted...shall we say...when we met last.” His shy smile lights a fire inside me that I can’t hide. The tone in my voice changes unconsciously. I sound like something from a late-night radio talk show. “Maybe word got around that you have a little crush on me?”

He’s catching on. His expression changes. It becomes softer, more like we should be at a candlelit table, rather than this one with paper napkins on it. “I might have. You’re a....bonnie lass, if you don’t me saying so.”

“I don’t mind at all. You are...very handsome.” I bite my lip.

The waitress interrupts our moment as she brings the food, and I check myself, almost grateful for the distraction. I worry that I was starting to come off like some harlot, like some love-starved whore, when truthfully, it’s been more than two years since I’ve been with a man, and even then, it was only a two-week stint, and he learned my secret, and headed for the hills, so to speak.

I think we both realize how far off on that tangent we got, so we start eating, giving each other the odd wink or smile in between bites. “This is delicious. How is yours?” He asks me.

“Very good.” I decide to change tack. “So, is your business strictly for billionaires?”

He swallows. “Why do you ask? Are you interested in making an investment? I’m sure you make a decent income in your field.”

The truth is that I have a lot of money. Not just because of my profession, but because of an inheritance. One that has caused a lot of problems for me since it came my way. “I do. I’ve been thinking about investing some of it.” It’s high time I did. Before something happens to it.

“Well, I’d be happy to look at some options for you. But if it’s all the same to you I prefer to discuss that in private.”

I wave. “Absolutely.”

Then he says something that makes my inner brow raise. “Perhaps after lunch? Would you like to come back to my office or even my home office and we can chat about it?”

My stomach does a flip. I try to convince myself that this is strictly business, but the look in his eyes betrays him. “Sure. I don’t have any appointments until later today.”

His eyes search mine, and then he summons the waitress for the bill, as if we have to leave suddenly. Either he’s a man on a mission when it comes to business, or else he’s got the same flip flopping going on in his belly as I do. “Are we ready?” He asks politely, once he pays the bill.

“Aye. I think I know where Harris Investments is. Shall I follow you?”

He changes tack. “I’ll drive. We’re going to my place.”

Another stomach flip. “Okay.”

The way he says it, with his eyes downcast, but with a sort of scheming tone, I think that I’m reading him right. “Too many questions.” He adds, almost bashfully. “My da doesn’t usually let anyone through the doors unless he has a full report.”

“Ah. I see.” I smile, thinking that maybe this is just business. I try to tamp down the disappointment brewing inside. He leads me to his truck, parked outside, and opens the passenger side door for me first.

During the trip to his house, he looks at me speculatively. “Do you always get into the vehicles of strange men?”

“I would be remiss to call you a strange man, Declan.” I answer honestly. “If you were out to harm me, I’m sure that every newspaper in the state of North Carolina would know about it. You do know that your family is photographed almost as often as a celebrity’s family, right?”

“How do you know I couldn’t pay someone off to keep quiet?” He tests.

“It’s the eyes, Declan. You have honest eyes. I would also feel it in my bones if I wasn’t safe.” I tell him, speaking from experience. That same feeling is what led me here to the states, but I keep that to myself. He seems satisfied with that response.

“You have a good internal instinct.”

“Aye. Growing up in Scotland, with a band of brothers, being the only girl, I grew a pair fast.” I make up my mind that that’s all the talk of my family. So, I change the subject, bringing up financial matters, an obvious choice. We just touch on surface items, like what markets he recommends, and then he asks me about my house, and whether it’s an investment. “Not at this point, no.” I reply, knowing that for now, my goal is to keep a low profile.

“I suppose with a bunch of brothers, that nobody would mess with you, either.” He adds, circling back to the subject of my family, and I start to wonder if this trip is for naught. The less he knows about my family, the better, but I don’t want to throw him off by being too guarded.

“You’d be surprised, Declan.” I say elusively, as we turn a corner, and he starts to drive up a long hill, and then it levels off, to a beautiful parcel of land. “Is this yours?”

“Aye. I bought this place off my great grandfather. I won a bet between my brothers and me. Everyone wanted this place when he passed on.”

“I can see why.” I glance around, in awe. The wrought iron gates, accented with what I’m guessing is his family crest, is all that stands in front of the long, spiraling driveway, leading into a gorgeous estate. Lush grass, manicured greenery, and tall trees peppered in a strategic pattern lend itself to the natural beauty of the land.

“Wait until you see inside.”

“I can hardly.” I chuckle.

...but we don’t make it inside.