Fergus looked up. “Takes one to know one. But at least this lazy sod is about to get his own cottage.”
Lorna’s voice drifted into the living room. “It’s about time. One down, two more to go.”
Fraser scooped up the ice cube and faced his mother. “Don’t worry, Mum. You’ll always have me. If I’m lucky, I won’t have a mate until I’m fifty.”
Fergus chimed in. “She’ll kick you out on your arse before then.”
“I’m feeling the love, brother.”
Fergus looked up with a grin. “Someone has to love you, you unlovable bastard.”
Tossing the ice cube into the sink, Fraser dried his hands. “You know you’ll miss me, Fergus. I give it a week and then you’ll be begging for my company.”
“We’ll see, Fraser. If I’m lucky, I’ll be spending a week in my sacrifice’s bed.”
The thought of not seeing his twin every day did something strange to his heart. Brushing past it, Fraser headed toward the door. “As much as I’d love to stay and watch you read boring protocol, I’m going to watch some paint dry instead.”
Fergus raised an auburn eyebrow. “What happened to spending time with your brother?”
“I never said anything about spending time with you. I wanted to show you a good time. The offer’s still open if you’re interested.”
Shaking his head, Fergus answered, “Your good times always result in us waking up in strange places and not remembering the night before. I think I’ll stay here.”
Fraser shrugged. “Your loss.” He looked to his mum. “I’ll be home for dinner, don’t worry.”
Lorna answered. “You’d better be. Finn wants us to have a quiet dinner with Holly and help ease her into her new life here.”
“Quiet is a bit of a stretch.”
Lorna picked up an apple and tossed it at his head. Once he caught it, she answered, “J
ust get your arse home on time.”
Fraser winked. “I’ll try my best, but you know how the lasses love me.”
Not wanting to hear his mother’s lecture about settling down for the hundredth time, Fraser ducked out the front door.
While the human wouldn’t be over to their house until dinnertime, she was due to arrive on Lochguard at any moment. He had known that Fergus wouldn’t want to go out, but asking gave Fraser the perfect cover and no one would suspect what he was about to do.
It was time to spy on his brother’s future female and make sure she was worthy of a MacKenzie.
~~~
Holly kept her thoughts to herself for the duration of the walk to Finn’s cottage. Not like she’d had a chance to say anything anyway.
Jamie MacAllister liked to talk. A lot.
Jamie gestured to the left. “Over there is the training area for the wee ones. I wouldn’t go there until you’ve been presented to the clan.” He glanced at her. “Dragon-shifter parents are a bit protective, you see.”
She nodded and opened her mouth, but Jamie beat her to it. “This here is the main living area. Finn’s cottage is straight ahead. You can tell it’s his by the overgrown flowers and shrubs in the front.” He lowered his voice. “Neither Finn nor his mate like gardening. To be honest, the wildness suits them.”
“If you say so,” she murmured.
Jamie carried on as if she hadn’t spoken. “Most of these cottages have been here for over two hundred years.” He glanced down at her. “Unlike the Scottish clan near Stirling, we survived the Jacobite rising of the 18th century just fine.”
Since she’d had a history lesson during her DDA counseling sessions, Holly already knew there had once been two Scottish dragon clans. But she decided it was easier to let Jamie keep talking so she wouldn’t have to try and be social or polite.
Jamie opened his mouth to say something else when the door to Finn’s cottage opened. A tall dragonwoman with dark hair stood there. The scar across her face and the healed burn on one side of the woman’s neck told Holly it was Arabella MacLeod. Like most of Great Britain, Holly had watched the dragonwoman’s interview on the BBC several months earlier.