Her dragon spoke up again. It will. After all, I approve of Ross.
Aye, and that’s all that matters?
I’m an excellent judge of character. I was right with Jamie, and I’ll be right with Ross.
I hope so, dragon. I just worry about more attacks or something else happening to take him away from me.
I won’t let that happen.
While her beast merely saying that wasn’t enough to make it true, the certainty in her dragon’s tone did ease some of Lorna’s worries.
Just as she took a bite of her breakfast, Ross met her eyes and winked. The small action made her belly flutter.
Lorna pushed aside her doubts and fears. She always fought to protect what was hers, and that now included Ross Anderson, too.
Chapter Nine
A few days later, Ross ended the call with his daughter and tried not to grin. Finn had granted Ross’s request, which meant he could finally tell Lorna about his surprise.
He found her downstairs at the front door, saying her farewells to Meg Boyd. Ross had erred on the side of caution and let the two women talk without him. The last thing he needed was to hear about the sexual escapades of Meg and her two dragonmen.
The door clicked closed. Lorna turned her head to meet his gaze. “Came out of hiding, did you?”
Closing the distance between them, he hugged Lorna to his side. “I wasn’t hiding. I’m sure you didn’t want my wisearse comments interrupting you two every few minutes.”
“Oh, I doubt you would’ve interrupted us. The tales of Meg, Archie, and Cal are quite amusing. The two dragonmen are pressuring her to choose one of them. Worse than that, they both keep threatening to destroy the other’s farm unless Meg picked them.”
Ross chuckled as they entered the living room. “I still say Finn should build a ten-foot wall separating their farms from the rest of the clan. That way the clan doesn’t have to worry about a rogue branch or rock flying toward them.”
Lorna sat down on the couch. “Why would Finn do that? Watching that pair is amusing. I’ve been doing it for most of my life.”
Sitting down next to Lorna, Ross took her hand. “Speaking of your life, I have a surprise for you.”
She studied him. “I’m not sure if I should be excited or afraid of that.”
“Oh, definitely excited.”
“Stop dragging it out and just tell me already. I have a long list of things to do today.”
“No, you don’t.”
Lorna frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“You and I are going to Skye.”
She blinked. “What?”
“I found out that you’d never been there and thought we could spend some time alone.” Lorna opened her mouth to protest, but Ross cut her off. “It’s perfectly safe. Lochguard’s Protectors train there and the humans living on the island are friendly to our clan. From what I understand, they even have a sort of alliance that’s held with Lochguard for centuries.”
“I know that, but what I was going to say before you cut me off is that I’m helping Kaylee with her cooking this week, as well as babysitting wee Jamie two days to give Fergus and Gina some time together.”
Ross put up a hand. “No, you’re not. All of that is sorted. Kaylee is going to work with Meg Boyd for cooking, and Holly has agreed to watch wee Jamie in your stead. It’s high time you took a holiday, Lorna.” He leaned closer. “And not just any holiday, but one with me.”
Under normal circumstances, Lorna would brush off Ross’s cockiness. However, the thought of seeing the beauty of Skye with her human at her side made her heart rate kick up. It would be a place for her to make new memories with Ross; she and Jamie had never made it to Skye.
Her dragon chimed in. We should go. I’ve always wanted to fly there.
The reminder of Lorna flying lessened her enthusiasm. It’s been so long. I don’t think I could make it that far.