Something sad, troubled, entered his eyes, and I wanted to ask him what the hell was going on. Why had he stayed away so long?
Just like that, the look was gone, and he sat back in his seat. “So, where are we off to for breakfast?”
“An Sealladh,” Ery answered.
“Excellent choice, ladies. Glad to hear the old place is still going strong. I wouldn’t have thought you were a fry-up kind of woman, Eredine.” He leaned against her seat now.
I flicked a look at her and saw she was ignoring his face propped on the edge of her headrest.
“Why would you think anything about me? You don’t know me.” Her sassy assertion was surprising.
I snorted, glancing at Arran only to find him grinning.
“It’s a good thing we’re about to have breakfast together, then.” He leaned in close to her ear again and said in a deep, throaty voice I’d seen melt many a girl, “A man can tell a lot of things about a woman from the way she eats.”
I made a gagging noise.
“Oh?” Ery asked with quiet primness. “Can he tell when a woman would like him to stop purring in her ear like a tomcat?”
It took everything I had not to burst into laughter.
“Fair enough.” Arran chuckled and sat back again.
“How was work yesterday?” I tried to commandeer the conversation.
Ery shrugged. “It was fine. It’ll be good when Lachlan’s back. The place just isn’t the same without him.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask her how Mac was, but I stopped. Sometimes I had to remind myself that I hated him and didn’t care how he fared. I’d even caught myself being mad at him for not phoning me in days, until I remembered I’d blocked his bloody number, because every time his name came up on my screen, I wanted to curl up in a dark room and cry.
Ery spoke a little more about the estate and asked about my work. I told Arran and her about Duncan, and Arran, serious for once, said we should tell my brothers and Mac about it. We already told Robyn and Lachlan about the ominous note for their own safety, and I had to convince them to finish out their honeymoon. I had a feeling it had ruined it, anyway, and that they’d be glad to get home to us.
“I suppose we should,” I murmured, uneasy about adding Duncan to my nonexistent list of suspects. It didn’t seem right to accuse him of this when it was more than likely his behavior at work was unconnected. Still, Lucy had taught me caution, and admittedly, paranoia.
An Sealladh wasn’t busy at this time of the morning. They’d just opened, so we had our pick of tables. Arran took the seat opposite Eredine, studying her in a way that made her squirm. I wanted to tell him to stop making her uncomfortable, but I knew that wasn’t his intention. I didn’t think he realized he was staring so much, and I didn’t want to embarrass him by pointing it out.
“You have the most astonishing eyes,” Arran said as we waited for our server.
Or maybe he did know he was staring.
For fuck’s sake, was I to endure his flirting with Ery all morning?
Rather than looking embarrassed, Ery stared at him with surprising forthrightness. “So I’ve been told.”
Arran’s blue eyes twinkled at her unimpressed response.
Me? I was impressed. I’d only ever seen this assertive side to Eredine among her friends.
When Brodan paid attention to her, she clammed up, impossibly shy around him. Around most men, in fact.
“Aren’t you going to compliment me in return?” my brother teased.
“Why? Do you have self-esteem issues that require women to stroke your ego?”
“Ha!” I couldn’t help myself. Who was this woman with the tart responses, and where had she come from?
Unfortunately, Ery’s dry wit only seemed to spur Arran on.
Thankfully, the waitress interrupted him mid flirt, and we ordered a full Scottish breakfast.