‘Sure,’ he said.
Then she slowly weaved her way over to where Olivia stood, determinedly ignoring the fluttering in her stomach.
Chapter Twenty-Four
They were on their descent from the falls and making their way down the woodland trail towards the Giants’ Graves, when Logan became aware of Olivia next to him. He wasn’t going to lie, he was worried that he had offended Kitty, as she had distanced herself since he stood next to her on the viewing platform. He thought they had been getting on well and there had been a definite connection between them when he accidentally brushed his arm against hers. It felt like an electric current. He wondered why she had bolted. Did he smell or have bad breath? Or say something inappropriate? He racked his brain trying to relive their conversation, but all he could remember was some light-hearted banter and laughter. Maybe he had read the situation wrong after all, and she and Olivia weretogether. Then he reminded himself he was working, and needed to focus on the group he was responsible for. The last thing he wanted was to lose concentration right now. This was so unlike him, and he was worried he was losing the plot.
‘Are you enjoying it so far?’ he said politely to Olivia.
‘It’s incredible,’ she replied. ‘Not like anything I’ve ever done before.’
‘First time in Scotland, then?’
‘Yes.’
Neither of them spoke and Logan watched Kitty, who was now at the head of the group. He couldn’t take his eyes of her tumble of red curls.
‘Look,’ said Olivia, taking a deep breath. ‘I think I owe you an apology. I’m so sorry for being rude at the pub the other night. I had a terrible day, and I shouldn’t have accused you of trying to steal my bag.’
Logan shrugged. ‘That’s okay. Apology accepted.’
‘I wanted to clear the air. It wasn’t fair of me to project my stuff onto you.’
‘Please don’t worry. We all have bad days. But for the record, I was just trying to help.’
‘I know. And I appreciate it.’
Logan turned to her and smiled. ‘Thank you. So what brought you to Scotland?’
She chuckled. ‘A long story. But in essence, my aunt and uncle visited last year and loved the place, and I had the summer off so randomly ended up coming to Arran. I was in Italy and met some Glaswegians who also raved about it, so I decided to take that as a sign, then took a bit of a leap of faith.’
Logan was impressed. ‘That’s a brave thing to do.’
She shrugged. ‘Not really. I’m just lucky that I have the summer off work and got the chance to come.’
He was intrigued that she hadn’t mentioned Kitty and their connection, and he wondered if there was a polite and subtle way of asking if they were together.
‘And how do you and Kitty know each other, then?’
‘Well, we don’t. That’s the strange thing,’ she said.
‘What do you mean?’ He was surprised.
‘We didn’t meet until a few days ago.’
‘Seriously?’ he said, genuinely shocked. ‘I just assumed you were here together.’
Olivia raised her shoulders in a shrug. ‘We didn’t get off to the best start,’ she admitted. She filled him in on their clashing summer house plans and their decision to trial a house share at Lilybank Cottage.
‘Wow,’ he said. ‘I would not have guessed that at all. So you’re housemates, then.’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘And so far, so good. We seem to be getting along just fine. Well, apart from her dodgy singing,’ she joked. ‘Kitty’s son has gone away to do Camp America and so shethought she would make the most of her summer here as it’s just her.’
Logan felt relief wash over him when he heard this. So shewassingle, and she had a son.Interesting.And they were staying at Lilybank Cottage. He would have to get more information from James. He chewed his lip thoughtfully as he glanced at Olivia. ‘And where is home for you normally?’
‘I’m based in New York. Though I can travel a lot with my job . . . I’m a dancer.’
‘You’re used to living out of a bag, then?’ He chuckled good-naturedly.
