Free Bound by Blood (Cauld Ane Series) by Tracey Jane Jackson

we know each other better.”
    That held promise.
    Sam nodded. “So what did you want to see me about?”
    “Honestly?” He grinned. “I just thought you might like a little time to decompress after being bombarded by all those people.”
    She let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “Oh, thank you.”
    Kade removed his jacket and laid it over one of the chairs. “I also thought you might like to know where the best jogging trail in Edinburgh is.”
    Okay, now she was a bit disconcerted by how little he missed.
    She grinned. “I’d love it. I think I may need to start as early as tomorrow morning at the rate I’m going.”
    He led her to the bank of windows and pointed to the west. “That block of buildings there is where your flat will be. Just past that purview, you should see a trail in between a group of trees.”
    As she watched Kade point out various parts of the university campus and outbuildings, Sam couldn’t help but notice his muscles ripple beneath his crisp white shirt. She suddenly wondered if her ridiculousness knew no bounds. She was noticing the man’s physique, obsessing over it, really. She waited for a break in his information and made her escape. She needed to remember she was there to do a job, not fawn over the hot doctor.
     

CHAPTER SIX
     
    SAM HEADED BACK to her office and hit Pepper’s number as she closed the door.
    “Sammi?”
    Sam sighed in relief. “Thank God.”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Pepper, I’m in trouble.”
    “Why, what happened?” she squeaked.
    “I think I might be falling in lust,” Sam admitted.
    There was a brief pause and then the sound of guffawing laughter and the whinny of horses in the background.
    Sam dropped her head back against the door. “Pepper?”
    “You totally freaked me out! I thought you were really in trouble!”
    “I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to do. I’ve never ever felt this way before.”
    “I know you haven’t.” Pepper was still laughing. “Who are you lusting over?”
    “My boss!”
    “Not the hottie on the plane?”
    “Who? Oh, no. He’s cute, but nothing compared to my boss. Pepper, he looks like he stepped off the cover of a romance novel, and on top of that, he has this incredible voice. He’s Scottish, but there’s something else there. If Alexander Skarsgård and Craig Ferguson had a baby, he’d sound like him. He has long hair and his name’s Kade, for freak’s sake. Kade! Did his parents do that to ensure every woman on the planet would want to procreate with him?”
    “Long hair ala Brad Pitt in Legends?” Pepper asked, a hopeful sound in her voice.
    “Think Keith Urban.”
    “Ooh…even better,” she said breathlessly. “Holy cow. I might need to push my flight up.”
    “I’m losing it, Pep. Seriously, I think this might have been a mistake.” Sam pushed away from the door and sat down at her desk. “I think I should come home.”
    “Don’t you dare!” Pepper snapped. “You might be shy, Samantha Christene Moore, but you are no coward. Plus, this is your dream job.”
    Sam sighed. “I know, I know. I just don’t know what to do. You know my rule.”
    “No mixing business with pleasure, yeah, yeah,” Pepper droned. “Maybe throw that rule in the air and shoot the hell out of it.”
    “That’s not a good idea.”
    “How do you know? Take a chance for once, Sam. What’s the worst that could happen?”
    “I could lose my job.”
    “One you don’t actually need, right now, anyway. You have money saved, so if you had to come home and look for another job, you could.”
    Sam sighed. “True. I just don’t know if I feel that brave.”
    “Brave, schmave.”
    Sam snorted.
    “Does this fall into the category of being hit by a bolt of lightning wrapped in a rainbow?”
    Sam couldn’t stop a giggle. “Oh, Pep. Yes. Really, you should have been an ad-man.”
    “Let me tell you what you’re going to do. You’re going to throw caution to the wind and embrace