Free The Heir of the Castle (Harlequin Romance) by Scarlet Wilson Page B

on her hips, steering her closer to him.
    He blinked. If he’d been any closer those long eyelashes of his might have brushed her cheek. She shouldn’t feel so comfortable. Under normal circumstances she would have jumped back, hating her personal space being invaded without her say-so.
    But nothing about this weekend had been normal. Why change anything now?
    From this position she had a real clear view of his green eyes. Bright green eyes. Unlike any she’d seen before. There was nothing pale or wishy-washy about them. She’d seen an emerald this green once before on the jewellery shopping channel. Was it from Colombia? It had been three carats, with a single carat diamond on either side. Probably the most gorgeous ring she’d ever seen and well out of her price range. Funny how the billionaire’s eyes reminded her of that.
    He tilted his head to one side. ‘Just because I had a natural talent for maths didn’t mean I had to spend my life doing it.’
    He said it as if it made perfect sense.
    A gust of wind swept past her, pushing her even closer to him. Every hair on her arms stood on end. But it wasn’t the wind. It was him. His touch. And his words. Doing a whole host of strange things to her.
    It was more than unsettling. She tried to pull her tongue down from its current position of sticking to the roof of her mouth. It wasn’t often in this life that Laurie found it difficult to talk.
    ‘But what did Angus say? Didn’t he tell you to find a career related to your degree?’ She’d already realised there was no point asking what his father thought. He hadn’t even mentioned his mother at all. And she couldn’t ask the question that was throbbing in her head right now: What would my father have thought if I’d walked away from law? Because neither Callan nor she would know the answer.
    Callan smiled. A smile that reached right up into those green eyes. Little wrinkles appeared around them. Good wrinkles. He looked so much better when he smiled rather than the permanent frown that had been on his face since she’d met him.
    ‘Angus would never have told me to do something that made me unhappy. I’d completed my degree. It was up to me to find my place in life.’
    He said the words so easily. As if it was the way it should be for everyone and she felt her stomach twist in tight knots.
    Why couldn’t she have said something like that to her father? Only hers hadn’t been an ordinary kind of degree. What else could you do with a law degree if you didn’t practise law? Sure, there were some students in her class who hadn’t gone on to complete their professional qualifications after sitting their exams. They’d moved into other professions.
    But she wasn’t exactly sure what. Truth was, she’d been too scared to pay too much attention to any other options. It had almost been easier to work on the assumption that there was none. She would never have disappointed her father. She just couldn’t have.
    Horrible things were jumping around in her mind. What would have happened if she’d told her father that she didn’t like her degree? What would have happened if he’d still been alive and she’d told him she hated her job? She could feel tears prickling in the backs of her eyes. All of a sudden she felt cold. Really cold. Did this make her a coward?
    ‘Laurie?’ Callan’s voice was quiet; she could feel his warm breath on her cheek, see his eyes full of concern.
    ‘But what if you can’t find your place in life?’ she whispered. Or, you’re too scared to.
    She was going to cry, any second now she was going to burst into tears, on the edge of the Scottish coastline with a virtual stranger.
    Callan didn’t say a word. He slipped his arm around her shoulders, holding her close to his side, and guided her down the last few steps onto the thin line of shingle beach. Judging from the moss and lichen on the shingles, this part of the coastline must regularly be underwater.
    The warmth from his body