Free Love Beyond Dreams (A Scottish Time Travel Romance): Book 6 (Morna's Legacy Series) by Bethany Claire Page A

allowed him to finish off the pizza. Despite the rumbling in my stomach, I imagined that he needed it far worse than I. He didn’t say much as he ate and that suited me just fine for it allowed me a few moments to think on how the rest of the evening would progress.  
    I knew that I couldn’t very well place him in a spare room with the way Cooper ran about and did as he pleased, and I couldn’t stay somewhere else for the very same reason. So, with no other solution that I could see, it seemed we would have to share a room for the night.  
    He also needed to be cleaned. While a shower would be easy enough with a bathroom now connected to my room thanks to Aiden’s modernized restorations, I didn’t have any clean clothes to give him. At first I thought about running down to Aiden and Anne’s room but then thought about the glint in Anne’s eyes as they’d left and thought better of it.
    After that, I would just put him to sleep and allow him a good night’s rest before the overwhelming events that were bound to occur tomorrow.  
    “Might I ask yer name, lass? Ye were kind enough to give me my own. I’d like to know yers as well.”
    I couldn’t believe I’d overlooked sharing that with him before.  
    “Of course you can ask it. It’s Gillian. My name is Gillian.”
    He tested the name out by mouthing it before he said it.  
    “Gillian. ’Tis a bonny name. Might I ask ye a few others.”
    I smiled and nodded while I handed him a cloth napkin so he could wipe the remaining pizza crumbs and sauce from his fingers and mouth.
    “Are ye married, Gillian?”
    “No.” I laughed and gestured around the room. “Do you think I’d have you sitting inside my bedroom if I was?”
    He smiled sheepishly. I didn’t miss how his cheeks reddened at the implication of my words. “Aye well, fair enough. Do ye know…do ye know if I am married?”
    The thought, in all honesty, had never occurred to me. Not while I’d dreamt of him and certainly not once I’d seen him in the flesh. I hoped that he wasn’t. But a man that looked as he did, with such a kind way about him…how could he not be married?
    “I don’t know. You’ll find out tomorrow, I guess. Have you had enough to eat? If you’re still hungry, I can slip downstairs to the kitchen and round something up for you.”
    I secretly hoped he would say yes just so I’d have an excuse to get myself something to eat as well. He quickly turned down my offer.  
    “Oh no, lass. I’ve already eaten more this night than I have in many days. I’m just so pleased to no eat fish that I doona think I could eat another bite. Thank ye for all that ye’ve given me though.”
    I tried to hide my disappointment as I talked over the growl of my stomach.  
    “It’s no problem. Do you want to get cleaned up?” I saw the discomfort on his face and knew that I’d worried him again—that I’d made him think I was insulted by his manner of dress or offended by his cleanliness. I quickly made haste to clarify my question. “Not that you need it. A shower just feels very nice sometimes when you’re tired. The new hot water heater works very well.”
    “Aye, I wouldna consider it kind of me to stay inside yer lovely home covered in dirt as I am, though I doona wish for ye to bring water up for me. If ye will show me where, I can do it myself.”
    “What? There’s no bringing water anywhere. Come over here.”
    I waved him over and into the bathroom. Once he stood near me, I opened the shower door and turned on the water.
    “See? The water just comes. Seeing it now, do you remember how to work it?”
    I twisted to look at him, and I could see recognition flicker in his eyes as he grinned.  
    “Aye, it seems verra strange to me, but I believe I do know how. ’Tis almost as if I’ve stood under such a spray before.”
    I couldn’t resist a small giggle and, turning off the water, I flicked the drips from my fingers at him playfully.  
    “Well, I should sure hope