I woke the following morning with a smile on my face. Fionn and I had spent dinner talking like two old friends. He was a lot calmer since we'd stopped talking about his father and his ex. Still, I still felt a sense of guilt for letting him pour out his past to me when my walls were still firmly in place.

Rubbing my eyes, I padded out of the bedroom and nearly ran face-first into Fionn. Shirtless. Wearing nothing but a towel.

"Wha—" My eyes landed on his glistening chest and heat rose to my cheeks.

Wow. He's...wow.

"Good morning," he greeted me, giving off a salute. The towel around his waist dipped dangerously low on his hips. "Last night was fun, aye?"

My gaze snapped back up quickly. "What are you doing here?" I racked my brain trying to figure out what he meant. Fun? What did we do? Last time I checked, I'd only had one beer. And I distinctly remembered Fionn saying his goodbyes at the front door.

"Hot water's off in my flat," he explained.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Oh."

Fionn chuckled as he moved past me. "Why, what did you think happened?"

"Nothing. But a little warning that you're going to be half-naked in my apartment next time." I waved to his general person.

"I'll keep that in mind." He started to walk away.

I stopped him, thrusting my arm out to block his path.

"Wait a minute. Were you really just going to walk around here in just a towel?" I asked. "I mean, considering there's just one bedroom and bathroom here. Where were you going to change?"

He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "In the bathroom. I was just coming out here to get some breakfast started."

In a towel? "So there's something wrong with the stove at your place too?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Nah. I just like cooking here sometimes." For a moment, his face changed. Blue eyes turned brown. Brown hair turned blonde. Infectious smile still the same. Except that now it was one I'd known for eight years instead of five days.

I blinked, and his face returned to normal. "Mmhm." I leaned against the doorframe, pretending that nothing had just happened. "Well, I would prefer if you could put some clothes on before cooking, okay?"

He nodded. "Absolutely."

I watched him walk away and shivered. In that moment, he reminded me too much of Kyle. Not the Kyle who I'd seen in states of undress with Deedee, but the Kyle I actually fell in love with. The Kyle who would cook me breakfast...in nothing but a towel. The Kyle who would then burn breakfast because the towel 'accidentally' fell onto the ground and I got wrapped up into his arms as we stumbled into the bedroom.

And it was too much. It didn't matter that Fionn was just my landlord at this time. I thought by going to Scotland I would be getting away from my past, but it seemed like it had the bad habit of following me wherever I went.

Hot tears dripped down my face and onto the linoleum floor.

"Em, are you okay?" Fionn asked.

I jumped at the sound of his voice, quickly swiping my cheeks with the back of my hand. "Yeah, fine. I'm, um, gonna go for a coffee run. Do you want anything?"

Fionn's eyebrows etched together. "No, that's okay. I'll get something later."

"Great." I slung my bag over my shoulder and brushed past him and down the stairs. Anything to get out of there. God, why was this so hard? I finally meet a half-decent guy and then all I can think about is Kyle? What was wrong with me?

Tears blurred my vision again. As I opened the door, I had a second near-collision of the day, this time coming face to face with someone who seemed way too cheerful for this early in the morning.

"Oh my god. Emilie?!" the girl asked. She dropped the handle of a Louis Vutton suitcase and spread her arms out. "Hey! It's Catriona!"

I blinked, realization hitting me. "Catriona! Oh my God!" I threw my arms around her neck. "How are you? What are you doing here?" She looked exactly like the photos we'd exchanged except now her blonde hair reached past her shoulders with wisps of pink throughout.

Catriona glanced up the stairs. "Well, my brother sort of owns this place."

I stepped back, my eyes widening. "He does?" Of course. Catriona had mentioned during one of our first pen-pal interactions that she had a brother. But out of all the people in the world, I wouldn't have guessed it was Fionn.

"I thought you lived in Paris?" I asked as she shimmied out of her coat and scarf.

"I do. But my family lives here in Scotland," she explained. "Which you clearly know since you've met Fionn. How have you been?"

"I've been okay," I said. "Listen, I was going to get some coffee. You want to join?"

She nodded. "Absolutely. Is Fionn upstairs?"

"Um, yeah he is. But he's not staying here if that's what you mean."

Catriona laughed. "I didn't mean to imply anything. I just know how my brother can be. He likes to use the flat as a second room sometimes. Let me put my bag in the office and we can head out, aye?"

"Sure thing." I waited by the front door until Catriona returned and slipped her arm through mine.

"Now be honest with me about something," she said when we had our coffee. "You and my brother. Strictly professional?"

I inhaled too quickly after swallowing and doubled over into a coughing fit. Once it had passed, I answered. "Just professional." And I was planning on it staying that way.

Catriona smiled into her cup. "I'm glad you're here, Em. It makes sense that your application to stay was accepted, especially with your experience."

I frowned. "Right, that's the other thing. I didn't apply, Cat. Your brother practically accused me of cheating my way here."

She shook her head. "He's not normally like that, I can promise you. But if I may ask, if you didn't send in an application, how did you get here?"

"Someone sent me a ticket." I sipped my coffee. "No idea who. But Fionn's sort of accepted that I'm here even if it's in the nontraditional way. So whatever happened that first day was a fluke. I've enjoyed my time with the shop so far."

"There's more to Scotland than just the shop," Catriona said. "How much exploring have you done?"

To be honest, I had been more focused on the job: helping customers, organizing the shelves.

"I—none."

Maybe Fionn was right about what he said when we first met. It wasn't a vacation if I did the exact same work I was doing back home.

She set her spoon down on her saucer. "You will today. C'mon." She stood up from the table and gathered her things.

"Fionn!" Catriona called out when we returned.

He emerged from the office, wiping his hands together and smiling when he saw us. "Cat. Thought that was your luggage in the office." He nodded to his sister and hugged her. "It's good to see you. How long are you staying?"

Catriona laughed. "A few days. I have to be back in Paris next week. But don't worry. I'll be staying at dad's so you can have your privacy. Anyway, listen. Em's been here a week and she hasn't even seen Scotland. Which, by definition, is a crime. So, I'm taking her for a girl's day. No questions."

I opened my mouth to protest. If Fionn needed me here, I was perfectly content pitching in. Still, a day out also would likely do me some good.

Fionn placed his hands on Catriona's shoulders. "I trust you. Go have fun."

Catriona smirked. "That's dangerous. But thanks. We'll see you later, okay?"

We said our goodbyes with me giving Fionn a silent 'thank you', and hurried out to where a town car was now waiting.

I smiled at the familiar face when the driver rolled down his window.

"Emilie. Catriona." Lachlan tipped his hat in greeting. "Where to, ladies?"

Catriona climbed in the backseat first, scooting over to the other side so I could slide in after. "Everywhere. We're hitting up Scotland, Catriona style."

***

Shopping with Catriona reminded me of hitting up the shops in downtown Annapolis with Brena and Sydney. With the sun shining, the atmosphere warmed up quite nicely despite the chilly temperatures. We bounced from shop to shop, laughing and trying on everything in sight.

"Oh, Em. You have to try this!" Catriona held up a grey striped sweater dress.

"Sure." I took the hanger from her and went into the dressing room. The dress was simple with a mock turtleneck and ending just below my knees. When I emerged, Catriona was there waiting with a black jacket and thick belt.

I laughed. "Always the fashion designer."

Cat grinned. "I can't help it." She added the accessories, only leaving me once to find a pair of black combat boots with a chunky heel. "There. Perfect."

I turned to catch my reflection in the mirror. With my hair tousled over my shoulders, the whole outfit gave me a stunning new look.

"Well, what do you think?" my friend asked expectantly.

"I love it."

She clapped her hands together. "Great! Go get changed back and we'll head to check out. My treat."

"Are you sure?" I didn't want her to feel like she had to pay for me.

"Absolutely." She stood next to me in the mirror. "You look stunning. Why not show it off?"

I blushed. "Thanks, Cat."

Once we'd paid and dropped our purchases off with Lachlan, Catriona took me over to the pier. The sound of the ocean waves offered a calming cadence as we walked. On the pier, we stopped at one of the food carts to get some lunch then continued on.

"How are you holding up?" Catriona asked, holding her sandwich carefully between the wax paper. "You mentioned in your last email that you just ended your engagement recently."

"Yeah." I glanced out over the water, kicking the toe of my shoe against the wooden boards. "I'm okay."

"Fionn hasn't given you a hard time?"

"No. He's been great actually." I tucked my hair behind my ears. "Um, how well do you know your brother? Like, his social life."

She raised her eyebrows. "I try not to snoop around in his personal affairs, but as his little sister, I have been aware of his...extracurriculars."

I choked for the second time that day. "So would you say he spends a lot of his free time with women?"

"Well, that sort of depends." Her gaze flickered up to me. "How much do you know?"

"I know about his ex, if that's what you mean." The wind blew my hair into my face, and I wiped it away as it stuck to my lip gloss.

"Right. He, um, he's still very guarded about his dating life. Hasn't brought home a girl to meet the family since, although I suspect that has to do with the way his last relationship ended."

I ripped off another piece of my sandwich. "Would you consider him the type of guy who would, um, walk around in just a towel purposefully?"

Cat smirked. "As opposed to accidentally?"

"Like as a move to capture a girl's attention. For sex." I punctuated the last word with raised eyebrows.

"Ucgh." She shivered. "Now that's an image I do not want to see."

We looked at each other and burst into a fit of laughter. The couple to our left gave us an odd look before walking away.

"My brother is bold, although not crudely conceited as to use half-nudity as a pick-up tactic," she said.

Good to know. At least he was different from Kyle in that way. Actually, he was different from Kyle in a lot of ways. The way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled, how he laughed with his whole body. How he recognized when he was wrong.

The corners of my mouth turned up at that and heat crept into my cheeks.

"...only thing to watch out for is stargazing." Catriona bumped me with her hip, knocking me from my thoughts. "I lost you there for a second, what's on your mind?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. Sorry, you were saying?"

"Yeah." She turned around and leaned against the railing. "In case you didn't know it yet, my brother is more of the cheesy romantic. He likes to go for the not-so-subtle moves: yawning to put his arm around you, brushing away an eyelash, the usual."

I chuckled. "That sounds really sweet."

"Aye. Well, he's my brother, so I can't let him know I think that." She winked then tugged on my arm. "C'mon, let's head back."