Joanna's Highlander (Highland Protector #2)(54)
“I see.” Grant didn’t say anything else. Apparently, Lucia’s mood and her calling him “Mr.” had been an effective warning.
“What time’s the game tomorrow?” Joanna nudged Grant. “We could go. Cheer on T.”
“Aye.” Grant risked a sideways glance at Lucia. “That is…if it would be okay with his mother.”
“Of course it would be okay.” Lucia snorted like a bull preparing to charge, then strode closer to the foot of the bed. Locking her glare with Joanna’s innocent gaze, she jerked her thumb toward the door. “T would love it and you know it. Game’s at three. We’ll see you both tomorrow.” Shifting her glare to Grant, her expression softened the barest bit. She lifted her chin and barely shrugged. “And you can tell Taggart he’s welcome to come tomorrow too. If you want. And he’s not busy.”
Grant agreed with a slow, purposeful nod. “I’ll personally see to it that the man is there, Mistress Banks.”
“Great.” Lucia gave Joanna one last stern look, then strode out the door, bellowing for Tyler to “come on” before she’d even hit the staircase leading to the kitchen.
“That woman is a great deal like Máthair, I fear.”
Joanna swung her legs off the side of the bed and hopped to her feet. “Yeah, you should probably keep that in mind. You’re going to have to do some serious damage control to get back on Lucia’s good side.” Calm, quiet Lucia might seem like the reasonable one, but she held a grudge forever.
“I’ll bear that in mind.” Grant rose and rounded the bed. “I thought I’d take ye to see the colt today if yer up to it. I always keep m’promises.”
Joanna didn’t answer. The we need to talk song was stuck on a repeating loop through her mind. Had been ever since she’d opened her eyes that morning. Dark fingers of niggling doubts had started picking away at her newfound euphoria. What exactly did all the Heartstone stuff entail? And what about loving a man from tenth-century Scotland? A man tangled up in druidic myth and legend? A man expected to serve some trio of goddesses with an ancient hammer like Scotland’s version of Thor?
Padding across the room to the armchair in the corner, Joanna sorted through the neatly folded pile of clothes that Lucia had been kind enough to bring over while she was still deep in Heartstone nightmare-land. She gathered up a change of clothes and draped them across one arm, picking away imaginary threads from her favorite dark T-shirt. She had to ask him. She had to know. Knowing was always a hell of a lot better than imagining the worst. “Could they snatch you up and send you back there at any time? Or send you somewhere else even?” There. I said it out loud. She prayed he’d say “no,” but deep down she already knew the answer. They’d jerked his ass across the centuries once and left the woman he loved behind. If they decided their precious rock was at risk, they’d damn sure do it again.
Grant crossed the room, took the clothes out of her arms, and placed them back on the chair. He lowered himself to the padded bench at the foot of the bed and gently pulled her into his lap. “?‘They’ who? What are ye really asking me, lass? I see fear in those lovely green eyes. Talk t’me.”
You made me love you before I knew, she wanted to scream out at him at the top of her lungs. Instead, she whispered the words, struggling to hold on tight and not plunge into the abyss of hysteria. “I don’t want to end up like Leannan.”
“What?”
Be clear. Settle this now. “I know we’re not married or even engaged.” She closed her eyes and massaged her temples. Damn, I suck at this. She’d spent her life hiding her true feelings about anything. How the hell was she supposed to know how to make Grant understand what she meant now? She opened her eyes, took a deep breath, and started all over again. “Look, I know we’re really just at the beginning of all things serious when it comes to this relationship, but…”
“But…” Grant patiently prompted, settling her more comfortably on his lap.
“But I already know I love you and I don’t want them to ever take you away again.” She reached out and cupped his jaw in her palm, adoring the rough stubble rasping against her skin. “I don’t want those goddesses of yours to ruin what it’s taken me a lifetime to find.”
“I canna tell ye what the future may hold for us, dear one.” Grant covered her hand with his, then turned and pressed a kiss into her palm. “There have been times over the past sixteen years…” He paused, brows knotted together as he stared down at her hand. “I willna lie t’ye. There have been times since they brought us to this century that the goddesses have required one or another of us t’travel back to the past—temporarily. Sometimes we must go wherever or whenever it takes to ensure the survival of the druid clans and the safety of our cause.” He finally looked up and gave what Joanna was sure he meant as a reassuring smile but as far as she was concerned, it fell a little short. “All I can tell ye for certain, to reassure ye about the goddesses and put yer heart at ease, is that Dwyn has said they’ve already given their blessings to the two of us.”
A dark shadow crossed his face as he looked back down and sadly shook his head. “They withheld their blessing from Leannan and m’self even though she carried my child. I’ll ne’er understand their reasoning and I damn sure can ne’er explain it.” He lifted his gaze, and one corner of his mouth barely lifted in a smile. “But they’ve seen fit t’bless you and me, so ’tis my utmost hope that they’ll leave us the hell alone and that I willna be called t’travel across the centuries for quite some time—if ever again.”