Only You (Adair Family #5)(86)

A fire burned in the huge hearth on the wall adjacent to the entrance and opposite the staircase. Tiffany lamps scattered throughout on end tables gave the space a warm glow, as did the massive Christmas tree in the corner.

There were guests everywhere. Famous faces among others I didn’t recognize. Servers with trays of canapés and champagne flutes moved through the room to offer refreshment to the revelers.

“Lachlan’s Hogmanay party is coveted. Members fly in from all over to be here,” Brodan had told me before we left. I could see the proof before me. It was a bit of a squeeze.

“Brodan Adair, as I live and breathe.” A familiar beauty with a lovely plummy British accent stopped before us.

Angeline Potter.

I tried not to gape.

But I loved her movies.

Her eyes flicked to me before moving back to Brodan. “They told me you were living here, but I was beginning to think it was a lie. Where have you been?” She rubbed a hand over his lapel in a familiar, flirty way.

Suddenly, I didn’t like her as much. My eyes narrowed on her hand, and Brodan cleared his throat and pulled me tighter against his side. “I’ve been around.”

“Well, I’m here for a few weeks … Duchess’s Suite. Look me up.” She gave him a sultry smirk.

“I won’t be doing that,” he said bluntly. “This is my girlfriend, Monroe.”

It was the first time he’d actually said the words out loud.

For a moment, they shocked me, but I managed a small smile.

Angeline eyed me now, thoughtfully. “You do look familiar. Are you in Andy Bradshaw’s latest movie?”

She thought I was a movie star?

Feeling mischievous, I shrugged.

“I’ve heard you’re rather good.” She took my shrug as a yes before turning back to Brodan. “If you’re not free, darling, please tell me that rugged head of security has gotten over your sister.”

Mac?

Brodan smirked. “Angeline, Mackennon Galbraith will never be over my sister. Or the baby girl they just had.”

“Right.” She pouted and then sighed heavily, looking around. “Oh, well then. Looks like I’m shagging someone I’ve already shagged tonight. Ta ra.” With that, she sashayed away.

I snorted, and Brodan grinned down at me. “That was Angeline Potter,” I whispered.

“It was.”

“And she thought I was an actor.”

“She did.”

“She’s quite funny in real life.”

Brodan’s lips pinched together.

“You don’t like her? She seems so likable in her movies.”

“She’s the opposite of likable. Causes problems on set, and she fucked a friend of mine’s husband while they were making a movie together. By all accounts, selfish to the core, that one. And a drama queen. Plus, it’s like she bloody lives here. Lachlan jokes that she’s trying to get more out of her membership than she’s paying, but he might not be wrong. I once heard she—”

“Don’t tell me any more.” I wrinkled my nose. “You’re ruining some of my favorite films.”

Laughing, Brodan pulled me deeper into his side. “Come, let’s find people we do like and maybe some of those canapés that keep whizzing by us.”





The night was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. In fact, it might have been a wee bit too much if not for Brodan, his brothers, and their partners. Although Lachlan was forced from our sides much of the evening along with Robyn to play hostess, we had a good laugh with Thane and Regan. There was no pretension. We regaled Regan with stories of our childhood, and I realized for the first time that those stories were hurting less. It had only been a week, but already I felt like I was healing from the past.

In the background, a small orchestra entertained, but they played instrumental versions of modern pop music. Regan told me that one year the indie rock band High Voltage had played at the Hogmanay party.

As fire was a big part of Hogmanay celebrations, it didn’t surprise me when Brodan led me outside with everyone else to watch the fire dancers. But I was taken aback by how spectacular the visual was of the procession of dancers down the extensive estate driveway, their flames lighting up the pitch-blackness beyond the castle. I gasped alongside everyone else as fire-breathers shot fireballs into the night sky and dancers twirled fans of fire and others spun by them in aerial cartwheels.

It was so otherworldly that I almost forgot I stood on Ardnoch Estate. It was a moment I was unlikely to forget, and after such a difficult year, it was surreal.

How quickly life can change.

For once, mine had changed for the better, and I wondered if I was really prepared to possibly walk away from this at the end of this year’s school term. The thought filled me with dread, even as I knew I wasn’t ready to admit that I wanted to stay with Brodan in Ardnoch.





31





Monroe





Once the fire dancers finished their display, we returned to find servers with more food waiting as Lachlan announced the procession of the haggis. It had been a long time since I’d taken part in such a traditional Hogmanay celebration, and I shoved my earlier morose thoughts aside to enjoy it. I felt a warm ache of pride in my chest as the bagpiper led in the haggis, the mournful tune of “Auld Lang Syne” seeming to fill the entire castle. Goose bumps prickled my exposed skin, and Brodan, somehow noticing, soothed his palms up and down my arms to warm me.