On that, she unclicked her seatbelt and hastily exited the lovely car. She heard the purring, well-tuned motor stop and his car door opening and slamming shut. Even so, she didn’t hesitate, walked directly to the front door, slid in the ancient key and opened it. Mallory bounded out with great, if unusual, enthusiasm and went tearing toward Colin.
“Mallory!” she shouted but Mallory would not be deterred.
“Stop,” Colin ordered, his voice commanding but not harsh and Mallory skidded to a halt and stopped within inches of the man then leaned her muzzle forward and licked his hand.
Sibyl’s eyes went skyward in exasperation. Though, she had to admit, if anyone deserved snarling, cranky Mallory tonight, it was definitely defunct-date Steve.
Colin walked toward her as she reached in and turned on the light switch that her father had rigged to light several of the lamps around the cottage, making traversing it easy upon entry with one single switch. This caused the whole glade around the front of the cottage to be diffused with soft, dim light.
Mallory followed Colin to Sibyl, snuffled Sibyl’s hand in belated greeting and then moseyed off into the night to do his business.
And suddenly Sibyl felt awkward as Colin stood looking down at her. She stared up at him, noting it was rather strange doing so. Being quite tall herself, and also wearing high heels, she would normally be eye-to-eye or looking down at the majority of people, even men.
She hid her discomfort and tried valiantly to end the night on a good note.
“Thank you for the ride,” she paused, “And the rescue.”
“You’re welcome.” Simple, softly said in his deep voice, and unbelievably effective, Sibyl felt the shockwaves of his tone all the way to her toes.
A shiver slid through her and she shook it off.
“Mallory!” she called, turning toward the dark night. When she glanced back to say goodnight to Colin, he spoke.
“Tell me something,” he requested quietly.
“Yes?”
“Your dog’s name is unusual. How did he get it?”
She shrugged feeling somehow this question seemed too personal because something in his tone made it so.
She decided to give him the short version. “My Dad names my pets. I’m hopeless at it. My Dad is kind of…” she hesitated, not wishing to share too much. It was easy when it was banter and it wasn’t dangerous. Colin Morgan knowing personal things about her and her family, she, for some reason, felt the need to be guarded. “A mythology buff. Thomas Malory wrote Le Morte D’Arthur and my father loves Arthurian Legend. So, he named him Mallory.”
“I see.” This, obviously, was a highly acceptable answer because he stepped toward her and she read the meaning to his advance loud and clear. She began speaking in a rush to stop his progress.
“Bran, my cat, is named for Bran the Blessed, of Welsh Mythology.”
Her ploy didn’t work, though he stopped, he did it close enough to her that she could feel him even though he wasn’t touching her.
“Can I see you again?” he asked, he was using his soft, effective voice and her toes curled.
Sibyl was stunned to her core at his request. She would never have expected after that night at Lacybourne that he’d want to see her again.
Tonight, however, he was different. Completely different.
She used every bit of willpower she had to say what was logical and right for her peace of mind. “I’m not sure that’s wise.”
She saw the flash of his smile and noted with a thrill of fear that he was entirely unaffected by her refusal.
“Why isn’t it wise?”
“Because I think you might be a little insane,” she blurted more bluntly than she would have done if she wasn’t trying very, very hard not to throw herself at him.
This could be her dream man. He was certainly acting like her dream man.
The problem was, the other Colin was most certainly not.
“I’m not insane,” he assured her, his voice made even more effective by the addition of a teasing note.
Then he came even closer.
Sibyl stepped back.
“Mr. Morgan –”
“Colin.”
“You scare me a little bit,” she admitted softly.
At this pronouncement, he stopped moving toward her.
“This is a far better ending than the one we had before,” she offered, her voice somewhat breathless and definitely rushed because if she didn’t say it, she wouldn’t. Instead she’d do something insane, like invite him inside then offer him a drink then, maybe, totally lose it and rip his clothes off. “I think we should stick with this,” she finished.
Mallory came loping out of the darkness and instead of immediately entering the house after his business was concluded, as he usually did, he sat next to Colin and leaned his big body against Colin’s legs.
Sibyl stared in shock at her dog.
“Mallory, get inside,” she commanded and Mallory leaned forward, licked her hand and then decided that, even though he liked Colin Morgan, he liked his sleep better. So he ambled into the house and disappeared.
Sibyl looked back at Colin. “Thank you again, you’ve been very nice tonight.”
Colin didn’t respond.
There was light but it was dim and she couldn’t see his eyes all that well. What she did see was his hand coming up and, before she could react, he traced a finger in a whisper-soft caress from her temple, along her cheek, to the corner of her lip. Then, all the while Colin watching his finger’s movements, it dipped and slowly traced the bottom edge of her lower lip ending on her chin. The whole manoeuvre, in real time, probably lasted five seconds, but it felt like it took a blissful, beautiful, dreamy eternity and that was why Sibyl stood silent and unmoving as he did it.
It was not a goodnight kiss but, somehow, seemed far more intimate.
Then, his eyes coming back to hers, he murmured, “Goodnight, Sibyl.”
And with that, he left.
Chapter Seven
Bargain
Sibyl woke up the next day, her limbs hopelessly entangled with the covers of her bed.
She saw distractedly that Mallory stood beside her bed, looking curiously at her, not in his usual loopy manner, but as if he was standing at attention, awaiting her command.
She was sweating, she was panting and she remembered every vivid detail of the dream she’d just had.
“I’m going insane,” she told the dog and he melted out of his unusual stance and moved toward her, his tail wagging, his body shaking, his cold nose snuffling at her hand.