A Highland Heist A Contemporary Highland Romance Book Three by Cali MacKay

of her tight jeans while he made quick work of his own clothing, discarding them in a hurried heap before nestling himself between her naked legs. He nipped at her nipple and then trailed kisses down her side, murmuring against her soft skin. “By all means, feel free to start hashing out yer past.”
    With a squeal, she pushed him away. “Okay, stop. I can’t concentrate when ye’re kissing me like that.”
    “Ye recall, this was yer idea, aye?” He had to laugh. It was no wonder she left him dizzy.
    She smiled apologetically, and pulled him towards her, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. “Sorry…I swear I’ll make it up to ye afterwards. And I don’t know about you, but I won’t take long. The last thing I want to do is linger on this topic.”
    “No worries, aye? Take however long ye need.” Doing what he could to ignore his aching need, he grabbed the throw from the bottom of the bed and pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head. “I’m listening, love.”
    “If we’re talking about relationships, it’s nothing more than the usual. Dated a bunch when I was younger and while at university, before things got pretty serious with this one guy. Oliver. We were together years, yeah? He was smart, funny-great in bed-and could be so sweet.” She shrugged, her fingers absent-mindedly playing with the fringe on the blanket as he tried not to picture her naked in another man’s arms. “We were young. I get that. But I gave him everything. My entire heart. I held nothing back. Unfortunately…”
    Conall sighed, her story too familiar. “You were the only one giving fully.”
    “And I was clueless. Didn’t realize it until he broke things off. Like I said, it’s not any different from every other breakup story, but it really caught me off guard. If there were signs, I hadn’t seen them. And I took it hard. Spent months in a hopeless darkness, severely depressed, and I swear it felt like I’d never escape it.” She let out a long, weary breath. “By the time I managed to pull myself free of it, I promised myself I’d not waste another day-and if I gave my heart to anyone again, they best be willing to reciprocate fully. I don’t do anything by halves, Conall.”
    “Aye, love. I wouldn’t expect ye to.” He kissed her, now understanding her so much better. “It’s why ye always say ye live life to the fullest, aye?”
    “Yeah…when I finally came around, I realized I’d wasted nearly a year of my life. A year I wouldn’t get back. I’ve dated plenty since then, but…this…what we have feels different.” She looked up at him, worry lining her face. “I need to know ye’ll not hold back, Conall.”
    “How could I hold back when ye’ve shown me what it is to truly love someone-and to be truly loved?” He kissed her, and then steeling himself, got ready to tell her his story. “I’ll tell ye now, my story’s not much different from yer own. Dated a bit, got to college and fell for someone there. Janet. Broke my heart. Then came back begging for forgiveness and I took her back only to have her break my heart again. I know, I was a fool to think she’d changed and that lying and cheating on me was just a one-off. But that sort of thing never is, is it? I left for the States to get away from her and go to grad school.”
    He hated having to think about it, and his mood had now soured. Until Maggie held him tightly. “I swear, Conall, I’ll only ever tell ye the truth. You can trust me, love.”
    He kissed her, and with it went the hurt he’d been keeping balled up all those years. “I already do.”
    ***
    “Just look at you.” Rowan was grinning ear to ear. “You’re… happy . I swear, I never thought I’d see the day. That must have been some trip to Dublin. Has Lara seen you like this? She’ll probably drop dead right there on the spot, ale and burgers all over the floor.”
    Angus pulled her away, and nestled her against his side, silencing her with a quick kiss.