ESTHER SHORT PARK was practically empty as Charlotte walked toward the big clock tower. She came here a lot when she needed to think and was grateful for the overcast day...only...as she approached the tower, she saw someone very familiar to her and stalled. “Shit.”

Niall stood with Bruce staring up at the clock, his jeans painted on his perfect body, and a black button-up that he’d opened at the throat and rolled up at the sleeves.

Charlotte swallowed, wondering how far his stalking would go and if she’d need to get a restraining order.

Niall met her eyes with a frown. I’m not stalking you, lass. The hotel mentioned a few of the historic areas, and since we had breakfast close-by, we thought we’d visit.

Convenient.

I’ll leave if it’ll make you feel better.

Before Charlotte could close the distance between them or reply to him, a mother and her daughter made a beeline for him, and Niall was forced to focus on the drop-dead gorgeous woman and her equally gorgeous teenage daughter.

Charlotte couldn’t stop the jealousy that rose up inside of her. Niall smiled and nodded and looked totally at ease as the women giggled and kept touching him.

I swear to God if those bitches don’t stop touching him...

He turned toward her and raised an eyebrow. Charlotte scowled and turned to run away like the coward she was, but her phone rang. She sighed. “Hi, Grace.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar.”

“No, really. Nothing’s wrong. Well, other than having a sexy as hell drummer stalking me and now he’s being accosted by two very pretty women.”

“Are you pissed he’s stopped paying attention to you?”

“Grace,” she hissed.

“What’s the real problem here, honey?”

“Him.” She jabbed a finger toward Niall, even though Grace couldn’t see her. “He’s the problem. Alec is the guy I should be focusing on. I should date him. Not Niall MacMillan.”

“Then date him.”

“I am!”

“But...”

She sighed. “But I...”

“Don’t feel half of what you feel for Niall.”

“Don’t talk to me like you know me.”

“Look, honey, you’re not married. You’re not even engaged. You have all the power in the world to call this Alec guy up and break it off.”

“The problem is, Alec and I are filming together in a week, and we have to kiss. Can you imagine how awkward that would be if I dump him before we’ve even started anything?”

“Or, it could be you have nothing to complain about on the Niall front and that scares the shit out of you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Chuck, you’ve dated some of the ugliest and most boring men on the planet ever since he... well, did what he did.”

“I have not.”

Grace only knew about the cheating part of her breakup with Blake. No one but Don knew the full story, and Charlotte would take that information to her grave.

“You have so,” Grace argued. “Is this Alec guy ugly?”

“No. I mean, his ears are a little weird, I guess,” she admitted.

Grace laughed. “You are a ridiculous person. You know that, right?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because even though you date these men who are so far down on the ‘looks’ scale, you pick them apart the whole time you’re doing it.”

“I know I do. I’m probably going to hell for it.” Charlotte sighed. “The bottom line is that I cannot... and I mean, cannot, date the likes of Niall freaking MacMillan.”

Grace chuckled. “Charlotte.”

Charlotte scowled. “Don’t you use that tone of voice with me, missy.”

“The one that tames the feral animals?”

Charlotte nodded. “Exactly.”

“I’m using it because you haven’t given me one valid reason why you can’t date Niall.”

“He’ll destroy me,” she whispered.

“No, he won’t. Give him a chance, honey.”

* * *

Niall placated the women, signing autographs and appearing engaged as he focused on Charlotte. He stayed hidden in the recesses of her mind, both fascinated and somewhat concerned about her thoughts.

He hadn’t realized the level of her panic before. She really did believe he was out of her league; it wasn’t just lip-service. Once again, he felt like an arse. She needed space, not pressure. She was a strong, confident woman who had something happen in her past that made it difficult to trust men.

He didn’t know how he was going to handle knowing she would be kissing another man in a few days, even if it wasn’t real, but as hard as it would be, he made a commitment to go slow. He’d love her unconditionally, without expecting her to do the same for him.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and it gave him the excuse to extricate himself from the fans...Bruce took over, guiding them away from Niall while he answered the call. “Fiona? How are you?”

“I’m well, Nye. How are you?”

“Curious.”

She chuckled. “I bet you are. I don’t really have anything definitive to tell you. The dream gift isn’t something the Cauld Ane have experienced. It’s Kalt Einn. As is the temperature dropping ability.”

The Kalt Einn were an extinct race of people much, much older than the Cauld Ane and were the original race that the Cauld Ane stemmed from. Kade’s father had conspired to kill whoever defied him, and because of that, there were no Kalt Einn left.

“Are you sure there’s no record of our people having that gift?”

“I’m sure, but that doesn’t mean anything, because there’s been no record of any of us having the gift of fire, and Pepper has it. So maybe it’s something that happens when the Cauld Ane men bind human women.”

Niall rubbed his chin as he processed the information. “But neither Grace nor Sam received gifts we’ve never seen before. This is so very strange, lass.”

“Aye, ’tis. But what’s even stranger, is there’s always three.”

“Three?”

“Aye. Fire, ice, and earth, but always from one bloodline, one true pair of mates, and always in that order,” she said. “I’m going back down into the tunnels next week, so will let you know what I find then, eh?”

Niall frowned. “Is that safe, Fi?”

“Oh, don’t you start as well.”

“Sorry.”

The private rooms below Edinburgh were known to very few people and housed many of the secrets and historical information passed down from generation to generation of Scots. The only way in and out was through hidden passages and tunnels that were often a good ten to twenty degrees warmer than the outside temperatures. Dangerous for the Cauld Ane.

“The tunnels are well below our threshold at the moment, Nye. Don’t worry, Angus has already given me the lecture and had one of Dalton’s men go down and run temperature tests.”

“In that case, I can’t wait to find out what you discover.”

“Me as well, love. All right, we’re off to Inverness. Some big news of some kind.”

“Oh?”

“Aye. I hope it’s that Samantha’s pregnant. I want another wee nephew.”

Niall chuckled. “Will you let me know if you can?”

“Of course I will, although I think Payton might get to you first.”

“There is that.”

“Talk soon.”

“’Bye.” Niall hung up and watched Charlotte slide her phone back in her pocket, continuing to war with her emotions. In the end, she gave him a slight smile and escaped to her car. He was disappointed, but also knew he needed to let her go.

* * *

Tuesday afternoon arrived and Charlotte dressed without much focus. She was no longer looking as forward to her date with Alec as she had the week before.

Monday, Niall had left Charlotte alone. Not a text, not a phone call, not even a private conversation, if you didn’t count the dreams she’d had the past two nights. She’d been revisited by her childhood nightmare, only this time, Niall was with her, calming her.

She checked her phone... again. Still no text from him. Her heart broke, but she berated herself for her melancholy. She didn’t really know him, and she had no reason to be sad.

Her phone rang just as she pulled her shirt over her head. “Hello?” she said, hoping it might be Niall.

“Turn on your television,” Rose demanded.

“What?”

“Your TV. Now!” Rose repeated. “Channel four. Now, Charlie.”

“Okay, okay, just a second.” Charlotte located her remote and did as Rose demanded.

“Late breaking entertainment news, folks,” Deborah Miller, the local anchor said. “Blake Harris is being held at Scotland Yard in London. The action and romantic comedy star who demands upwards of ten million dollars a movie has been arrested for domestic violence. Here’s Christine Beach with the story.”

“Thanks, Deb. Hi, everyone. It was announced today that Blake Harris was arrested in London after an altercation with his current girlfriend, Misty Jones. She contends that he has hit her several times over the past few months and that she has endured almost a year of verbal and physical abuse. The arrest came after a night out with another star, Thane Allen. Blake was in negotiations with Allen to co-star in an upcoming action trilogy. Allen allegedly rendered Blake Harris unconscious, and Blake was treated at hospital, but the extent of his injuries are not being released at this time.” Christine glanced at the paper she was holding. “Let’s go to the statement recorded earlier today in London.”

The frame shifted and Thane Allen stood at a podium, a battered woman standing beside him. Charlotte recognized her as Misty Jones. She was barely acquainted with the woman, but knew she could be quite nasty. She had a reputation for sleeping her way into roles, and Charlotte had never really cared for her. But as she watched Misty, with her head down and the bruises on her neck and face, she suddenly felt a kinship with her. She remembered how brutal Blake could be.

“I wanted to speak to you today so that my words would not be misconstrued,” Thane said to the camera. “I had the misfortune to witness the abuse Ms. Jones suffered at the hands of Blake Harris, and I won’t stand for it. Ms. Jones has insisted she tell you her story today, so I will give her the floor.”

Thane laid his hands on Misty’s shoulders and appeared to have a private conversation with the actress. She nodded, and he released her so she could step up to the microphones.

“Hi, everyone. Thank you for coming. At first, I was really embarrassed, but after talking with my good friend, Thane Allen, I wanted to take this opportunity to stand up for what’s right. If I can help just one woman survive a violent relationship, it will be worth it.” She took a deep breath. “I will act again, and can’t wait to do so with Mr. Allen.”

Charlotte tried not to roll her eyes. Misty had obviously been battered, but she also didn’t miss the opportunity to capitalize on her relationship with her “good friend,” Thane, which just rubbed Charlotte the wrong way. She shook her head. Maybe she was being ungracious.

Thane stepped back up to the podium. “Blake Harris is a bastard and a scourge on society, and I am going on the record to say that I will never make a movie with him and will not associate with any studio that will. Thank you.”

Thane stepped away from the podium and wrapped an arm around Misty, guiding her from the reporters and into a large black SUV.

Charlotte stood stunned as the screen went back to Christine. She lowered herself onto the bed and continued to watch.

“Back to you, Deb,” Christine said.

“Thanks, Christine. Those are some pretty heavy ultimatums Thane threw out there. Do you think this will affect Blake’s career?”

Christine nodded. “Our source confirms that Mr. Harris had been trying to negotiate something with Mr. Allen for several years, so when Mr. Allen invited him to London to discuss options, he didn’t hesitate. Of course, time will tell how and if this will affect Blake’s career, but Thane Allen is currently the biggest movie star in the world, having edged Blake out from the Oscar last year, so it’s interesting that he’s taking this kind of a stand.”

“Yes, it is,” Deborah said. “And how is Misty doing, really? Her injuries look quite severe.”

“They were, Deb, but she was very lucky that Mr. Allen intervened when he did. Nothing was broken, although we’ve been told outside of the cuts and bruises you can see, she has a few bruised ribs that will take a little while to heal.”

“Thanks, Christine. We’ll keep everyone apprised as more details come to light. Now for weather... John?”

Charlotte flipped off the television.

“You still there?” Rose asked.

“Yep. I’m here.”

“Isn’t that awesome? Not that that Misty girl got hurt, but that Blake totally got what he had coming to him.”

Charlotte nodded. “Yes. It’s taken a long time for it to happen.”

“I personally think he should pay just for the cheating, even if he hadn’t abused her,” Rose continued. Then she gasped. “Charlie, you didn’t deal with physical abuse, did you?”

Charlotte carefully formed her response. “I didn’t deal with what Misty dealt with, Rose.”

“Thank God,” Rose said with a sigh. “Anyway, I thought you’d want to see that. I have to run. Are you okay?”

“I’m good, Rose. Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.”

Charlotte hung up and finished dressing. She didn’t know quite how she felt about the Blake situation, but she figured she’d process everything after her date. Tonight, she wanted to enjoy herself and focus on forgetting about Niall MacMillan.