Sierra squeezed her husband’s hand. “Harrison, don’t you have that place up in Scotland that needs renovation? Maybe a special decorator that could make the space more livable?” she asked, pulling her husband’s eyes back to her as she sat at the breakfast table. He had been grumbling about interrupting Scarlett and Harrison ever since his return last night and now he was staring grimly at his newspaper, not reading anything in his frustration. All of them knew that Grayson and Scarlett were meant to be together. And they all knew that he was making a muck of things.
Harrison’s eyes moved over to his very pregnant wife, not sure what she was talking about. “You can’t go there, love. I promise I’ll get it fixed up for you but we can’t visit, not quite yet.”
Sierra loved her husband but he was a bit obtuse at times. Thankfully, she wasn’t going to relent. Not this time. He’d told her what he’d seen yesterday evening and she was thrilled that Scarlett and Grayson were making progress. All of the ladies in their group had been trying to figure out how to get Scarlett and Grayson together. “Oh, I saw that place! It’s gorgeous but you’re right, it is a mess! It just needs a gentle hand to fix it up slightly, don’t you think?”
Harrison shook his head. “No. We’re not going there for vacation, love,” he told her firmly. “We have plans already.”
Sierra looked at her husband, eyes wide but the return glare caused her cheeks to turn a becoming shade of pink. “Yes, but maybe…”
“No,” he replied quickly, not even letting her finish the question.
Sierra laughed, picking her husband’s hand up and kissed his knuckles softly. “Oh, I think it would be a wonderful place to stay for a long weekend. It’s so remote and quiet with no one around for miles and miles. Uninterrupted scenery and lots of rooms that need a lot of love and care.”
Harrison shook his head, not sure why his wife wasn’t listening. “It isn’t safe. There were some home invasions recently in the area, not to mention a few loose rocks….” His voice tapered off as he caught his wife’s meaningful glare.
And then it hit him! His glance moved to the window, not really seeing anything outside. The roses Sierra’s mother had put into the garden years ago were in full bloom, but he was actually seeing in his mind the castle up in Scotland, the cozy rooms, the wide, open expanses of scenery from the castle’s walkways where one could see for miles on a clear day…
Sierra knew the exact moment that her husband caught on and shifted her head to try and get him to make the phone call.
He leaned forward, chuckling at his wife’s brilliance. “Actually, now that I think about it, that’s not a bad idea. I could ask Scarlett if she has the time to fix up the Scotland property. She’d love it there even though it is pretty remote.” He lifted his phone, dialing the number. “I should probably call Grayson first, just to make sure that he can take a bit of time off from work as well.”
Sierra laughed, her eyes twinkling with excitement.
After a long conversation about some business interests both of them shared, Harrison put out the idea of his house in Scotland, just tossing out the possibility of Scarlett doing the decorating and all of the security that might be needed.
Grayson heard the words and started shaking his head. “No way. You just said it isn’t safe.” There was no way that Scarlett was heading off to some lonely castle where someone might hurt her. Not happening!
Harrison already knew that would be Grayson’s argument. “I’ll send a security team to the area. They will watch the perimeter so she will be safe.” He was rewarded when Sierra moved closer to him, grabbing onto his muscular arm and kissing his shoulder, the only part of him she could reach. She laughed when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and scooted her chair closer.
Grayson’s teeth clenched as he listened to his friend, soon to be former friend, offer weak security guards to protect Scarlett. Was he insane? Definitely not adequate protection if there really were some problems in the remote neighborhood. “No. Not good enough.” He glared at the wall of his office, wishing that Harrison were here so that he could punch the guy in the face for offering such a bad idea. “You’ll just have to fix the problem some other way.”
Harrison smothered his amusement at his friend’s adamant refusal to put his woman in danger. He caught Sierra dialing another number and her muttered conversations. He instantly knew that she was calling Sasha, who would then call Livia and Jina. Reinforcements were on the way!
Harrison sent a silent thanks to his wife by squeezing her thigh. “Grayson, you haven’t taken a vacation in years. Why don’t you go up there with your security team and check it out. If you don’t think it is safe enough for her, then I’ll find another decorator.”
“Designer,” Grayson corrected. “She isn’t a decorator. She’s an interior designer.”
“Right,” Harrison replied. “Actually, I could probably get in there and see what’s going on. Grayson, you have too much to do. I’ll take care of Scarlett. If the area is too dangerous, then I’ll…”
“I’ll do it,” Grayson snapped and wanted to shut off the phone. He glared at the wall, wishing his friend to purgatory. Exactly where he was now that Scarlett wasn’t in his arms. Which she would be if it weren’t for this “friend’s” interruption. “Stay out of this.”
With that, he ended the call and walked across his office with furious strides, unaware that his friend was already relaying the conversation with Damon in Greece, the two men furthering the plot to get the couple together finally.
“Think it will work?” Harrison asked when Sierra ended her final call to Jina, shaking his head as he laughed at how obvious things were between Grayson and Scarlett.
Sierra groaned. “I’ve never seen two people who were more blind.”
Harrison leaned forward in his chair, his agile mind working through details and coming up with solutions to keep the two of them in that castle until they’d worked out their relationship. Finally. “I think we should get things ready. This is bound to work out!”
Harrison dialed another number and, a few moments later, all eight of them were on a conference call, going over the details.
The men continued on the conference call while the women signed off, only to call back with just the women on the line. All of them were in battle mode while they worked out the details. While the men argued about which city would be the most romantic, the ladies already had the flowers picked out and a list of music started as well as trying to figure out which designer was Scarlett’s favorite so her wedding dress could be started.