****

“I was just getting used to him flying.” Liz sat on the grass, overlooking the bluff. The tide forced them to higher ground. She’d told Simon she’d think about it. In truth, there was little else she had thought of since he brought up the subject. “We should have seen his desire to be something else coming.” Fin sat beside her.

“I guess a wolf is safer than a bird.”

“And if Amber feels he needs to practice other shapes, then he should probably try.”

Liz glanced over her shoulder, and noted the number of tents and people milling over the hillside.

“How are we going to get away from all these people?”

“Things will settle. It isn’t uncommon for small bands of people to wander off for a while during the festivities. For hunting.”

Liz thought back to when Myra and Todd left their side shortly after they found their way to the beach. People didn’t only hunt when they drifted away from the masses. Myra was getting lucky. As much as Liz was happy for her friend, she was a bit pent up herself. All by themselves, her eyes shifted to Fin. He stared at her, searching for her thoughts.

God, she hoped he wasn’t able to read every thought milling about in her head.

“I wonder where Todd and Myra wandered off to.” Liz’s cheeks grew warm. “I’m sure the honeymooners are making the most of some alone time.”

Asking Fin to keep his mouth shut after that one would have been asking for too much, and Liz knew it. “What of you, Lizzy. Would you like to make the most of some alone time?”

A quick burst of laughter caught her off guard.

“Oh, MacCoinnich, you really do need to work on your pickup lines.”

Fin had the nerve to actually look wounded by her mirth. “My pickup lines, as you call them, are fine.”

“Oh really? I guess that’s why the women are falling all over you here.” Liz made it a point to look around them. Several people milled about. Tents were everywhere and several merchants had set up shop between the village and Brisbane’s home in order to capitalize on the gathering of people.

Several women had eyed Fin, but none had gone out of their way to be by his side. However, she’d been by his side nearly the entire time they’d been there.

“If it’s women you want to see falling all over me, love, it can be arranged.”

“You know what your problem is, MacCoinnich?”

Liz stood and shook the grass from her gown. She slid her hand over her flat stomach before waving a finger in Fin’s direction.

“I have no problem.”

Ignoring his words, Liz kept going. “Your problem is the vibe you’re giving out.”

“What vibe is that?”

“You’re not exactly oozing with availability.” She waited a breath or two to see if he would rise to her bait. “I mean, I get what all that was about back there with Regina. The woman wasn’t exactly subtle.” And truth be told, Liz didn’t really want to see Fin get caught in the middle of a cat fight between Regina and her hubby to be. From the way she eyed Fin, the woman was already trying to figure out how to land Fin on the side, if that even happened in these times. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Fin, Regina is a bit of a hottie. I’ll have to give you kudos for not knocking boots with her all these years.”

Fin caught her meaning and blessed her with a double shot of dimples. “I’m humbled by your compliment.”

“Still, she isn’t standing here now, so there’s no reason not to let some of the single women here know you’re available.”

Fin glanced around with interest. “Who would you suggest?”

The smile on her lips started to wane. “Oh, I don’t know.”

He motioned toward a woman about Myra’s age who stood several feet away talking with an older man who was probably her father. “What of her?”

“Too young.” Liz quickly dismissed her. “How about the brunette to her right?” She knew he’d balk at her pick.

“I do like a woman with curves.”

“That many?” she shot at him.

“Perhaps you’re right. She is very much a woman.”

Liz placed a self-conscious hand to her slim hips.

Maybe slender was quite the in thing during the sixteenth century.

They walked past the crowd, discussing the merits of the women among them.

“How about her?”

“Not with that nose,” he replied.

Liz laughed, agreeing.

They neared the edge of the encampment and the last of the guests were securing their quarters for the evening. A very attractive woman slipped away from one of the tents, running after what looked to be a sibling. “What about her?”

“She’s blonde,” Fin said, almost as if it were a bad thing.

“What’s wrong with blondes?”

Fin watched the retreating woman, cocked his head to the side, and frowned. “I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem right.”

“What’s wrong about them?”

Fin rounded his eyes to her and looked over the top of her head as if he’d just noticed for the first time that she had blonde hair. “I didn’t say there was anything wrong with blondes.”

“No, you said they didn’t seem right. So if they’re not right, they’re wrong. What’s wrong with blonde?” Liz had heard every blonde joke known to man, and did her best more times than not to blow away any stereotype one could label on her. So what was Fin getting at? Did he really have an aversion to blonde women?

That’s when she saw it. The smirk hiding behind the hard lines on Fin’s face.

“Someone is a mite defensive.”

“And someone’s being a jerk,” she said, pushing against his chest. And he’d had her going for longer than she’d like to give him credit. Maybe there was more blonde in her than she knew.

Fin caught her hand and held her still. “There is only one blonde I’m interested in, Elizabeth.”

His eyes glanced to her lips and back to her eyes. She stood still, unable to look away. Her breath caught in her chest. Part of her wanted to run away, tell him they were a bad idea. A mistake with a capital M. Another part of her wanted to jump into his lap and lick him up one side and down the other.

Fin stepped closer. His free hand reached into her tresses and held the back of her head.

“This is a bad idea, MacCoinnich.” But the words weren’t convincing, even to her ears. And how had her hand managed to snake around his waist without her knowing it?