Starlight Highlanders Mail Order Brides

Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

JennyI was early and so were the foreigners. Not that they looked very foreign. Their size was the only thing that set them apart – well, and their kilts. All three of them wore one. I wondered if…

No. I dragged my gaze away from their crotches and focused on the rest of them. They all had ginger hair, even more fiery than my own. Two of the men seemed to be brothers, looking almost identical, while the other had blue rather than emerald eyes. I realised the colour of their kilts matched their eyes. Was that just a coincidence? Here in Scotland, a tartan represented a specific clan. Was that the same for them? Were they from two different clans or maybe families?

I had so many questions. The main one: Were all of them this gorgeous?

The reception area felt very crowded with these three massive males squeezed into it. Steff looked tiny behind her desk, staring at the men with wide eyes. I couldn’t fault her for it. I had to press my lips together to stop myself from drooling.

“Hi,” I said and suddenly, I was the focus of attention. All three of them stared at me as if they’d never seen a woman before. I looked down at myself. Was there a stain on my blouse? I’d come dressed in my most elegant professional outfit, wanting to impress. My ivory blouse showed a tiny bit of cleavage, highlighting my curves without being too tight. My skirt was about the same length as their kilts and yes, it had a muted tartan pattern on it. I suppressed a groan. I was basically dressed like them. Their shirts were white, almost the same as my blouse. My skirt may not have been as colourful but…

“Come on in, sorry for making you wait.”

Pam rescued me as she opened her office door. Her eyes widened when she took in her visitors. Steff chuckled under her breath and I shot her a grin. Seemed like we weren’t the only ones affected.

She stumbled back, giving the men the chance to squeeze into her office. Yesterday it had seemed like a large, airy room. Today, it was the opposite. The chairs seemed too small for the foreigners and I was scared they might collapse beneath them.

“Sh-shall I make some tea? Or coffee?” Steff asked.

“Tea,” the men said as one.

“With a drop of milk,” the one with the blue kilt added, seeming strangely proud of his words. Huh. Weird. His foreign accent was barely noticeable and I probably wouldn’t have realised he wasn’t from Glasgow if I’d met him on the street. Strange how they had Scottish accents even though they were from abroad.

“And you?” Steff asked me.

“Same. Thanks.”

Pam had taken a seat behind her desk, putting some safe distance between her and the males. I didn’t have that option. I pulled the remaining empty chair a bit further away from them, not because I was scared or intimidated but because I didn’t trust myself not to drool all over them. I’d never reacted to a man in this way, not since swooning over Leonardo DiCaprio as a teenager. It was embarrassing. Silly. Immature. And definitely not professional.

I realised I’d never even introduced myself. Time to catch up on formalities and hope I hadn’t made a bad impression.

“I’m Jenny MacPherson, owner of the Publicity Puffin marketing agency,” I said so quickly that my tongue almost didn’t keep up. “I’m helping Pam with a campaign to get more women to sign up. She told me about your cooperation with her yesterday and I’m really excited to hear more about what you’ve got planned. Do you have your own marketing team?”

Silence met my words.

“Marketing?” the largest of them asked, seemingly confused. His hair was braided more elaborately than I’d ever managed it with my own hair.

His brother elbowed him in the ribs and I couldn’t suppress a smile. That was exactly how Ewan and I interacted. I had no more doubt that they were siblings.

“We don’t. We’ve not needed any advertising because we have so many males desperate to find their mates.”

“Mates?” Pam repeated. “Is that what you call it at your agency? I love it. Makes you think of true love, soul mates, the one. Jenny, maybe we should include that in our campaign.”

I nodded and pulled out my notepad, using my cast as a table. Other people may have preferred a laptop or tablet, but I was old-fashioned at times.

“What do you call your females?” Blue-Eyes asked. They’d never introduced themselves.

“We usually say ladies,” Pam replied. “Although if we put the Scottish angle on it for the campaign, maybe we should switch to lassies? Jenny, what do you think?”

“Lassies,” the largest guy said in a slow way as if he was savouring the word. “I like it.”

He looked at me and our eyes met. A fireball erupted between my legs and I squeezed my thighs together before I even realised what I was doing. What the f**k? I blinked and looked away, heat blooming in my cheeks. This wasn’t going well. Maybe I was getting my period. Or I was pregnant. I hadn’t taken a test in a while. Some nights, when he was very drunk, Jason had refused to use a condom. I couldn’t take the pill because I’d developed jaundice the first time I’d tried it. The possibility of being pregnant was there, but I didn’t have any other symptoms. This hormonal reaction to the strangers had come out of the blue. Maybe it was nothing.

Luckily, Steff returned with a tray. While she poured tea for all of us, I watched Pam. Her gaze was fixed on the men, roaming over them with barely veiled interest. Had I looked at lusty as her? Maybe I’d been worse. Pam was married. Not that marriage meant that you couldn’t appreciate these prime specimens from afar.

I wondered if they were as ripped beneath their clothes as they seemed. Had they intentionally sent their three most beautiful guys to make sure Pam signed the cooperation contract with them? I definitely had to ask if they could be part of the photoshoot. We’d – no, Pam would be inundated with ladies desperate for their own hot Highlander.

“Thank you, lassie,” Massive-Muscle said when Steff handed him a cup of tea. I was almost jealous at the smile he gave her.

As soon as I got home, I was going to take a pregnancy test. My hormones were all over the place.

Steff blushed and retreated to the reception area, closing the door behind her.

“How many females will this marketing campaign attract?” Blue-Eyes asked.

“If we go with the kilt angle, hundreds,” Pam said.

“Thousands,” I muttered under my breath. If they all looked like the three men in this room, Scotland would soon be without women.

“Thousands?” Massive-Muscle’s brother echoed. “We would like that very much.”

This nickname thing was getting tiresome. “Sorry, but I didn’t catch your names?”

Behind their backs, Pam gave me a thumbs up.

“I am so sorry,” Blue-Eyes said. “We usually have better manners. My name is Jafar of Clan Feallan, Second Scientist of Albya.”

“And I am Cyle of Clan Lannadh, First Scientist of Albya. This is my brother Thorrn.”

Thorrn. The big guy with the braided hair was called Thorrn. What a strange name. I wanted to say it out loud, see how it sounded on my tongue.

I noted how Cyle hadn't specified his brother’s job title. And why were they scientists? I thought they ran a dating agency.

“Is Albya your town?” Pam asked, taking the words from my mouth.

I couldn’t help but notice the quick look the three guys exchanged.

“It’s where we’re from, yes,” Cyle said after a moment’s pause. “Jafar and I have developed a new way of matching mates, so while we’re scientists at heart, we have now taken on the honour of working with your agency.”

Ah, that explained it. Scientists turning their discovery into a business. That wasn’t unheard of; lots of people did it.

“Do you meet with your applications or is it all done online?” Pam asked. “And how does your science work? You mentioned it in our earlier conversations, but I’d love some more detail. Maybe we can apply the same methods at my agency.”

Cyle smiled. “I’d be happy to introduce you to our approach. Maybe we should use a real-life example for a demonstration? A female on your database and a male from ours?”

“Excellent idea. While we do that, maybe one of you would like to discuss marketing plans with Jenny?”

“Me,” Thorrn said immediately. His deep, growly voice made me squirm on my chair again. What the ever-loving f**k was wrong with me?

“Are you-“ his brother started, but Thorrn gave him a glare that shut him up. I smirked. Yes, they were exactly like Ewan and me. I bet their childhood had been full of squabbles and healthy competition.

“You can use one of the rooms upstairs,” Pam said to me. “The one on the right is fully renovated and has a sofa. Or maybe you’d like to go to a café?”

She winked, barely noticeable. I rolled my eyes at her. I supposed she was used to finding partners for others all day long. It was a habit that she now extended to me. I just had to be careful to remind her that she wasn’t supposed to pass on my details to the men’s agency. I was going to enjoy my single life for quite a while longer before looking for a replacement for Jason. No, not a replacement. A better model. An upgrade. Maybe in a year or so. Definitely not now.

A sofa upstairs sounded a little too cosy, too intimate. “I know a nice little café around the corner. Let’s go there.”

Thorrn jumped to his feet. “Lead the way, lass.”

I didn’t get up. “Please don’t call me that. My name is Jenny.”

His smile disappeared, his expression turned crestfallen. “I thought that was a synonym for female? Did I misunderstand?”

“I also wouldn’t want you to call me ‘female’. Maybe that’s normal in your culture, but here we prefer to be called by our names.”

I wasn’t sure why I was being so prickly. It was clear he hadn’t meant to belittle me. Ah. That was it. Jason had patronised me from the start. I wasn’t going to let another man do that.

He gave me a puppy dog look that turned my insides into mush. “I apologise, Jenny.”

“Apology accepted. I realise you’re not from here.” I turned to Pam. “We’ll be back in an hour or so. Is that enough time for you to discuss the mating practices of Scottish haggis?”

Not sure why I said that. I supposed I wanted to lighten the atmosphere.

Pam snorted, while the three men looked at me in confusion.

“What’s a haggis?” Jafar asked curiously. “Is that what you call your males?”

I left the room before I erupted into hysterical laughter.