The Highlander's Promise

Trip Abroad

It wasn’t really abroad but it was a small vacation, we arrived in London airport and I was excited about exploring the streets of London. Sullivan was looking at me and I smiled at him. I gripped his hand and we exited the airport and wave down a taxi.

“Where are you folks heading?” I looked at Sullivan and he wasn’t sure either. Melina just booked the flight and we had to find a place to stay while we were here.

“Umm do you know of a moderately priced hotel? We kind of came here on a whim.” The cabby looked at us as if we were out of our minds but shrugged when Sullivan handed him some more money.

I was practically vibrating in my seat, I always wanted to come to London, I really wanted to go with Jer though and we could explore some of the haunted spots in the city. He also wanted to check out the nightlife. I was more about the history and the ghost tours.

We arrived in front of a palatial-looking hotel that was stunning. Sullivan paid the cabby and we stepped into a lobby that was just as stunning as the outside of the building. I looked around while Sullivan booked our rooms. He came over to me with a frown on his face and I wasn’t sure what he was frowning about.

“Sully this place is awesome we are near Kensington Palace and the Kensington Gardens. I know we aren’t here to sightsee but I really want to check out some places too. Oh, can we go on the Jack the Ripper walking tour?” He was still staring at me and I guess I was being overly enthusiastic about things. I still wanted to check out some of the haunted places in Edinburgh. I grabbed Sullivan’s arm and practically jumped up and down.

“Before we go back home can we check out some of the stuff in Edinburgh? I know Jer will probably hate me but he and I can always come back and check it out.” Sullivan was smiling at me and I realized I was kind of geeking out over things that he probably did not find as interesting as me.

“Are you done, dear? I was going to say they only had one room and we had to share it.” I shrugged and he continued staring at me as if I lost my mind.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” He was smiling and then grabbed my bag as he led me up the stairs to our room. I didn’t care about sharing a room with him. I wasn’t a prude and he didn’t seem to have any designs on me to grab my booty or anything.

The room was stunning and there was a large bed and a couch in the room, there was a small balcony overflowing with flowers and greens. The room was a studio apartment and there was a small kitchenette in the room. We would probably be here a week and the kitchenette would be perfect to cut down on expenses. I sat on the bed and frowned.

“Now you’re frowning? I told you we had to share a room. I can sleep on the floor or whatever.” I rolled my eyes and waved him off.

“No, that isn’t it, I was wondering how we are paying for this. I don’t know what my money situation is because I am horrible with finances which is why Alexei handles most of the finances.” Sullivan sat next to me and leaned against me. He smelled great, I wasn’t sure what kind of cologne he was wearing but there were scents of patchouli and sandalwood. He looked at me because I was sniffing him.

“Sorry, you smell good.” He laughed and dug into his pocket and took out a black credit card. My eyes went wide and I grinned, he had one of those fancy deluxe no credit limit type of cards.

“It is on me. I had my own software business and sold it before I came back to Scotland. So we can do everything you want to do, but first, let us rent a car and go check out the situation with the kid.” I nodded and texted Jer to let him know we were in London and I sent him a video of the room.

I wasn’t expecting him to get back to me, but he did and I could tell he was jealous that he wasn’t here with me. I missed him and told him we would have to do this again. I asked how my dogs were doing and how Melina and Sinclair were and he told me to go have fun and maybe have some fun with the hot younger Mackenzie.

“Is Jer jealous? I like him by the way, if I were gay, I would totally be into him. Come on I have a car waiting for us downstairs.” I followed Jer down the stairs and waved at the lovely woman behind the desk who smiled back and she was totally checking out Sullivan.

We stepped outside and into the car that was waiting at the curb for us. Sully gave the guy an address and we were traveling down alleyways and ended up in North Tottenham, it didn’t look like it could be that bad of a neighborhood. The ones in America actually looked like they were the worst part of the city.

“Stay close to me, I know you can handle yourself, so don’t give me that whole I am woman hear me roar speech. Trust me, it doesn’t look like it is the worst neighborhood ever but the crime rate is pretty high here.” He was pleading with his eyes and I figured to just humor him.

“So where are we going?” He was holding my hand and I didn’t mind, part of me wanted to just pull away and be the strong, independent woman that I was. I caught some guy leering and me and then he grabbed his cellphone and I saw him snap a picture of me. I narrowed my eyes at him and moved in closer to Sullivan.

“The apartment that the kid is staying at should be around here somewhere. Ok why are you practically climbing on my back like a monkey?” He stopped and I glanced at the guy who was now not so subtly trying to follow us. He tensed up and narrowed his eyes at the guy, the man smiled at him and I watched him carefully.

“Come on let’s go, if need be, I could always break his knee and then punch him in the throat like Melina did.” He raised an eyebrow at me and bent down so that it looked like he was kissing me.

“Aren’t I supposed to be the one protecting you?” I felt his breath on my neck and leaned into him, I couldn’t help it, he was attractive and he was nice and warm. The man was starting to move closer and I took out a spray bottle and aimed it at him. He started laughing and I grinned back at him.

“Do you really want to try whatever it is you’re going to try mister? I have some experimental pepper spray in this little thing here. Now when I say experimental, I mean it could f**k you up, or cause blindness. Not quite sure it hasn’t been tested, but if you’re willing to test it out for me come on over.” He looked like he was going to try me and then turned on his heel and walked back the way he came from.

We continued walking and Sullivan was eyeing the pepper spray I had, I stuffed it back in my purse and grinned at him.

“You were bluffing weren’t you?” He started to grin and I leaned into him.

“Who knows, maybe I was and maybe I wasn’t.” He laughed and shook his head as he put his arm around my shoulders.

“Remind me not to play poker with you. The apartment should be around here somewhere and the kid will most likely be out with one of her friends. Her mother refused to babysit the kid if she left the country.” I nodded and, in a way, I felt kind of bad for her if her mother wouldn’t even watch the kid. Then again, I wondered how awful a person she could be that would turn her own mother against her.