Ten minutes later, I met Fionn downstairs. In my absence, he'd donned a plaid scarf that now hung around his neck.

"Shall we?" He motioned to the door with his hands spread out in front of him.

I nodded and we walked in silence down the empty streets until we got to a small shop on a corner a few blocks away from the bookstore.

"Maidin mhaith, Fionn!" the woman behind the counter greeted him. Seeing me, she added, "Good morning!" before continuing to address him. "The usual?"

"Aye, thank you Martha. And a um"—he turned to me—"what would you like?"

"Um, americano, please," I said.

Fionn shook his head and muttered under his breath, "American tourists."

I glared at him. "Yes, we're so high maintenance, aren't we?"

That seemed to shut him up for a minute but didn't stop the grin that etched its way onto his face or the amusement that shone in his eyes.

While the woman made our drinks, Fionn led me over to a table by the window and we sat down. The shop was cozy, with tile floors and soft music playing in the background.

"So, do you have any experience with running a bookstore?" Fionn asked as Martha set down two teacups in front of us.

"You could say that." I sipped at my coffee, jumping back and wincing as the liquid burnt my tongue. Water brimmed my eyes, and I turned away to cough and catch my breath. Once I regained my composure, I continued, "I'm the assistant manager of a library in the states."

"Hmm." Fionn eyed me, twirling a thick silver band on his right hand.

"What?"

"I wouldn't have thought you were a librarian."

"Well, we all have our talents." This time, I blew on my drink before attempting another sip. The liquid had cooled a little, relief in my throat as it warmed my body.

He smirked and pulled a pen out of his pocket before scribbling on a napkin. "So as a librarian you would know the basics of running a bookstore."

"Assistant manager. And yes." I glanced at the napkin where Fionn was still writing something down, the words in black ink mixing with an image beneath them. "What's that?"

"Nothing important." He brushed off the question. "Alright, well you know that part of the deal to staying here is running the store. You'll be responsible for helping customers, organizing shelves, all of that."

"Yes."

Fionn leaned back in his seat. "You know, most of the folks who come here are on vacation."

"I am on vacation," I said, frowning.

He laughed. "And yet, you're agreeing to do the same work you would at home. Why is that?"

I shrugged. "I enjoy the work. And it's not every day you get a ticket to Scotland."

"Hmm." Fionn returned to his drink. Black tea by the scent, a lovely earthy aroma.

We sat in silence for a while longer with me staring into my coffee as Fionn considered me carefully. The clock on the wall ticked a mellow cadence that would've otherwise lulled me to sleep...if I hadn't chosen an espresso-based drink.

My fingers drummed lightly against the table and my heart beat loudly in my chest. What were we supposed to do now? Fionn had returned to his napkin, the ink from his pen turning the white paper into an image of something I couldn't quite make out.

A few minutes later, Fionn stood up and cleared our empty tea cups. "Come on, let's go back to the shop. Might as well teach you a few things instead of sitting here with you staring at me."

Heat rushed to my cheeks. I hadn't been staring, had I? At least not intentionally, and not at him by any means.

"You coming?"

I blinked, realizing that Fionn was already by the front door. Hurriedly, I stood up and threw my coat back on before running to catch up with him. By the time we made it back, the sun was just starting to come up.

"I was hoping to maybe get a few hours of rest before I start working," I said to Fionn as he unlocked the door.

He glanced at his watch. "Sure. If you want."

I frowned at him for the second time that morning then narrowed my eyes when I caught him smirking. Again. "What?"

"Nothing." He cleared his throat and walked behind the desk. "You just don't seem tired any more after that coffee."

"I work in a coffee shop, too," I said. "I know how it affects me."

"Right." Fionn started past the stairs and I gaped at him.

"Where are you going?" I asked. "I thought you were going to show me the ropes."

"Show you...?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"Like show me how things work around here." I spread my arms out to gesture to the massive bookstore.

"Aye. I will, I just need to get something from the office first. I'll be back in a minute. Feel free to look around though."

"I will, thanks." When he was out of sight, I ran my hand over the mahogany wood desk. The scent of worn books wafted over to my nose. I fiddled with the quill pen that sat on the desk. I could almost hear the scratching of the tip against a piece of parchment.

I inhaled deeply.

"So, is it as great as your American brick and mortars where everything is exactly the same from store to store?"

I rolled my eyes at the sound of Fionn's voice. "Actually, it's better. Did you find what you needed?"

Fionn held up a piece of paper then slid it to me across the desk. "Yep. This is the application form we give to people when they put in a request to come and stay here."

I swallowed. "And?"

"And yours is different." He jammed his finger onto the paper. "It was filled out on your behalf. Not by you."

"I know what 'on your behalf' means." I stared at the paper. Someone knew about me. Someone had put in an application for me.

When I'd told Sydney and Brena about it, neither could contain their excitement. Clearly it wasn't either of them. Maybe Liv? But when I'd told her I was taking a vacation, she was just as surprised as me.

"I don't know who wrote this application," I said "but I intend to find out."

Fionn dipped his head at me. "Me too."

"Wha—"

"We both have our reasons," he explained. "I don't like people who get things by not working for them."

I scoffed. "You know nothing about me, Fionn. You don't know what I've been through or how hard I've had to work—" I took a deep breath as I felt my heart rate rising.

Blood pumped in my ears and suddenly all I could hear was Deedee's laughter. The smug grin on her face as she pawed against Kyle's bare chest. The way she sauntered out of the bedroom like she owned the place.

My hands tightened into fists at my sides.

"I don't need to explain myself to you. I deserve to be here." I stormed away from him and up to the flat above the store.

Despite needing to know where things were for the first shift in the morning, the last thing I needed was for Fionn to see me cry or listen to my sob story.

That made one hell of a first impression.

The moment my head hit the pillow, exhaustion flowed through me, as if the coffee had had no effect whatsoever. In a few hours, I would be starting my first attempt at running a bookstore. I needed as much rest as I could manage.

***

Three hours later, I peeked my eyes open and took in my surroundings. After a few seconds, I remembered I was in Scotland. I threw on my robe and padded over to the door of the flat and started down the staircase.

"Morning," Fionn greeted me, raising a paper cup in my direction.

"Coffee," I muttered.

"Not a morning person, I see?" He laughed and pointed to a second cup that sat on the desk. "That one is for you. Americano, of course." Any tension from the night before had vanished but it still didn't increase my trust in Fionn.

I grunted my thanks and wrapped my hands around the cup which was still warm.

"I, um, wanted to apologize for last night," Fionn said as I sipped my coffee. "It wasn't my place to jump to conclusions, and I do appreciate you being here. Whatever you've been through..." his gaze traveled down to my left ring finger. "I know how things can be, so I'm sorry."

"Thank you, I appreciate that," I replied. "I shouldn't have walked out on you either."

"I don't blame you for that. I would've done the same," he said. "So, truce?"

I nodded. There was something to be said for first impressions, but I also believed in second chances. "Truce."

Fionn shoved his hands in his pockets. "We still have a few minutes before we open. Can I show you around a bit?"

"Yes, thank you."

He led me through the shop, explaining the organization system and giving me a few pointers on the register. Twenty minutes later, the bell above the door chimed and our first customer entered.

"You got this one," Fionn whispered, winking at me. "I'll be around." He walked away and I approached the customer, putting on my 'sales' face.

"Welcome, is there anything I can help you with today?" I greeted the customer.

The woman smiled at me. "Thank you. I'm looking for the section on classic literature? Specifically, I'm looking for Sherlock Holmes."

I nodded. "Yes, that's right over here." I led her to one of the aisles, running my fingers along the shelves. "Here we go. There's a few editions you might enjoy. This one in the green binding has some really nice extras attached. And this one with the gold edges includes a peek into Conan Doyle's life before he was a writer."

"Wow, you certainly know your stuff," she commented. "Which do you recommend?"

"Oh, um, they're both nice for different reasons. But I think you would enjoy the golden edged copy. Gives a little more of a rich history."

The customer beamed. "Thank you. I'll take it."

"Wonderful!" I led her to the front of the store and helped her check out. I glanced around for Fionn, but he was nowhere in sight.

Of course. Why would he even be here?

For the next few hours, I familiarized myself with the store and helped all the customers who came in. By closing, Fionn decided to make his grand appearance.

He leaned against one of the shelves. "You made it through the first day. I'm impressed."

"What, you didn't think I could handle it?" I asked as I finished wiping down the checkout counter.

Fionn stretched and a small sliver of his stomach peeked out from beneath his sweater. "Let's just say, my first impression of you was wrong. Not bad. For an American that is."

I laughed. "You'll get used to it." I walked toward the stairs to get changed for dinner. Lunch had been a quick jog over to the deli down the street, so I was starving. When I arrived back Fionn was still there.

"Going home?" I asked.

"Nah, I was going to get dinner at this new pub 'round the corner. Join me?" He held out his hand.

I eyed him.

"No strings attached, I promise." He held his hands up defensively.

"Right. Sure, I'd love to." I hiked my purse higher onto my shoulder and let him lead the way. What harm could there be in having dinner? Although, I still worried that he had ulterior motives.

We took a seat under the dim lights of the pub at a table in the back corner. The atmosphere reminded me of a date, but I couldn't dwell on that.

"So, where were you today?" I asked after the waiter came to take our drink order. "I thought part of the deal was me helping run the bookstore. Not to run it entirely on my own while you go do...whatever it is that you do."

Fionn smirked into his beer. "Whose jumping to conclusions now? No, I saw that you had things under control and I had a few other things to take care of."

"Where?" I asked. "I didn't see you leave."

"There's a back door."

"Mmhm." I raised my eyebrows. "So, tell me. Why did you ask me to dinner? Really."

He took another sip from his beer. "Thought you might want to not eat alone. I promise what you saw last night is not how I usually am."

"Oh? And how are you normally?"

"I guess you'll just have to wait and find out." He lifted his drink.

With a chuckle, I followed his move and lifted my own drink, clinking our bottles together. I could already tell that Fionn was different than any guy I'd ever met, and that gave me hope. Maybe there were still good guys out there.