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When we met up again in my bedroom at Mac’s, Casper said, “Let me take a look at your wound.”

This time I allowed him to remove my sweater and shirt. A thin cut ran from the bottom of my left breast to my belly button.

After examining it, Casper announced confidently, “It doesn’t need stitching.”

“How do you know? You’re not a doctor.”

“No,” he agreed, “but I’ve seen a lot of wounds. And this one isn’t bad. All it needs is some antiseptic.” He sighed. “If only we’d known about germs when I was alive, we could have saved so many warriors.”

Leaving Casper to his reminiscences of the past, I pulled on another shirt and headed downstairs to borrow some antiseptic from Douglas.

When I returned, Casper reached for the bottle. “Let me do that.”

“Look,” I said, “I appreciate you saving me from Leith and all, but I think I can manage the antiseptic myself.”

His expression told me I had insulted him. “I wouldn’t be a very good guardian angel if I didn’t dress your wound.”

There was no point arguing when he was trying to be a good guardian angel. Bowing to the inevitable, I handed him the bottle and unbuttoned my shirt. Gently he dabbed at my torso.

“Ouch. That stings.”

“Don’t be a baby,” he said. “Remember, Leith thought you had the heart of a warrior.”

“Yeah. I was just thrilled to be mistaken for a man.”

“Allegra.” He was kneeling in front of me. For a moment he stopped dabbing and looked into my eyes. He said very seriously, “Nobody could mistake you for a man.”

I stared at Casper in disbelief. Had I imagined that sexy little tremor in his voice? I must have. Casper was forbidden to have a relationship with me—or any other mortal, for that matter.

Lowering his eyes, he continued dabbing at my cut. When he reached the end, near my belly button, he started at the beginning again.

“What’re you doing?” I demanded. “One coating of antiseptic is more than enough.”

“I want to be sure I’ve killed all the germs,” he said.

I didn’t believe him. I thought he was enjoying touching me. But maybe that was wishful thinking. Oh well. Casper might not be allowed to enjoy physical contact but there was no reason I couldn’t. I leaned back, savoring the sensation of his warm fingers on my skin.

Chapter Six

I was lying on my bed in the Loch View room. Casper had gone and I was trying to summon the energy to go downstairs and get some dinner. I wasn’t hungry, but after the shock I’d had at Leith’s cairn, I knew eating would make me feel better.

Forcing myself off the bed, I checked my appearance in the mirror. There were smudges of dirt on my face. One of my cheeks was still red from Leith’s blow. I touched it gingerly. Luckily it didn’t hurt too much.

My worst injury was the thin red cut that ran across my torso. Despite Casper’s best efforts, it was an angry red. Probably I should have showered before he applied the antiseptic but I hadn’t thought of it. Now all I wanted was to wash the memory of Leith’s attack from my body.

The hot water and soap stung but I didn’t care. I scrubbed until I had removed all the dirt and maybe a few layers of skin as well. Then I got out, toweled myself dry and dabbed on more antiseptic. You can’t be too careful with injuries from ancient dirks.

Using the antiseptic reminded me of Casper’s earlier ministrations. If I’m being honest—and what’s the point of writing a memoir if you’re not?—I had enjoyed Casper’s attention. The touch of his fingers had given me a thrill that was much more disturbing than the sting of the soap and water. There was something very sexy about a big, powerful man gently tending a wound.

Clearly, I was crazy to allow myself such thoughts. Casper, as I well knew, was out of bounds. If I gave him a passionate kiss it could postpone his chances of entering Heaven for decades. If I had sex with him it could… I shuddered to think what catastrophic consequences that might have. If I really cared about Casper, I had to ignore my feelings for him.

Vowing to do just that, I put on fresh clothes and headed downstairs.