Prescribed for Love by Mallory Moutinho

almost disappointed. Maybe she will…Nay. Alasdair stopped the thought before it even finished. He needed to turn his mind to more important matters—like the reason for the Cameron attack.
    ***
    Catriona giggle d as she closed the door after Alasdair ’s departure. She knew she should be embarrassed by her behavior, but she honestly could not muster up any shame. She had no t intended anything more than a thank-you with her hug, but when he began his sensual assault , she decided to just go with the flow. Since she would never see Alasdair again ( and s eeing as how he was the most attractive man she had ever met) she figured she might as well get a good kiss out of it. I mean really, why the hell not?
    With her beloved bag back in her possession, Cat hurriedly looked for the book. Her eyebrows crinkled in consternation when she did not immediately find it—she would have thought it wo uld have been right on top . She shoved her arm in further to see i f it had somehow gotten buried, but still had no luck . P anicked , Cat jogged to the bed before dumping the contents of her purse over its surface. Normally , she would never go to such an extreme — it took way too muc h time to repack the damn thing. B ut , she was anxiou s to find the key back to her ti me , so this called for extreme measures . Looking through the spilled contents she catalogued the item s to herself. Wallet…daily planner…t ampon s ( glad I d idn’t need those ) …mini-tool-set…oo h chocolate! ...c arabiner ( ha, hopef ully I won’t need that again )…sunglasses. Crap, it ’ s not in here!
    Defeated, Catriona wanted to cry— even though she knew that was irrational. After all, the book had to be here somewhere . B ut still, she had been so excited at the prospect of returning to her time , the disappointment was almost overwhelming . Keith was probably freaking out by now. Taking a calming breath , Cat rea soned she woul d just have to look for it elsewhere in the castle tomorrow . Since the last place Catriona had seen the book was in Ailsa’s room, she would ask the girl if she might know where it is. If not, she would just have to figure out something else. But for now, there was nothing else Catriona could do but get a good night’s rest.
     
     
    Ailsa came into Cat’s room the next morning with clothing on her arm . “I thought ye might need a few new things . Cailen and Branan explained yer plight to me last night. I couldna e imagine being stolen away from my home in such a manner! Ye are handling this much better than I ever could.”
    Catriona smiled at the girl’s candid manner , “Thank you, I don’t think my clothes from yesterday fared very well.”
    “What clothes?” asked Ailsa. “Ye were barely wearing anything when ye arrived. I thought yer attackers had ripped off yer dress.”
    I definitely need to get out of here, I hate wearing dresses all of the time. Sure she had been wearing one at graduation, but that had been a special occasion. However, Cat’s clothing preferences would just have to take a backseat to more important matters . “Ailsa , have you happened to see the book I had with me the first time I came here?”
    “The big book Alasdair thought was yer spell book? Nay, I havena e seen it since that day. Alasdair took it out of my room along with the bag,” she replied. “Ye can ask hi m where it is when he returns.”
    “Returns? Where did he go ?”
    “Yer encounter with the Camerons made him nervous. He is worried there may be more of t hem lurking about. He left this morning with a few men to see if they could find anything, ” explained Ailsa.
    “When will they be back?” asked Catriona.
    “I dinnae ken. But, the men are usually gone between two or three days for these types of tasks , ” replied Ailsa as she began to help Cat dress.
    This new s was disappointing; Cat really wanted to go home. Growing desperate, she asked, “Is there anywhere in the castle he might have put the book?