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tae get me in the sack.” She awkwardly cleared her throat.
    “Is it? Come, Anne, let me tell you a story.” He urged her forward. “At the top of the lighthouse.”
    She gulped. Of course he was selkie. He’d brought her inside a lighthouse that shouldn’t exist in the ordinary world. If not selkie, then what? A merman? One of those fairies she’d read about in the library.... A bumbee? “Why did you bring me here?”
    “This place is special to me, Anne. Please keep an open mind and take a step up. I promise to behave.”
    Lifting her right foot, she grabbed his hand. He ran up the spiral concrete steps at a speed she could barely keep up with.
    Stumbling, she cried, “Finn, I’m scared. What if I fall?”
    “I know it’s high up, but you’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
    But it’s not the height I’m afraid of, Finn. I’m scared of falling for you .
    “Trust me, nothing bad can happen to you here. This is the lighthouse, Anne, something only magical beings of the Isle get to experience since its demise four years ago. Or humans with a pure heart.”
    “Like children?”
    “Yes, exactly. Or you, Anne. You’re a believer. I knew as soon as I saw you in the hotel room.”
    “I have gullible written all over me?”
    “No, beauty. Pure, unadulterated.”
    He disappeared up the winding steps. Bugger it . She swallowed back caution and followed, keeping a firm grip on the railing.
    Rounding the corner of the last flight, she gasped. A wall of windows framed the view of the treacherous waves. Seagulls squawked, hovered, and the whooshing of the turbulent sea echoed around them.
    “I’m selkie, Anne, on a leave of absence to seek out my one true love.” A shimmer of silver flickering in his steely eyes mesmerized her. Did he believe he’d found what he sought in her? Did she want him to believe that?
    “Give over.” Anchoring a hand on her hip, Anne paused. “You can’t be serious. The selkies are only a tale….for tourists.” But she didn’t believe that, did she?
    Her insides vibrated, and her pulse raced.
    “What else but magic would explain us standing in a phantom lighthouse right now?”
    Hmm, true . “And you wiggle your nose like the gray-spotted seal I see the old couple talking tae every morning.”
    Faced with his truth, she didn’t know how to play. Blurt out her own oceanic ways, or play it safe for a while longer in case his claim to being part of the legend was a way of getting a quickie.
    “Is that seal you? And the old couple your mother and father?”
    “You noticed my parents talking to my seal self?”
    She nodded.
    “See...not so unbelievable, is it?” He pulled her against him. The sky danced around them and she clung to the only solid thing she could. A man who had been a seal—who would be one again if she was not his one true love. “We are destined to be together, Anne. Give in to the desire pulling at your heart. Let me in.”
    The responsibility terrified her. Could she be the one to break the curse for him? Was forever in the cards for them? Had she really found someone who could accept the magical side of life without question or mockery? She dared not pin her hopes so high yet. She pulled away, seeking space to think.
    “May I kiss you?”
    Crossing her arms tight over her chest, she lowered her head to avoid his pensive gaze.
    “Please?”
    She rounded her mouth to say no. “Yes.”

 
     
     

Chapter Seven
     
     
    Her chest rose and fell with rapid force while she squeezed her delicate hands around her elbows and cradled herself. Pulse quickening, Finn rubbed the back of his neck and considered his next move. He wanted to jump this beauty. No . He couldn’t allow his eagerness intercept his hope at redemption. Drawing in a deep breath, he inched forward then unraveled her arms with gentle guidance and slid his hands into hers.
    She fluttered her long lashes, and her cheeks flushed. Hope existed after all. Remembering her thoughts on