11.12.04 chapter nine...

"So." Jamie said in between bites of eggs and bacon. "Explain to me why three young women decided to take a cruise to northern Scotland. It's not exactly the Caribbean or Florida."

Juno reddened slightly. "It's silly."

"It can't be much fun on the boat… it must be all old retirees or visitors from the continent." Jamie prodded, sipping his coffee and delighted in watching the blush creep into her cheeks.

"You'd be surprised, actually." Juno said. "There are a bunch of younger, single men on the boat. It's pretty strange, really."

"Ah. So you are all picking up boys every night, eh? Now the pieces come together." Jamie smiled at her and Juno shook her head vehemently.

"Not me." She confessed. "They all go for my friend Darcy – she's the tall, blonde, stunningly gorgeous and thin one. Or Viv – she's the curvy, dark haired, stunning gorgeous and thin one. They keep thinking I'm a waitress." She ducked her head, instantly regretting her last sentence.

"I refuse to believe that." Jamie said, cocking his head to one side. "Why wouldn't they chase you?"

"Because I'm the 'friend with the good personality' of this trio." Juno said, trying not to sound sullen. "I love the girls, but I must admit, it's hard being in their shadow all the time."

"Well, there's no denying you have a great personality, albeit a suspicious one." Jamie said with a wink. "But you aren't just the good personality of the group… I just don't believe that."

"You would if you saw my friends." Juno said softly.

"I don't have to see your friends. I see you." Jamie said, sounding so serious that Juno had to look up and met his eyes for the briefest of moments before looking away again, blushing more furiously now. "So, tell me the silly reason for the trip to Scotland."

Juno took a deep breath and blew it out, leaning back in her chair to tell Jamie the story. "Okay, so you already know I'm a nerd, right?"

Jamie laughed and nodded his head. "Absolutely. Nerd to the core."

"Well, when I was in college – which is how I met Darcy and Viv, incidentally – I got totally addicted to this series of books. It's called the Outlander series, and this awesome woman in the present time named Claire accidentally time travels back to 1743 here in Scotland."

"That must have been a bit of a nasty shock." Jamie said, watching Juno become more animated as she discussed her favorite book.

"It was. Anyway, there was this big battle between clans, and she gets picked up by one, and there's this really sweet guy that she takes care of, and they fall in love, and he's like, the perfect man. I made Viv and Darcy read the series, and we always joked that we'd come to Scotland to find copies of this man someday." Juno shrugged. "I told you it was silly."

Jamie laughed, but not unkindly. "Sounds like you three are hopeless romantics."

"I mean, the trip has been awesome anyway – we've been to Florida before, so this is totally new and unique to us." Juno explained. "But we haven't had much luck finding the guy for us yet."

"So what makes this man so perfect?" Jamie asked, taking another bite of his toast and leaning back in his own chair.

Juno looked up to the ceiling and tried to describe what made Jamie Frasier so perfect in the books. "Well, for starters, he looks rad in a kilt."

Jamie laughed out loud, and Juno joined him before continuing. "He's really protective of Claire, and really handsome, and really innocent and naïve in some ways, but really world weary and old soul-ish in other ways. He's rugged and a good fighter, but he's really tender and loving to Claire. He's like the guy every girl wants." Juno explained easily. "Jamie's perfect."

Jamie straightened in his chair and looked at her in confusion. "Jamie?" He squeaked, before quickly clearing his throat.

"Yeah." Juno nodded. "The character in the book is named Jamie Frasier." The penny dropped and she realized why he had sat up so quickly. "Oh – you're a Jamie too!"

Jamie nodded slowly. "I am. And I must say in my own defense, that I also look 'rad' in a kilt." He said peevishly, making Juno laugh.

"I'm sure you do, darling." She teased with a grin.

"So how does… Claire, is it? How does Claire travel back in time, exactly?" Jamie asked with interest. "And is Claire a babe? She I be out there looking for a Claire?"

Juno giggled. "Claire is totally cool. She's like this really smart, really independent, really feisty woman. They are just really good together." Juno sighed a little as she remembered different scenes from the book.

"And the traveling?" Jamie asked again. "Did she hop into her time machine, or was it a DeLorean?"

"Nothing like that." Juno said seriously. "She went to this really remote place, and just… poof." Juno waved her hands around. "It was this ancient circle of stones and she just touched one, and was transported back – no explanation of why 1743, or why her. I just love the image of those enormous stones being in the middle of nowhere turning out to be this really mystical place."

"Stones?" Jamie asked with interest. "What stones?"

"I don't know… they were called Craigh na Dun in the book." Juno shrugged. "I did a few searches on the internet, and everyone thinks they must have existed around Inverness somewhere. I'm sure she just made up a place for the book…" Juno trailed off because Jamie was looking at her with a strange expression on his face. "What?"

"I might know a place – it might not be the exact place – but I know a place that sounds like the stone circle you might be looking for. It's not far out of our way today. Would you like to at least see it?" Jamie asked, delighting in watching her face light up.

"Oh my god, that would be great! Could we really?" Juno asked excitedly. "That would be… that would be great." She smiled at Jamie, feeling suddenly embarrassed and shy, but he only nodded in agreement, not noticing her shyness.

"Good. It's settled – we'll set off as soon as you waitress for a few hours to pay for our breakfast." Jamie teased, and Juno couldn’t help but reach over and pinch his arm in retaliation.

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