Duke Charming | Craig

Seventeen

Sandra and Bonnie would've killed to be where I was at the moment, being die-hard Outlander fans and all. I was standing in the very square you'd see in the first episode, drinking in the medieval buildings and architecture.

Cobblestone causeways stretched as far as the eye could see, curving around the old houses and disappearing down alleyways that I was eager to explore. It was easy to imagine myself a character in the series, a typical Claire Beauchamp who stumbled into a world she didn't know, and soon to meet a man that would change her life forever.

There was something magical to this place, and I fully understood why Craig chose it as the main attraction.

"Say 'whiskey'." Craig's voice made me tear my eyes off the square to face him...only to be met by the flash of his phone's camera. He grinned at the photo he just took. "Aye, that's a keeper."

"I'll be the judge of that." I was at his side in three steps to study the picture. True, it was good, considering I wasn't very photogenic. But it could be better. "It needs something, though."

"I'm just sayin', I'm no' very good at filters, if that's what it's missin'," Craig stressed.

"No need for a filter," I said thoughtfully and took his phone from him, tapping on the camera and switching it to selfie mode. Craig's face was priceless when he saw both of us in the frame, with the famous monument in the square behind us. "Say 'whiskey'."

"Whiskey!" He wasted no time, and I snapped the picture before either of us could blink.

Lowering my arm, I opened the recent photo and held the phone towards Craig. His face lightened the square when he saw the two of us on the screen, smiling like a couple in love on vacation.

"There, now it's perfect," I say, giving back his phone.

"Aye, this is goin' on my lockscreen...if it's no' too weird."

"The only weird thing will be is if you don't take a picture for your home screen as well," I joked and lightly nudged him in the side. "Shall we take a selfie at every stop?"

"Oh, I was goin' t'say 'snap me like one of yer French girls', but I don't think that's how the sayin' goes." Craig snorted but didn't oppose to taking more pictures at all.

We set out on our little adventure to explore the village of Culross, starting at the Culross Palace. Well, by today's standards, it looked more like a large townhouse than a palace. Still, it was ancient, its yellow walls bright and joyful, and it was a major filming location for the series, and that was enough for me.

We decided the yellow walls would make a brilliant background for another selfie, and Craig scored his second picture for the day.

"Now a funny one," I suggested and angled the camera for another picture.

"Like this?" Craig crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue, aiming a lick at my cheek. I squealed, and at the same time, tapped the screen for the phone to take the picture. "Or this?" He sucked in his cheeks for his lips to pucker like a guppy's and continued coming at me with little guppy smooches.

My sides ached from all the laughing, so much so, the muscles in my body were reduced to jelly, and I could only accept defeat. Craig's guppy lips came up to a centimeter from my cheek, and I braced myself to be peppered with kisses...only for the unthinkable to happen.

The tip of his tongue darted out and he licked me.

"Craig!" I gasped, and in that moment of shock and betrayal, he took the picture. Realizing it was all a trick, I gave him the fiercest look of outrage I could manage. "You licked me."