Page 68 of Sinful Scottish Laird
Cailean didn’t answer. He didn’t know, precisely. Why in God’s name had that barmy Englishwoman come to Scotland at all? She’d succeeded only in making trouble for them and saddling herself with the likes of Spivey.Diah,was he the best she hoped to do? It angered him. A woman like Daisy Bristol deserved much better than Spivey.
Cailean walked through the crowd, pausing to speak to people who intercepted him. Pressing on, he reached the table where Daisy was apparently having a bloody grand time of it, judging by the way her head tilted back with gay laughter at something Somerled had said.
“Mackenzie!” Somerled said grandly.
Daisy stopped laughing and turned, glancing up at him with a shine in her eyes that he recognized. The lady had imbibed a wee bit of whisky.
Not Spivey—he surged to his feet, glaring at Cailean.
“Feasgar math,”Cailean said curtly. He held out his hand to Daisy. “Lady Chatwick, will you dance with me?”
She blanched. “Oh, I...ah... I’m not familiar with the style of dancing.”
“It’s simple enough,” he said and impatiently gestured for her to take his hand. “Naugh’ more than a wee bit of skipping about.”
Daisy stared at his hand, clearly debating how she might blatantly refuse him.
“The lady does not wish—” Spivey started, but Daisy suddenly came to her feet.
“Yes,” she said and put her hand in Cailean’s. She smiled at the captain and said, “He is our host.”
As if she needed his permission.
Spivey smoldered...but in a very different way than Cailean was smoldering inside. He closed his fingers tightly around Daisy’s, lest she have any notion of changing her mind. Without another look at her companions, or before Spivey could challenge him to a duel—as Cailean guessed he very much wanted to do, and would have, had he not feared for his own life among so many Mackenzies—he led Daisy to the part of the hall cleared for dancing.
“I must warn you that I am not a very good skipper,” she said.
“You will survive it.” He noticed how many in the hall turned to look at them. Some of the expressions were disapproving—there was no love of English here, no matter that Lady Mackenzie was herself English. Some of the looks were admiring—she was beautiful; anyone could see that she was. All of them were curious, suspicious and cool.
He escorted her into the line of dancers, put his hand to the small of her back, held her other hand overhead and said, “You’re still cross, are you?”
“Quite,”she said emphatically. “I’d not have danced at all had it not been for...” Her voice trailed off.
Had it not been for what?“How long do you intend to be cross, then?” Cailean demanded as they waited for the music to begin.
“I don’t know. At least a fortnight. Quite possibly forever.”
“Aye, but that is too long. I will allow a few days of it, no more.”
Someone brushed past her, and Daisy stumbled. Her heel mysteriously connected with his ankle, and rather hard at that. “Oh.Pardon,” she said dramatically. And then, “You do not have the privilege of decreeing how long I am allowed to remain cross, and now that you have, I am determined to be cross even longer.”
“Diabhal,”he muttered.
She tossed her head. “I haven’t the slightest idea how to perform this dance.”
“Follow my lead,” he said gruffly.
“I don’t want to,” she said, glancing at him sidelong.
He was unable to take his gaze from her slender neck, the color in her cheeks. He couldn’t bear to think of Spivey’s hands on her. Cailean shrugged as the music began. “I donna care if you do.” He startled her by skipping twice and twirled her away from his body. She cried out with surprise as he did, and when he twirled her back, she clumsily slammed into his chest, wide-eyed.
“Skip,” he said.
“Skip!” she echoed with alarm, but she managed to do it. He repeated the steps, then dropped her hand, passed behind her, came around again. And this time, he lifted the opposite arm in the air.
“Again,” he said.
After several missteps, and one unfortunate heel to the top of his foot, and some swaying that was not in time with the music, she seemed to understand the dance and began to move with him. But she refused to look at him.
