Page 32 of In Search of a Husband
“I could go first and fetch some clothes.”
She nodded, bringing her arms around her chest. She was practically naked in front of her employer and yet staying in the river was no longer an option. Her toes were ice.
“If you could be a gentleman, I will chance the brief walk back.”
“Are ye sure?”
Goodness, the way he ran his hand through his hair. Such golden bronze curls. She knew at least a dozen women in London who would do unspeakable things just to have the same hair. It was… beautiful.
He was beautiful.
“Verra well.” He climbed out of the river, the water sluicing over his back and down his buttocks. She definitely shouldn’t be thinking of his buttocks. At that moment, she wasn’t certain she had never seen a more handsome man in her life.
Her brain simply broke.
“Now walk ahead,” she urged. “I’ll follow right behind you. No looking!”
Mr. MacInnes raised his hands in the air, then slowly turned around, waiting for her by the tree line. “Tell me when it’s safe to go on.”
Kate sighed, shaking off the fear in her limbs. It wasn’t as if this man was even interested in seeing her in her shift. But he was her employer, and she didn’t wish to blur that line and complicate matters. He was much too busy with the rest of Dunsmuir Castle anyhow.
She stepped out, the cool air clinging to her wet chemise. Kate wrapped her arms around her chest to cover the thin, wet fabric from revealing her breasts and kept her head down as she navigated the large stepping stones to reach the shore.
“Lead the way, sir,” she said, summoning courage seemingly from her frozen toes.
Mr. MacInnes slowly made his way through the trees to the small path that led back to the castle, and Kate followed behind.
“What will you say to the girls when you return?” she asked.
It was quiet for a moment, then Mr. MacInnes surprised her with a shrug of his own. “I’ve nae plan for everything they do. I suspect they miss their father.”
Kate nodded to herself, feeling the familiar pang in her chest at missing her own family. Since being discovered with the marquess, they wished never to be associated with her again. And maybe that was for the best if they could disown their daughter so easily after one mistake.
That didn’t make it any easier, however.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “It’s never easy losing someone close to you.”
“Have ye?”
She winced, the memory of her sister’s passing still fresh even after all these years. “I have. My little sister Georgie passed away when I was ten from consumption. She was seven.”
He paused, not quite looking over his shoulder as he said, “Sorry.” Then he cleared his throat. “My brother and I weren’t close. And right now, I think I hate him more than I miss him.”
“That will change in time.” Kate stopped, watching a large bumble bee stumble over the pebbled path. “Wait a moment, please.”
“What?”
“There’s a bumblebee…”
It was so odd. She had never seen a bee circle the ground as it walked. She sank to her knees and studied the creature closer. “You poor darling. You’ve lost a wing.”
Bare feet crunched over the path, then came into view. She gasped, realizing Mr. MacInnes stood before her. But when she glanced up, his eyes were straight ahead, and instead, he shoved a flower in her direction.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Guide him on there. He’s likely hungry.”
She sat there on the footpath, on her knees, in a wet, sheer chemise in front of the most handsome giant of a man in Scotland, and she felt her heart tip open toward him the smallest sliver.
