Page 43 of In Search of a Husband
“Stay still, ye bugger.” Gabriel tightened his grip and nearly dropped to his knees, his ankle twisting on a stone hidden under the dark, murky water.
“Oh.” Kate cleared her throat, then jumped to her feet. “Gabriel, you need to move faster,” Kate urged, her eyes wide. “Go, go!”
Gabriel peeked over his shoulder in time to catch the swan spreading its wings wide before bearing down on him and Oscar. Gabriel stumbled out of the water as the dog leaped out of his arms and bounded over to sit at Kate’s feet. But it was too late.
Suddenly, he felt the sharp pinch rendered on his arse as the swan bit him. Gabriel reared up and bellowed, then shooed the swan away before marching up to Kate.
Kate clamped her hands over her mouth, her shoulders quaking from the laughter that shook her. She fell over to the ground, unable to stop.
“Ye bring chaos wherever you go,” he growled. His arse was sore, and worse, he felt like joining in on her laughter.
At that, she shrugged and smiled at him, fully.
Gabriel was certain his heart stopped. That look in her eye. They sparkled as if gems under the late afternoon sun. She was so effortlessly beautiful, and she looked as if she belonged here in the Highlands on an autumn day. The skies might have been gray, and fog might have hugged the hilltops, but she was sunshine.
And bright like the whisky he currently had aging in sherry casks, waiting.
Only time would tell if he made a good gamble, but as for Kate? He no longer knew what to do because, try as he might, it was near impossible to avoid her, and he wasn’t certain he wished to any longer.
But what would it mean if he allowed her into his life?
Her laughter died off, and that playful light in her eyes faded. “Don’t let me keep you now.”
Gabriel cleared his throat and fisted his hands, fighting the want of touching her. “Right.”
“Unless you have time now to talk?”
He shut his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh. Certain the frustration he felt was nothing to do with this moment. And that troubled him. There was too much in his life at the moment, and what if he couldn’t handle it all and hurt Kate in the process?
She had been hurt enough.
“Tonight, over tea,” he said instead, his voice low and rough.
She tilted her head, biting her lower lip as she studied his eyes first, then, unfortunately for his cock straining his trousers, his mouth.
“Very well, tonight.” She petted her hand over the dog’s wiry coat. “Good luck with work at the inn.”
“You as well. See that Lorna doesna try scaling the keep again.”
Before she could say any more or he embarrassed himself, Gabriel spun around and stormed off toward the village on foot.
The walk would serve him well.
CHAPTER 10
The kitchen was a disaster.The carnage only appeared worse because the flour had exploded when Kate accidentally knocked it over on the worktable. And since, it had worked itself somehow onto every surface of the kitchen.
Kate pressed her sore knuckles into the dough, then folded it in half, repeating the motion. It had been hours, and yet not one version had baked properly.
Oscar whimpered from his spot in the corner beside the fireplace.
“I’ll clean it up,” she said, folding over the dough and giving it a satisfying punch. It was easier if she pretended it was Gabriel’s handsome face.
Picking her up over his shoulder as if she were no more than a sack of… well, flour.
She laughed to herself.
What a mess.
