Page 74 of In Search of a Husband
CHAPTER 19
Gabriel tossedthe braided rag the girls had made for Oscar down the hallway, smiling.
He couldn’t wipe it off his damn face for a week now. A week of Kate in his bed. Never hers. In fact, he was moving her out of the attic and to hell with the speculation. It was far too drafty and cold.
Was she even still the governess?
He didn’t know the rules. Not really. Even while attending university, he made it his mission to remain out of ballrooms and away from marriage-minded mamas. While Gabriel had worked for every coin he earned, the MacInnes were a well-established noble family in Scotland. Which is part of the reason his father’s illicit whisky venture never made sense to him. His father had inherited a damn kingdom, and he gambled his legacy on the family’s status and then later, on his eldest son.
Well, he understood well enough that she was unwed and an employee. But what was he to do?
It wasn’t as if she would ever agree to marry him. She was protective of her independence after being ruined. And he had come to care for her too much to marry her and suffer the same fate as his father and brother, leaving her alone.
He had recognized far before she had that she was perfectly suited to helping manage and restore the inn. She had hired and trained staff, advertised in the papers, and the inn’s rooms were half sold in time for the festival. As he handled the construction matters of expanding and legitimizing the distillery, she coordinated all the necessary paperwork for permits.
Kate Bancroft was a horrible governess, perhaps the worst. She allowed the girls far too much freedom when it came to their education, but he’d be an eejit not to notice how much happier they were—how much happier they all were.
Because of her help, the inn would be opening three days earlier than he had scheduled. And sure, they had worked hard and spent hours bickering over details, but it was difficult not to notice the way she walked into a room now—as if she belonged, as if she were no longer seeking approval.
Nor could he forget how they had tupped each other in the hayloft last evening as rain slashed down against the freshly patched stable roof. And how it had started out with such intensity he’d forgotten they had been only strangers a couple of months ago.
“Oscar, come!”
The dog jaunted down the hallway after Gabriel. The beast’s large head bowed down with the braided rag clasped into his jaws, tight. If ever he had time to hunt once more, Oscar would make an excellent companion in the woods.
As he started down the stairs, he paused, gripping the railing at the sound of her honeyed humming.
“Psst.” She poked her above the railing and looked up at him, her dark brow furrowed. “We can’t find Ben.”
“Have ye checked?—”
“Yes, all the usual spots.”
“He couldna have gone far.” Oscar pranced down the stairs and nearly knocked Kate over. “Watch it now,” Gabriel cautioned.
“Ohh,shh.” She bent down and nuzzled the dog.
He was jealous of a damn dog.
“Have ye checked under Maisie’s bed? I caught him there last week.”
Maisie and Lorna rushed forward, bending in half to catch their breath. “Do ye think he escaped, Uncle?”
“No’ sure he moves quick enough for that.”
Kate stood beside him and sent an elbow into his side. “Be nice,” she mumbled under her breath.
“We’ve searched and searched and can’t find the bugger.”
“Lorna MacInnes, is that the language you should use?”
“You called Uncle that last week when he arrived late for dinner,” Maisie added, standing up and folding her arms.
Gabriel fought back a laugh. They had her there.
“And I talked to Miss Bancroft about it all strict like,” Elspeth announced, her face red from laughter.
“I apologized,” Kate said, holding up her hands. “We ladies need to conduct ourselves properly. And we don’t cuss.”
