Page 101 of The Texan Duke
“As entertainment, Your Grace? No.”
“Dammit, Elsbeth, that’s not what I meant and you know it.”
In seconds he was there, in front of her, his arms around her. She didn’t have time to protest before he bent his head to kiss her.
Anyone could have seen them, but she didn’t think of that in the next moment. She didn’t care that it was afternoon, that the staff would be milling about, that Addy could see them from her kitchen window. The duchess, the whole family could view them, but it wasn’t something she thought about.
She couldn’t think of anything when Connor was kissing her.
The world exploded in a cloud of shattering stone.
A startled yelp escaped her as Connor pushed her into a nearby bush. She lay there trying to make sense of what had just happened.
She brushed the snow off her face and began to right herself.
Connor reached her and extended his hand. She took it and stood, only then realizing that another of the statues had fallen, this time barely missing Connor.
If he hadn’t moved to kiss her, he would’ve been crushed by the stone.
Shock kept her speechless.
Connor was looking up at the roof, his hands on his hips. Slowly he turned his head to look at her.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded.
Their gazes met.
“Damn lucky you’re nearly irresistible, Elsbeth.”
There was that warmth again, but it was offset by a sensation so cold that she felt frozen to her toes.
“I inspected the roof,” she said, staring at the chunks of stone. This statue couldn’t be repaired. It hadn’t fallen in a snowdrift but had, instead, shattered on the gravel path. “The day after the first statue fell. I checked all the statues. All of them were fine. None of them were cracked. Their bases were all intact.”
She didn’t come out and say the words. Neither did he. She would inspect the roof again to be sure, but it looked as if the fallen statue was no accident.
Someone wanted Connor dead.
The thought chilled her through, enough that she stretched out her gloved hand and gripped his arm.
“What becomes of Bealadair if something happens to you?” she asked.
He looked down at her.
For a moment she wondered if he would answer. Should she apologize for the question? Or were they just going to pretend that someone wasn’t trying to harm him?
“The ghillie hadn’t been hunting,” she said. “Nor had his men. Someone shot you, Connor. And, as much as I would like to think it was an accident, someone pushed that statue off the roof.”
“I’ve made my will,” he said. “My mother and my sisters will inherit everything I own, from the ranch to the property here in Scotland.”
That didn’t make any sense, then. Why would anyone want to kill Connor when there was no reward for it?
“You could be the target, Elsbeth.”
They looked at each other.
“You were at Castle McCraight with me. Someone could have easily been shooting at you.” He glanced toward the shattered statue. “That could have struck you.”
