Page 79 of A Wife for the Highland Villain
He swallowed and tried to calm her. “Lily?—”
Her hand flew up to silence him.
“God help me,” she muttered, her voice cracking with a mix of anger and disbelief. “Itistrue. Ye are canceling it. After making me invite me sisters? After letting me write to them? Brigid is already on her way here, Alasdair. She will be here with her husband in moments.”
Alasdair stepped closer, his palms raised in defense. “Ye need to relax.”
Her eyes flashed with fire. “Nay. Ye daenae get to say that to me if this is what ye are planning. Tell me, what do I say to me sister when she arrives? ‘Oh, I apologize for making ye come all this way, Brigid, but the cèilidh has been canceled because the Laird felt like it?’ Shall I say that?”
He swallowed, feeling a wave of despair wash over him. “Nay, ye daenae understand?—”
“Ye are right,” she cut in. “I daenae understand. Because every time I try to give ye an inch, ye prove to me ye have some hidden motive.”
Alasdair’s jaw tightened, and he closed the space between them. “I have never hidden me motives. I brought ye here to be me wife. That has always been the plan from the get-go. Nae once did that plan change.”
“And I told ye I cannae be that.”
“Why?” he pressed.
“Because I already lived through this once,” she shot back. Her voice cracked, but her eyes were blazing. “And I ken how it ends.”
His chest heaved. “Ten years ago, I wasnae the laird of a castle, Lily. Things have changed.Ihave changed. Surely, ye must see that.”
She scoffed, shaking her head. “And to think, I was beginning to—” She broke off.
Alasdair’s eyes narrowed. “Beginning to what?”
Her gaze darted away. “It doesnae matter, ye have already done what ye wanted—ye canceled the cèilidh.”
“Nay.” His voice rang out like iron against stone. “Nay one is canceling anything. The cèilidh will take place.”
She froze. Then, she looked up and blinked at him. “What?”
“I daenae plan to cancel the cèilidh, Lily.”
“Ye mean that?”
He nodded firmly. “Aye. The soldiers fought hard, and in case ye havenae noticed, many of them died. The least I can do is give the survivors a night to celebrate their victory. They earned it. And I willnae take it from them.”
Lily exhaled, her fury softening into silence. Her chest rose and fell. “I… I am sorry,” she mumbled. “Sorry for snapping at ye and for nae letting ye speak.”
A smirk tugged his lips, and he leaned closer. “Ye seem to have a habit of doing that, do ye nae?”
Her head snapped up. “A habit?”
“Aye. I took a feisty wife,” he teased.
Her eyes flashed again. “Stop calling me that.”
He groaned and turned away. “Oh, Christ, ‘tis this old song again.”
But before he could take more than a step, her voice stopped him. “Nay, daenae do that. Daenae turn yer back on me.”
He froze and glanced over his shoulder. “Earlier, ye said ye kept giving me an inch. But did ye truly give me anything, or are ye only telling yerself that?”
She blinked. “What?”
“Ye have been ignoring me all week, have ye nae?” he asked.
