Page 9 of Eloping with the Laird
Loving a man tended to turn out poorly for her. Her marriage with Peter was proof of such.
‘I’d like to speak with your father as soon as possible. Is he early to rise?’ Laird McKenna shattered the silence.
She cleared her throat. ‘He is, but I will speak with him first, so he knows you are my choice.’
‘Then I shall walk with you back to the castle.’ He offered his arm, and she accepted it, sliding her hand slowly inside his warmth as she had before. But this time a shiver ran along her arm and throughout her whole body.
‘You are chilled to the bone. Here.’ He removed his coat and draped it around her. His hand lingered along her shoulder before falling away. Her body tingled from his brief contact. Peter’s touch had never made her body awaken in such a way. The scent from his coat cocooned her with every step back to Glenhaven, some heady mixture of mild soap, tallow and a spicy musk that sent her body into another quake.
She hadn’t seen this coming. Not at all. Sure, Laird McKenna was an attractive man, but to have one’s body quiver at the slightest touch and smell of him?Ridiculous.Perhaps sheshouldsee a doctor. Could her fall yesterday have affected her sense of smell and nerves? Was such a thing possible? She nibbled her lip. She should ask Ewan.
She imagined her brother laughing aloud at her question. Snorting even.
Or perhaps not.
Surely time would unwind this odd situation, for she didn’t wish to be attracted to him or attached in any way, especially if he was not long for this world. They climbed the hill to the castle in silence. Stealing a glance at him, she balked. The man who had seemed so bored and irritated with the world yesterday appeared to be smiling. It was not a broad toothy smile, merely a small upturned quirk of his lip, but a smile all the same. This morn was full of unexpected surprises.
‘Moira!’ Ewan called to her as he jogged down the castle stairs.
She paused, her body prickling in alarm. Her brother rarely rose in time to break his fast before the sideboard was cleared let alone by sunrise. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
He skidded to a stop in the wet grass. ‘My laird.’ Ewan nodded a greeting. ‘May I steal you away for a moment, sister? It’s quite urgent.’
‘Is Father unwell?’ she asked.
‘Nay, nothing like that.’
She exhaled in relief. ‘Continue on, Laird McKenna. Once I speak with my father, I will join you in the main hall to break my fast. We can make our announcement then if you wish.’
He hesitated for a moment, but relented. ‘Aye. Thank you for the walk, Mrs Fraser. Until then.’ She returned his jacket and his fingertips skimmed her own, and she curled her tingling toes in her walking boots.
Lord above.What was wrong with her?
After he’d reached some distance from them, Ewan clutched her by the shoulders. ‘Please tell me you have not already secured an arrangement with Laird Death?’
She frowned and squirmed from his hold, straightening her cloak. ‘As a matter of fact, I have. We are to be married. He shall even allow me to have my own chambers, and a garden, and I shall read whatever I wish from his library. It will be a fine union as it is an agreement, not some attempt at a love match.’
Especially since it would be brief.
Ewan groaned and scrubbed a hand down his face. ‘Blazes.’
‘What has happened?’
He slumped forward. ‘You must know that it seemed like a grand idea at the time...’
Oh, no.She cringed. Ewan’s well-intentioned ‘ideas’ often left a wake of destruction. Like the irrigator rod that had drowned her seedlings two summers ago.
‘Brother, what have you done?’
He chewed his lip. ‘If you hadn’t been such a bonny lass last night this wouldn’t have happened. One could say it was partly your fault.’
‘What? I only did what you said. I ignored all of the most eligible lairds, and I allowed Brenna to shove me into a rather too small gown. Those wereyourideas.’ She popped her hands to her hips. ‘Now speak. What did you do?’
‘I talked at length with Garrick about you after dinner, and after far too many tankards of ale, I might add. It seems he has already spoken to Father and offered for you.’
Moira’s heart picked up speed. She was missing something. ‘But that should not matter. I have until the end of the tournament to make my choice of a husband and tell Father.’
Ewan pulled at the cuff of his wrinkled coat, avoiding her gaze. ‘Aye. He hadoriginallyagreed to that.’
