Page 31 of Married to the Icy Highlander
If he took her at her word, then she and his brother weren’t in love, after all. If that was true, then a whole world of possibilities had just opened up for him. But it also meant that Blaine’s escape made even less sense.
Thinking about it now, Neil had never seen his brother with a woman. Blaine had never spoken about taking lovers, and Neil had never truly had any reason to believe that he was hiding his affection for somebody else.
It felt impossible that Blaine had jilted Ceana at the altar, at the mercy of public opinion, just because he had suddenly changed his mind. The more Neil learned, the less it made sense.
“He’s a grown man, Ceana,” he murmured, hoping to soothe her. “He makes his own choices. The man gave ye his word and then broke it.”
Ceana nodded once, seeming to realize that she had allowed him to pull her into his arms. Her hands were cold as she flattened them against his chest, pushing him away softly with a gentle smile.
“Thank ye, M’Laird. I didnae mean to make a fool of meself, blubberin’ all over ye…”
“Nay, I didnae think ye were, Ceana,” he assured her.
She wrapped her arms around herself, as if she needed to keep herself together in one piece. She wouldn’t meet his gaze as she turned to the door, not bothering to take back the letter.
“Jeanie’s waitin’ for me—I should go get her ready.”
Neil nodded, even though he didn’t want her to go. “Unless ye wish to call off our arrangement?”
“Impossible man.” Ceana rolled her eyes.
Neil watched her leave, but it was getting harder and harder to keep letting her go.
14
“Will I be as pretty as ye are when I grow up?” Jeanie asked from where she was perched precariously on the back of a chair, staring with almost unblinking eyes at the maid styling Ceana’s hair.
Ceana herself was curled up on the chair, only half dressed and finding it hard to focus on anything that wasn’t the soft tug and pull on her hair. Which was far preferable to thinking about how it felt to be in her husband’s arms or the way he smelled. Like citrus and smoke in the best possible way.
She had not wanted to leave. A very big part of her had wanted him to scoop her up into his arms, pin her body between him and the door, and kiss her until she forgot every concern she had. Her pride be damned.
It had been over an hour now since she had left his room, and the flush had yet to leave her cheeks.
She glanced at the happy girl in the mirror with a soft smile of her own. “Ye are already prettier than me, silly,” she answered with a wink.
Jeanie nearly dissolved into a fit of giggles and shook her head. “Nay! I mean when I am a lady!”
“Well, are we nae supposed to be workin’ on ye becomin’ a lady?” Ceana quipped. “Nae that we have already started, that is true.” She put a finger on her lips and shrugged. “Tomorrow. We shall start yer training tomorrow. How does that sound? That way, we can have fun all night long! I am very much lookin’ forward to seein’ ye dance!”
However, Ceana was starting to think that the task her husband had assigned to her was going to be more difficult than she had originally assumed because she rather liked how free-spirited Jeanie was.
Jeanie was still so young, and she would have so many years ahead to worry about responsibilities and other things of that nature. For now, all she ought to focus on was playing and having fun.
But she was the Laird’s daughter, and she was expected to act a certain way and always uphold the rules. Perhaps Ceana could teach her how to separate her public life and her private one. That might be the easiest solution for them all, all things considered. That way, she would still be able to play and be herself in private, and she would be able to appease her father in public.
It reminded Ceana of how her mother would never argue with her father in public, but the moment they were alone, she would lay into him if she disagreed with his actions.
Jeanie huffed. “Fiona says that I dance like a duck walks! She’s nae verra nice, is she?”
“Are ye very nice to her?” Ceana asked, wincing as her hair was twisted and secured with pins.
There was no way her hair would move even the slightest bit with so many pins pinned to her scalp. Dread and anticipation coiled in her stomach. She couldn’t decide which one was stronger.
Tonight could change everything or nothing at all. It would be interesting to see how the Laird worked around her family. They were already married, but she wanted her mother to like him like she would a son and not just a laird. Ida was already fond of Jeanie.
Jeanie didn’t answer for a long moment. “Maybe she dinnae ken anything about dancin’ either! Maybe she’s only sayin’ such things to make me feel sad!”
“I may nae ken much about Fiona, but I dinnae think she has a reason to go out of her way to be mean to ye.”
