Page 48 of The Highlander's Virgin Widow
Shona and Tommy took their seats, and Keira watched as the maids began to serve them the food.
“I suppose the Laird already showed ye to yer rooms.”
“They should eat first; there is time for all of that,” Evander interjected.
Aye. There is time for all of that later in the day. But nae now, and certainly nae yet.
Her eyes darted to one of the maids serving the food anyway. She must not show weakness. Not now, and certainly not in front ofhim.For some reason, he didn’t seem to care that he had done something so incredibly sacrilegious.
“Ye.” She signaled to the maid, who jerked her head up almost immediately. “Show them to the guest rooms when they are ready. And help them unpack their trunks as well.”
The maid nodded fervently and returned to serving the food.
Keira cleared her throat. She was not going to wait any second longer to clear this up. She was going to do it now, once and for all.
She studied Evander for a while, her anger boiling beneath her skin. If she stayed in the dining hall for a second longer, forcing a smile at his wife and son, she may not be able to recover.
“May I talk to ye in the study, please?”
Evander looked up at her, a confused frown marring his face. “Uh… now?”
“Aye. Now.”
His eyes searched hers for a few seconds before he shrugged.
Keira turned on her heel and walked out of the dining hall, hearing his footsteps barely a few yards behind her.
17
The walk to the study was brisk and quick, and Keira tried her best to channel all her anger into her feet and hands as she walked.
“If ye walk any harder, lass, ye might destroy the entire castle.”
Keira didn’t respond to his snarky remark. Normally, she would have responded with something snarkier, but the words hanging on the tip of her tongue were scathing, and the last thing she wanted to do was unleash them while they were still in the passageway.
They walked further up the stairs leading to the Laird’s quarters, the opposite of where the castle’s main study was located. She continued to walk anyway, refusing to speak. She didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know that her lack of response might have shocked him.
“Ye have never needed an invitation to jump into a matter and talk me ears off. Why are ye quiet all of a sudden?” he asked again, easily keeping up with her.
They finally got to the door that led to the study, and Keira opened it, ignoring the dust and smell of old unopened books that drifted out of the room and permeated the air for the briefest second. She walked in first, and Evander followed.
“How dare ye?” she snapped, her voice sharp, as if she had injected some kind of venom into it and was fully prepared to let loose.
She was certain he could see it on her face as well, because the surprise that flickered in his eyes continued to grow with each passing second.
“What is going on?”
“The last thing ye want to do now is play coy with me, Laird Kincaid.”
“It’s Lair—wait, did ye just call meLairdKincaid?”
Keira rubbed her hands across her brow. “Like I said, this isnae a joke. Ye shouldnae have done that.”
The utter cluelessness on Evander’s face continued to grow. “Look, if this is about Thistle’s house, I didnae think ye would care that?—”
“This isnae about the damned goat, Evander. Also, Thistle? Of all names, that was the one ye decided to call him?”
“I didnae think anything was wrong with the name. I suppose ye do?”
