Page 35 of The Scot Who Loved Her

Lady Helvellyn’s lips had thinned to nearly white now, and Olivia wished she could give her mother a way out of this tea, then she would leave and Olivia could stay since she was actually invested in this conversation. She quite liked these Scottish ladies, and Caroline too. Wanted to get to know them all better. At least to make this sojourn in Edinburgh less miserable for herself.

“Well, as it turns out, I was answering an advertisement for a governess,” Bronwen said. “But the thing was he’d hired the governess for himself.”

“A grown man?” Caroline giggled.

“Aye.” Bronwen laughed too.

“And Miss Holmes, as she went by then,” Giselle added, “had no idea what she was doing. Euan picked up on it right away, but he adored her so much he let her teach him the wrong things so that he could be with her.”

“That is so romantic,” Olivia said.

Bronwen blushed. “These two have fun first meetings turning to love stories too.”

“Oh, please tell us,” Caroline clapped.

Olivia hedged a glance at her mother, who looked ready to bolt.

“As it turns out, Lorne was engaged to my sister,” Jaime said. “I thought he’d unfairly broken their engagement and sought revenge, so while Lorne was out of the country, I bought his castle from his brother.”

“Oh my,” Olivia said. “I bet that didn’t go well.”

“No’ at all.” Jaime laughed so hard tears came to her eyes. “But here we are with a wee one at home and another on the way.” She patted her pregnant belly. “Your turn, Giselle.”

“Well, he saved my life. My horse threw me, and I was about to go flying over the cliff’s edge when he caught me.”

Olivia sat back in her chair, stunned. She wondered if she’d been the one in Giselle’s situation if Dunlyon would save her, or since she’d shot him, let her fall. Considering how he’d treated her thus far, she decided that he would save her because he wanted to be the one to end her if the chance arose. That thought made her smile. She covered it up by sipping her tea.

“My God, you are so lucky he was there,” Caroline gushed.

“Indeed, indeed. And then I went back to Alec’s house party, and it was a lovely week until my parents found out where I was.”

All the while, as the women were smiling, the love for their husbands shining in their eyes, Olivia’s brain was playing tricks on her. She’d not thought she was ready to wed, but seeing how happy they were, she wanted to find happiness like that. Wouldn’t it be funny if her love story started with how she’d shot the man?

Olivia sucked in a breath and sat up straighter. Where in blazes had that come from? But she knew the way she felt when his eyes were on her, the way her body had warmed when they’d danced and the way dangerous little zings of desire had climbed up and down her spine.

It was dangerous—that was a good word for it. How in the world could she even entertain the thought of falling for the man she’d shot and whose existence threatened at any moment to end her future?

10

Malcolm wasn’t normally one to sneak into his own house. However, he’d been making a habit of it lately.

This time, he slipped unnoticed because he wanted to avoid the women at tea. He’d spied Olivia sitting with the other ladies in the drawing room through the window. Though dangerously beautiful as she always was, she looked more distracted than anything else. Dare he think it was because she was waiting for him to walk through the door?

Since he was sweaty from his morning practicing in the boxing ring with his friends and then taking a covert jog around the docks to observe the shipping companies’ ships and check in with Jeremiah, he was not fit to be presented before a dog, let alone a gaggle of females. He smelled horrific and was certain to mortify his sister if he walked into the drawing room in such a state.

Not to mention that Olivia’s mother was there. While he found Lady Helvellyn as distasteful as she did him, he didn’t want to put her completely out. Else she would not let him continue to speak to her daughter, which he very much needed to for the duration of his mission. The puzzle pieces were not falling as neatly into place as he’d like. And he’d spent more time boxing in the last twenty-four hours than he had in a month.

Short of breaking into Olivia’s house and rifling through her father’s office, he wasn’t making much progress. He’d discovered that her father’s name was Archibald Aston—A.A. But the man who’d leapt over the fence and fought with him was too spry to have been the older viscount. There was someone else out there. And that only made the situation more complicated and irritating.

While Malcolm washed up, his mind on the blonde in his drawing room, he decided that the best thing would be to call on Olivia and get her alone somehow. Even though she was in his house, with her mother present, he wouldn’t be able to speak to her. They had a lot to discuss, and they’d yet to have time to do it.

He was going to do it tonight.

Malcolm bided his time, and well after the sun had set, he went around the block to stand in front of the Helvellyn residence. He half expected to see the shrouded figure doing the same thing, but despite the usual traffic, there did not appear to be anyone lurking about. Except for him, of course.

Doing so out front, however, would be an idiotic mistake. Malcolm snuck into the alley behind the houses where the mews and gardens of each house were located. He ticked off the gates until he came to the one that barred his entry to the woman who’d consumed his thoughts for weeks.

As quietly as he could, he pushed the gate open and slipped inside. The windows were lit in the house with candlelight, but the garden was cast in shadow. Trees and vines and hedges, all looming in various shapes and scents, made up the space. The walkways were gravel, and he chose to tread on the slim lines of grass that crisscrossed the garden patches rather than risk the crunch of rock underfoot.

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