Page 9 of Sadie's Highlander (Highland Protector 1)

“I am not wooing,” Alec declared to his brother’s retreating back. Why the hell would Grant say such? All he wanted was the opportunity to get to know Mistress Williams better. What was wrong with that? Wooing was entirely different. Complicated, in fact. It required long walks in moonlit gardens and figuring out sweet things to tell a lass so she might reward ye with her kisses. He had no intention of scaring this fine woman away by doing such. Dwyn had read him the email she’d sent when she’d finally agreed to their terms. Sadie Williams didna trust his intentions. Above all else, he had to prove to her that he’d ne’er meant her any disrespect.

The heavy set of double doors at the front of the family’s private wing of the keep groaned loudly with a squealing high-pitched welcome. Alec refused to oil the hinges. One could ne’er have too many alarms when it came to catching a fifteen-year-old girl attempting to sneak in past her curfew.

The low murmuring of voices echoing up from the stone hallway leading into the main room triggered another surge of adrenaline. It disturbed him no small amount to realize that the mere sound of Sadie’s voice could have such an effect on him.Lore a’mighty. Ye’d think I was a lad moonin’ o’er m’first lassie.

Alec made the final turn at the bottom of the staircase and came to a dead stop on the wide landing. There she was. In his home. At last. The rustic sitting room suddenly seemed infinitely brighter.

Sadie stood at the edge of the room, her eyes growing ever wider as her gaze took in her surroundings. Head tilting slowly back, she studied the massive chandelier hanging from the highest beam in the vaulted ceiling. It was fashioned out of deer antlers, the tines tipped with long, swirling light bulbs made to look like flames.

Sadie’s silky dark braid slid from atop her shoulder to the center of her back, swinging like a pendulum as her focus flitted from the antler chandelier to the several candleholders made of more antlers lined up on the thick oak mantel of the stone fireplace taking up the entire south wall of the room. She finally turned, her stern look leveling on Alec. “Did you kill all the deer it took to make those?”

Not a timid bone in this lass’s body. Damnation, could she be any finer?But her accusing tone warned Alec that he’d best be quick and choose his next words carefully. Apparently, Mistress Sadie didna approve of hunting and wasna a bit shy about sayin’ so.

“Nay, lass.” He hurried forward and coaxed her bags out of her tightly fisted hands. She’d held them with an iron grip. Alec studied her closer. She’d just spoken so bravely, but her body betrayed her. The lass was tensed with wariness. Did she fear him or was she merely nervous?

Sadie folded her arms across her middle, seeming almost to hug herself as she shifted in place. She looked as though she’d rather be anywhere other than standin’ in MacDara Keep.

Must make her feel welcome.Alec gave her his warmest smile and nodded in the direction of the offensive light fixture and the many candleholders. “Resin. All fake. Every antler in this room. The decorators chose them when we built the keep. Said ’twould add authenticity. Make the place seem…” What the hell was the word they’d used?Rustic. Aye. That was it.“Make the keep seem more rustic.”

And it wasn’t a lie. The chandelier had come from some establishment in Texas and the candleholders had been shipped from some faraway place he couldna pronounce. Alec made a mental note to keep the door to the game room closed until they knew each other better. The trophies in there weren’t made of resin, nor were they fake.

Her dark eyes, the rich mahogany shade of well-aged bourbon, narrowed while one brow arched a notch higher than the other. “I don’t have a problem with hunting for food.” The toe of her scuffed boot tapped nervously against the highly polished wooden floor. “But I do have a problem with hunting for sport just so you can have some hideous trophy gathering dust in a room.”

He made a mental note to tell Mistress Lydia to keep the door to the game room locked and bolted until it could be properly cleared and refurbished. Mother had been itchin’ to turn the room into some fancy sort of place to teach the local women about herbs. She could damn well be about it now.

“I understand completely.” Alec held up her bags and nodded toward the hallway running behind the wide landing. “And now if ye’ll follow me, I’ll be happy to show ye to yer rooms. Mistress Lydia’s set up the north wing so ye’ll have it all to yerself. It has a private entry to the park, so ye can come and go as ye please and no one will be the wiser unless ye wish them t’be.”

Brisk thumps of sturdy heels rattled down the steps behind him, then a firm hand scooped one of Sadie’s smaller bags out of his grip. “My name’s Mistress Lydia—well, that’s what the MacDaras call me—you can call me plain ole Lydia or Miss Lydia, whichever suits you. I’ll be showing you the way to your rooms and getting you all settled in.” The silver-haired matron shot Alec a look that dared him to argue, then turned to the uncharacteristically silent Dwyn. “Mr. Dwyn, get that other bag there so we can get this young lady all settled in while Mr. Alec’s checking his morning emails. I’m sure there’s all kinds of folks waitin’ for him to answer them about some such nonsense.”

“I was about ta—”

Miss Lydia cut him short, making her trademark sound that could only be described as a cross between a blaring smoke alarm and an engine grinding to a start. Whatever it was, her warning noise effectively shut down anyone trying to argue with her.

The slightest movement in Alec’s peripheral vision caught his attention. He glanced over at Sadie. Was the lass laughing at him? Shoulders twitching and lips pressed tightly together, she looked as though she was holding her breath. Her lovely high cheekbones grew even rosier as the corners of her mouth trembled. Eyes sparkling with barely contained mirth, she tightened her folded arms.

“Ye find this amusing, do ye?”

“As a matter of fact.” A snorting giggle finally escaped and Sadie blossomed into a full-blown smile beneath Alec’s stern gaze. She turned to Miss Lydia and politely nodded. “Lead on, Miss Lydia. I think you and I are going to be great friends.”

Alec watched the ladies head down the hallway with Dwyn obediently following after them with the bags. Just past the landing, Dwyn paused and tossed a look back at Alec. “Yer doomed, lad. Doomed, I say.”

Aye. That I am.“But I’m not beaten,” Alec muttered under his breath as he hurried across the room, slid aside a replica of an ancient leather shield, and flipped the switch imbedded in the stone behind it. He backed up a few steps, waiting impatiently for the wall to slowly slide open, revealing one of the many passages hidden behind the walls of the keep. Time to take a shortcut to the north wing. He’d be damned if Mistress Lydia had the pleasure of settling their new guest in all to herself.

Chapter 5

“I think you’ll be nice and comfy in here.” Miss Lydia unlocked the beautifully carved door. She pushed it open, then handed Sadie the fanciest room key she’d ever seen. Celtic knots and whorls topped the brass skeleton key that was lovely enough to wear as fine jewelry.

“The weather’s been so mild for this late in the year, I threw the windows open wide and aired out the rooms good and proper for you. Can’t stand a stuffy room. Can you?” The pink-cheeked matron with curly wisps of silvery gray hair escaping from her messy bun didn’t wait for Sadie to answer. She bustled to the middle of the room, pressed a hand to the center of her ample bosom, and pulled in a deep breath. “Doesn’t that fresh autumn air smell sweet as the finest perfume?”

And it did. The room had a clean, welcoming smell that couldn’t possibly be achieved with any man-made air freshener. It reminded Sadie of the long walk she’d taken through the woods yesterday to shore up her courage for today. The same sense of peace she’d found among the trees also permeated this room.

“I love it.” Sadie meandered around the comfortable sitting room, taking in the overstuffed couch and comfortable chair completely fitted with pillows and a snuggly-looking lap throw tossed across its back. The cozy seating arrangement was angled in front of a stone fireplace built into the corner. She came up short when she reached an elaborate mahogany built-in taking up the entire corner of the room opposite the fireplace.

A router and several other black boxes of electronic wonder blinked a welcome and the promise of high-speed Wi-Fi on the shelf above the highly polished surface of the desk. A forty-inch monitor with an HDMI cable was ready to be connected to a laptop to provide an easy-on-the-eyes screen. A printer and reams of paper waited in the hinged unit to the left of the opulent leather chair rolled back to a welcoming angle in front of the desk.

“This is beautiful.” Sadie smoothed her fingers along the coolness of the wood. What a perfect place to write! A complete office in one corner of the room.A perfect place to write.Coincidence? A skin-tingling mix of uncertainty, excitement, and leeriness rushed through her.

“Brand new. Mr. Alec had it all installed just yesterday. I threatened those boys with their lives if they tracked up my carpet, but it looks like they took good care.” Miss Lydia opened the double doors on the other side of the room, revealing a grand four-poster bed decked out with enough fluffy comforters and pillows to please the pickiest of guests.

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