Page 123 of The Highlander Who Protected Me

She pushed her hair out of her eyes and swiped a sleeve across her nose as she gave a hearty sniff. Royal found her lack of self-consciousness utterly charming.

“I said, I never get sick,” she replied in a husky voice. “You’re the one who’s sick, and here I am acting like a hysterical female. I am utterly mortified by it. You should just shoot me and put us both out of our misery.”

He snagged a soft cloth from the bedside table and gently dried her damp cheeks. “You’ve nothing to be ashamed of, Ainsley. It’s an ugly tale. It was wrong of me to tell you.”

She suffered his ministrations, even though he could tell she wanted to take the cloth and dry her cheeks herself. Ainsley was a stubborn, independent lass and he loved her all the more for it.

“I asked you to tell me, as you might recall,” she said. “In fact, I insisted on it.”

“That’s no excuse. You’ve suffered enough in your life. You don’t need to hear my gruesome old war stories.”

“Yes, I do,” she said, giving his shoulder a little shove. “And I’m glad you told me. Since you know everything horrible that’s happened to me, it’s only fair that I know everything miserable that’s befallen you.”

“Ainsley, I don’t want you touched by that sort of horror. It’s my job to protect you from such things, not expose you to them.”

Irritation sparkled off the damp tips of her eyelashes. “Royal, I want your help and support, but you don’t have to tiptoe around me like I’m some frail miss who could shatter at the first sign of trouble. I’m perfectly c . . . capable of taking care of myself.”

He smiled at her little hiccup. “That is most apparent and undeniable.”

“Although you are certainly free to spoil me, on occasion. I haven’t been spoiled in some time, and I think I’m due for it.”

“I would be happy to spoil you and take care of you. But, alas, today illustrated all too clearly that I’ve been mucking that up. In fact, I clearly needyouto take care ofme.”

That won him a reluctant smile. “What a shocking reversal of the natural order.”

“So shocking that I may find myself going into a complete decline. Then who would spoil you?”

Her smile faded. Perhaps she was remembering how very sick he was when they first met. His declining health had been no joke then.

“I know how difficult it was for you to tell me about what happened to you,” she said. “I’m dreadfully sorry I fell apart. I promise I won’t do so again.”

“I thought we both agreed that you needn’t keep apologizing to me?”

“Only if you stop blaming yourself for failing me. Or failing at anything, for that matter.” She again poked him in the shoulder, but more gently this time. “You are never to think of yourself as anything but strong, Royal Kendrick. For you to have survived all those horrors and to still be the man you are . . . well, you quite put me to shame. Honestly, I’m a selfish lout compared to you.”

He smoothed her bedraggled curls away from her face. “You were the one who saved me, don’t forget.”

She frowned. “Your brother saved you.”

“Yes, Nick pulled me out of that ditch and kept me alive. Mostly from sheer stubbornness—and by threatening every physician in the army if they gave up on me.”

“That sounds like your brother.”

He took her hand, lacing their fingers together. “But you saved me too, Ainsley. I was dying. And while my body fought back, trying to get strong again, my . . . spirit was withering. I just couldn’t seem to get over what had happened on that battlefield. And I don’t know how much longer I could have held on before I just gave up.”

“I wouldkillthe people who hurt you, if I could,” she said fiercely. “They’d end up in that damn ditch with a bullet in their backs, if I had my way.”

He bit back a smile at her threat. “Not necessary, love, because everything changed the moment I first saw you. I remembered what it was like to be alive again—truly alive.”

Ainsley appeared almost stricken by his confession. “Royal, have you forgotten how horrible I was to you? I was an absolute witch.”

“I’ve not forgotten one moment. But even when it all went wrong, it didn’t matter. I knew you were in the world. Because of that, life seemed worth living again.”

She briefly pressed her hands to her eyes. “What an awful thing to say to me, you brute.”

He laughed at her unexpected response. “Why?”

“Because you’re going to make me cry again. Ihatethat. It’s so messy and emotional. And my nose gets red, which I also hate.”

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