Page 164 of The Highlander's Irish Bride

“Lass, I just told you that I loved you,” he said, exasperated. “Have you already forgotten?”

She narrowed her eyes. “So, you are worried about gossip.”

He closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath.

Kathleen tugged on his hands. “Well?”

He opened his eyes. “What I’m worried about is you, and whatyouwant. I would never pressure you to marry me, Kathleen. My rush back from that smugglers’ hut was precisely so you wouldnotbe backed into in a corner by gossip and left without a choice. Frankly, I shouldn’t wish to marry you if that were the case.”

By now, he looked so annoyed that she couldn’t help beaming at him.

“You know, I think you must be the nicest man in the entire world,” she said.

“Splendid. And since I am the nicest man in the world, I’m now going to leave you alone. Because if I don’t leave, something drastic is bound to happen.”

“What’s that?”

“I will toss you over my shoulder and carry you straight to my bedroom, where I will then take you to bed. I can safely say you would be left in no doubt as to the sincerity of my proposal.”

He stood, but then leaned down, his arms caging her. He brought his face so close that Kathleen almost saw double.

“I’d have ye screaming with pleasure in no time, lass,” he added in a murmur. “Count on it.”

Her heart skipped at least three beats. “That . . . that sounds like fun.”

“Now, you have a decision to make, so I’ll leave you to it,” he gruffly replied.

And then he was gone.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“I thought I’d find you here,” Sabrina said as she walked into Lochnagar’s stables.

Kathleen blew out a dramatic sigh. “I truly am becoming a predictable person. How dreadful.”

Her cousin joined her at one of the stalls, where Kathleen had been silently communing with a placid mare. “It was either here or the garden. They’re your favorite spots, especially when you wish to hide.”

“Oh, Lord. So I’m a coward, too.”

Sabrina laughed. “Not at all. You were exceedingly wise to avoid that gruesome little tea with David and his brother.”

Kathleen made a show of wiping her brow. “Whew. Not a coward, thank goodness, but still predictable.”

“What’s wrong with being predictable? It simply means one behaves in a consistent fashion.”

“I just never thought of myself that way.”

“How we think of ourselves is often the result of labels that others apply to us, especially when we’re young.”

Kathleen went back to rubbing the mare’s soft nose. “I suppose we sometimes grow into those labels, too.”

“Or try to fit ourselves into someone else’s expectations of those labels?” Sabrina shrewdly asked.

“Tell that to Helen. She would say I do the exact opposite.”

“Your stepmother is completely dreary. What she thinks about you isn’t important.”

Kathleen propped her elbow on the half door and studied her cousin. “Then what is important, Sabrina? Please tell me, because I can’t seem to figure it out.”

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