Page 39 of When a Highlander Vows
“Aye, I can smell it on ye.”
He grimaced. “Sorry about that,” he said, and she shook her head, reaching out a hand to touch her fingertips to his arm.
Instantly, his eyes went there, and his drunken mind stumbled across a vast emptiness.
Words, words, words.
“Nay, I like it,” she said. “Spicy, warm. I think it is something that makes me think of ye.”
His eyes opened wide. Really, this lass had a way about her that was like no other. But before he could respond with some idiotic statement of his own, she asked him, “What did ye want to ask me about?”
“Och, aye,” he said, rubbing a hand over his chin. “Right then.” He searched for an appropriate excuse. Then, thinking about his plans for the morrow, he asked, “How dae ye feel about gifts?”
It was a question he truly wanted to ask, for he feared that his and Nan’s secret plan to host a funeral for Seamus might be overreaching the proper bounds. He commended himself on his quick thinking despite the whisky.
“I like them,” she said, smiling again, pulling her fingertips back from his arm. “Why dae ye ask?”
Now he had to think of another good response and quickly.
He shrugged. “Just to ken, since ye will be livin’ here with us, and it will be Hogmanay at some point as well as yer birthday. When is it?”
“September Sixth, but I would never expect a gift.”
“Ye will receive one, daenae ye fash. Nan, as ye might have guessed, loves to give gifts, and she willnae tolerate nae givin’ one. She gives each of the servants one as well. Nae one of them is ever missed.”
“She’s so kind.”
Lucas handed her the whisky again, and she took another sip, longer this time. He tore his eyes away from the lovely sight of her lips clasped around the bottle.
“Well, that’s all,” he said, standing up quickly.
His skills at holding back his desire were growing thin, and it was better they left before he lost all inhibitions.
“All right,” she said, this time taking his arm as they walked back through the castle to the edge of the stairs. “I will walk meself,” she said. “It’s good practice.”
She threw him another kind smile that made that flutter in his chest again, and he cleared his throat.
“A good night to ye.”
“And to ye.”
He watched her go up the stairs, taking another hour to make sure that all was prepared for the feast on the morrow. Then, he took himself up to bed, and when he fell upon it, sleep came to him instantly.
20
The next morning, Lucas bathed, dressed, and a servant arrived to let him know the minister was all prepared in the chapel, and the others had also been gathered. He was hurrying along the passage toward Caitlin’s chamber. It was the first time he would be surprising someone with something, and as he got closer to Caitlin’s door, he began to get nervous. Would this be too much?
Just outside the door, he took a breath and lifted his hand to knock when the door opened. Caitlin was coming out, and she ran into him with a little surprised ‘Oh’.
“Me Laird,” she said, looking up at him, genuinely surprised at his sudden presence. “I mean Lucas.”
His hands rested upon her elbows, holding her steady after the shock of their bumping into one another, and he dropped his hands quickly, finding that touching her only made her more nervous.
“Caitlin, I am sorry to surprise ye, but I am glad I caught ye. I have come to escort ye.”
“Escort me?” she asked with a lifted brow, “But ye ken I am now easily able to walk down the stairs meself. I have learned the Castle very well over the last week.”
“Aye, quite.” He colored a little under his growing beard.
