Page 56 of When a Highlander Vows
“Aye,” he said in a gravelly tone, his eyes moving from Paige to the man she walked with and then to the one who walked next to Caitlin.
He didn’t look familiar, but that was not a surprise, seeing as Lucas did not care to leave the castle too much. But a strong pang of jealousy poked at him when he saw the man’s smug smile as well as how close he stood to Caitlin.
Finally, when Lucas looked at Caitlin, she appeared a little pale and surprised, and he saw her eyes move from his face down to his feet. He felt very exposed, with no shirt over his torso, but it didn’t matter, as long as Caitlin would look at him like that. When her eyes returned to his, he could see a heat in them, a desire, just like when he’d kissed her the very first time.
“Welcome back,” she said in an unsteady voice, and his gaze darted to where she held the young man’s arm.
“Thank ye. Just arrived.”
Bloody bastard.
Lucas had never before been so jealous of an arm.
“Laird McDougall,” Caitlin’s young man said, a cheeky grin on his face.
He bowed his head, but Lucas still felt offended. “And ye are, Lad?”
“Bram. Bram MacIntosh.”
“Aye.” He knew the name, and his eyes slid to the other man.
“And ye?”
“Martin, Laird. Martin Scarleton.”
At least the other young man had the decency to look embarrassed. But he looked besotted with Paige, and that eased at least some of Lucas’ frustration. There was another man to distract Paige from her ill-conceived interest in him.
“Aye, I see.” He rubbed a hand through his wet hair. “Well, what are ye doin’?”
“Just strolling along the shoreline,” Paige said. “Bram is the baker’s son, and he’s brought us sweet treats. Did yesterday as well.”
Yesterday?
Lucas was now growing surly. He grew even moodier when he saw Bram look at Caitlin when she wasn’t looking at him. He didn’t like the look in the man’s eyes. It was a hungry look.
Just like the one ye give her.
Clearing his throat, he picked up his shirt. “Well then, me thanks to ye, Bram. I am sure me grandmaither appreciates it.”
“So she does. Said the honey bread was the best thing she ever tasted,” Bram said with another annoying, confident smile.
Lucas just nodded and jumped up on Searbas’ back. “Good day to ye all, then.”
“Good day, Laird,” Bram said, echoing Martin’s words.
“Good day, Lucas,” Caitlin said softly, and he glanced at her another time before he kicked Searbas’ sides and rode off toward the castle.
Caitlin’s mouth was dry as she watched Lucas ride away. She’d hardly been able to think when she’d first seen him come out of the sea. His form had been blurry, of course, but she’d been able to see he was naked, and then when they came up to him, his chest was bare.
It wasn’t fair that a man could be handsome enough to make her unable to think straight. And with water droplets sliding down from his hair and beard and over the great planes of his chest and stomach muscles, it was enough to nearly make her faint.
It was a good thing she held tightly to Bram to keep her legs straight while her eyes had feasted on the male beauty that was Lucas Murdoch. He did not seem pleased, however, and she had seen his angry eyes glance at Bram more than a time or two.
Why should he care who I spend me time with? He has made it quite clear that he cares nothin’.
“Stoic man,” Martin said, as the four of them began to walk back to the castle.
“Aye, serious too. Good fighter, so I hear. I wouldnae wish to find meself on the other end of his blade,” Bram said with a chuckle.
