Page 5 of A Highland Bride Taken
Campbell knew the man wanted to offer advice, but he didn’t need advice, not when he was so frustrated. He hated seeing the boys in pain and not knowing how to comfort them.
“Aye, Magnus,” he answered, trying to hide his frustration.
“There is a lass here to see ye.”
“A lass?”
“Aye,” Magnus confirmed. “She wouldnae tell me her business, but she asked to see ye.”
“What did she look like?” Campbell asked, his curiosity piqued.
“Young and unsuitably dressed for the weather. She would have caught her death if it had been less warm,” Magnus answered. “But she has fine manners and is bonny.”
Perhaps she has come to apply for the position of governess.
Campbell had sent out word that he was seeking a governess to help care for the boys and comfort them in the way he couldn’t.
His only way of handling grief involved training with the sword until he felt too sore to remember the reason for his grief. Tears and tantrums weren’t anything he was accustomed to.
“Alright,” he muttered. “Where have ye put her?”
“Yer study, Me Laird.”
“Verra well. Keep an eye on them for me.”
Magnus nodded, stepping away from the door.
With one last look at the boys, Campbell stepped out of their chambers, hoping that by the end of his meeting with the strange woman, he would have a solution to the conundrum of his starving nephews.
Campbell didn’t know what he had been expecting when Magnus had mentioned the lass, but the one in front of him was nothing like he had expected.
Magnus had been correct in saying that she was bonny, but he had severely understated how so. With her flaming red hair and green eyes, she almost looked like a fae creature. But the poise with which she held herself told him she was anything but.
Her face was soft, with eyes that screamed innocence, but the shape of her lips said anything but. Full and pink from the cold, they were shaped to stir a man’s lust. Campbell found himself wanting to test the softness of her ripe mouth.
Even though she was on the shorter side, she had a figure a man would enjoy thoroughly, with round, pert breasts and a narrow waist that flared into hips a man would spend days worshipping with his lips.
Campbell liked his women taller, but the lust that roared inside him now gave him pause.
Ye dinnae even ken if she’s married.
She didn’t look too young to be married, and it was a strong possibility, but the thought wasn’t at all appealing to him the longer he studied her. Everything about her screamed innocence, and if she were married, it would have been tainted with her husband’s instructions in the bedroom.
His hand itched as curiosity to test his theory of whether she was as innocent as she appeared overcame him, but he pushed down the emotion to conduct a more thorough appraisal, beyond lust.
He decided to try to deduce who she was, still not wanting to make a mistake. She was dressed simply and not warm enough to have traveled to his clan, but her garments were of fine quality, which meant she was not a mere villager. She couldn’t be a laird’s daughter, or she would never have traveled so far alone.
The longer he studied her, trying to figure out her story, the more he grew puzzled. Everything about her revealed different things, and he didn’t like how he was walking blindly into the conversation.
She had a determined look on her face as she stared up at him, but her posture and the way she wrung her hands betrayed her nerves. She looked more like a child who had been caught doing something naughty than a lady applying for the role of governess, but he could be wrong.
Looks could be deceiving.
He stepped closer, and her eyes widened. He noted she had a light dusting of freckles across her nose, which made her look even younger than he had assumed.
He had hoped to intimidate, but the look in her eyes unsettled him. Her eyes held a look of intrigue, and he searched their depths for a sign of fear, but there was none.
Usually, his appearance inspired panic in the fairer sex, but only curiosity sparked in this woman’s eyes.
