Page 39 of Scot of Deception
He began by trying to toe them off, and that worked like a charm for the first one, as he braced his heel against the toe of the other boot and slipped his foot right out. When he tried to do the same for the other foot, though, Kathleen shook her head and pointed an accusatory finger at him.
“Dinnae cheat!” she explained. “I said one foot!”
That was precisely what Blaine had feared. He had hoped Kathleen wouldn’t get caught up in the semantics of it, but he supposed that was the difficulty of the dare.
Another sigh, followed by another attempt to get rid of his boot. His first idea was to shake his leg violently, trying to dislodge the boot and throw it right off—which only culminated in him hopping wildly on the rug as Kathleen collapsed on the floor in hysterics, tears of mirth gathering at thecorners of her eyes. When that proved unsuccessful, he glared at her for a moment and then proceeded to kneel, hoping that if he bent his foot just right, he could take off the boot.
That didn’t work either, and Kathleen showed him no mercy. She only laughed harder as she watched, and not long after, Blaine couldn’t help but join her, laughing softly at his attempts.
“Alright, alright,” he said, scratching the back of his head as he considered his predicament. In the end, he stood and walked over to the wall, wedging his heel between two stones and pressing hard as he raised his leg.
That did the trick. It took him some effort, but he managed to remove his boot, and the rush of contentment he felt at his victory was comparable to the aftermath of a victorious fight.
Holding up his boot in the air, Blaine couldn’t help but cheer. “Who’s laughin’ now, lass?”
“Still me!” said Kathleen, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
“Ach, quiet,” said Blaine, sitting once again across from her. At least the game had taken his mind off the things that were worrying, even for a short while.
The next round was Kathleen’s as well. Blaine levelled her with a strict stare, wondering what other challenge awaited him.
“This one is good,” said Kathleen, much to Blaine’s chagrin. “I used tae say this tae Fenella all the time. Ye have tae go out o’ the room an’ when ye come back, ye must find what it is I have changed in here.”
Blaine smirked to himself. For Fenella, this might have been a challenge, but if there was one thing he did every time he walked into a room, it was to observe everything. Confident he would easily win this, he stood without complaint and left the room, waving at Kathleen before he closed the door behind him.
He didn’t wait long. Soon, Kathleen opened the door again and invited him inside, and Blaine took a moment to scan the entire room with his gaze once.
“The candelabra,” he said, pointing at the one on the nightstand. “It was over there, on the dresser.”
Kathleen stared at him in disbelief, her mouth hanging wide open. “How could ye tell so fast?”
Blaine shrugged. “That’s what I’m trained tae dae.”
Throwing up her hands in frustration, Kathleen picked the cards back up and started dealing again. Satisfied with his victory, Blaine began the next round, and this time was surprised to actually win it.
With a chuckle, he pulled out his smallest blade, handing it to Kathleen. “I dare ye tae balance it on yer finger.”
“I bet even ye cannae dae that,” Kathleen said.
Just to prove her wrong, Blaine proceeded to do just that—balancing the tip of the knife on his finger for several seconds. Anyone else who had witnessed the trick had been stunned by the skill, but now Kathleen was glaring at him as he handed her the knife again.
To her credit, she did her best. She frowned as she watched the knife, concentrating so much on it that she went crosseyed for a few moments, much to Blaine’s amusement. Three times she failed, the knife falling right off her finger, before she finally managed to balance it, even if it was only for a couple of seconds.
Exclaiming in excitement, Kathleen clapped her hands and Blaine laughed softly, a warm feeling spreading over his chest.She was radiant in that moment, glowing with joy from such a simple thing, and Blaine couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“See?” he asked. “Ye could dae it after all. Good lass.”
At his words, Kathleen flushed a pretty pink, her gaze falling down to the cards laid out on the rug between them. When she dealt their new hands, she looked straight at him once more and Blaine’s heart skipped a beat, faltering in his chest.
Never before had a woman made him feel like this. Never before had someone put him under a spell like that. He couldn’t escape Kathleen’s allure.
When she won the next round, Blaine expected another silly dare, but what she said instead was, “I dare ye tae let me trace that scar on yer arm.”
She nodded with her head to his forearm, where a long scar was visible where he had rolled up his sleeve. Suddenly, something seemed to shift between them. The atmosphere in the room changed into something charged, their desire for each other flowing in the air between them. A pang of need shot through Blaine’s chest, his fingers twitching as they almost reached for Kathleen before he managed to stop himself just in time.
It’s only a silly dare.
It wouldn’t matter, he told himself. It would only take a few seconds and then he could come up with an excuse to end the game and call it a night.
