Page 27 of Trapped with the Vicious Highlander
A grin split his face. He hadn’t had to deal with anyone this challenging for such a long time. Something about Ava holding her own was incredibly… thrilling.
“Would it be also a shock to ye to learn that I have a study?”
Ava laughed. “And how old is the dust on those books?”
Brodrick shook his head, unable to mask the amusement on his face. “Ye really are something, are ye nae?”
“I could say the same thing about you… My Laird.”
Brodrick nodded. “Fair enough.”
He turned to look at Margaret again and was profoundly surprised she was looking right back at him. Not only was she looking at him, but she also had a small smile on her face.
“Let them ken if ye need more food, lassie. Ye can have anything ye want here,” he said to her, returning her smile, before turning back to Ava. “I should invite ye to me study, but I have a feeling ye will have even more to say about the state of it.”
Ava shrugged. “Treasure is still treasure even if covered by mud.”
His lips twitched, and his eyes twinkled. “I shall leave ye be, for now. I have a meeting with some of me men.”
He gave a little bow, which was reciprocated, and then made his way out of the room.
* * *
Ava watched him leave, unable to take her eyes off his back and the way his white shirt clung to it. Nor could she look away from his dark pants and the way he filled them out. The way his form grew even more visible as he walked away from her.
She looked away immediately when he neared the door and turned back.
“I was thinking,” she called, right as he grabbed the doorknob. “I was thinking of taking a walk around the castle, so I familiarize myself with it and know where to take Margaret when she feels ready to leave her room.”
Brodrick studied her, a hint of concern on his face. “I cannae have ye wander the castle unsupervised.”
“Why? Afraid I might get lost in one of the rooms? Or the chimneys?”
He huffed. “Just… stay put. It’s better for all of us that way.”
Ava shrugged.
He closed the door behind him, and Ava was finally able to exhale. The warmth in her cheeks was beginning to subside, and rather profound exhaustion swept through her as she turned to Margaret, who was now holding the parchment once again.
“He is quite the piece of work, isn’t he?” she asked.
Margaret giggled.
As Ava made her way back to her dish to finish her food, she tried not to make it a bigger deal than it was.
The girl just laughed. At a joke about her father.
Perhaps she might make even more progress, at a quicker rate than Ava had initially estimated.
* * *
As the sun slowly dipped beneath the horizon, Ava rose from her bed. She thought back to when she had first arrived.
Flora had said that a cèilidh would be held the day after tomorrow, and for some reason, Ava didn’t know how to feel about that. She had just arrived at the castle. It would be rather brazen of her to assume that anyone except Margaret liked her. She was not ready to step on any toes, and unfortunately, one of the ways to avoid that was to attend the cèilidh.
“I am certain ye will want to make conversation with the men at the cèilidh. They come from every corner of the town. Some come from as far as Inverness.”
Ava had nodded, of course, because what else was she supposed to do?
