Page 57 of The Highlander's Auctioned Wife
Her desire for Gordon couldn’t be trusted, for it kept robbing her of her judgment.
“Be in the courtyard at ten o’clock,” he instructed.
She frowned. “For what reason?”
“Our second rendezvous,” he replied.
“But… they are supposed to be weekly,” she said, her heart thudding a little faster.
He shrugged. “It’s yer choice. If ye’re nae there, I’ll go without ye.”
“To where, exactly?” she asked, her curiosity piqued, her mind racing with memories of the secret cove. What could he possibly do as part of their second engagement, if she wasn’t there?
The slightest hint of a smirk lifted his tempting lips, and as he turned to walk away without a word, his meaning was clear: There was only one way to find out.
CHAPTER 26
The followingmorning was bitterly cold, and Anna hadn’t slept, fretting over whether or not she was going to meet her betrothed in the courtyard for the mystery occasion.
And when shehadslept, her dreams had been a battle of sweet and sour—stirring scenes on pristine beaches that jolted sharply into nightmares of shadows crawling out of the lapping waves, phantom hands dragging her away from Gordon, drowning her in the sea.
As such, she wasn’t as talkative as usual, riding a borrowed horse alongside Gordon.
“Did ye nae rest well?” he asked, after a while.
She cast him a sideways glance. “Nay, I dinnae .”
“Ye can return to the castle to sleep if ye’d prefer.”
“I’m here now,” she muttered. “There’s nay use in me returnin’.”
He shrugged. “As ye prefer.”
They rode on in silence through glistening moorland, the landscape made hazy by the chilly rain. It might have been exceptionally beautiful in the sunlight, but the weather had seen fit to sympathize with Anna’s mood.
“Why wereyedown there last night?” she said, suddenly curious.
“Tendin’ to somethin’,” Gordon replied, as vague as ever.
“What were ye tendin’ to?”
He kept his gaze fixed forward. “Sayin’ some prayers.”
“Did ye manage to, after ye left me?” She realized she must have interrupted the endeavor by being there last night, and felt a little guilty for her unpleasant mood. Guiltier still that she hadn’t invited him into her bedchamber, where she might have…
Done what? Comforted him?She liked to think she would have done just that and only that, but recent history suggested otherwise. Alone in her chambers with him would have undoubtedly led to catastrophe. Glorious catastrophe, perhaps, but a disaster nonetheless.
He nodded. “I did.”
“Ye should have let me come with ye,” she said, mustering a smile. “So I could gain their approval.”
He glanced at her strangely, but quickly returned his gaze to the misty horizon, offering no response. Evidently, it was something he didn’t like talking about, and though her intrigue was a relentless creature in her mind, she decided to wait until he was ready to speak to her about his past. The details he’d skimmed over until now.
In time, he’ll let me in,she told herself. After all, she’d already managed to get him to laugh. If she could do that, she could do anything.
By the time Gordon and Anna arrived at the edge of the village of Morden, the rain had eased, and the sun was just beginning to peek through the clouds, shining down on the bustling market that had overtaken the village square.
“Raspberry buns!” Anna yelped, startling him.
