Page 48 of The Highlander's Auctioned Hellion
“Are you expecting an invasion?” she demanded.
“And what if I am, lassie, are ye goin’ to be the one to fight the warriors?”
“I am sure if we women were taught to fight, we would be far superior to men about it.”
“Is that so?”
“It is,” she said confidently, and then as her eyes traveled over his enormous frame, she licked her lips. “Perhaps without such a height advantage.”
Callum snorted, releasing his sword and placing the glass on the table.
“Was there somethin’ ye needed?” he asked gruffly.
“Well, I doubt this meeting can be classed as—what did you call our interactions? Ah, yes,absolutely necessary,but I wanted to ask you a question.”
“Och, aye? Go on then.”
“Why do you never spend any time with the girls?”
Callum’s gut clenched at the question, and he would have liked to down the whiskey and pour himself another as a response.
What business does this vixen have askin’ me about me family?
“Is that all ye wanted to ask? Because I have things to be gettin’ on with.”
Lydia blinked at him and then stalked forward, a slim finger pointed at his chest.
“You brought me here to care for your nieces, did you not?”
“Aye.”
“Well, then, I amcaringfor them by ascertaining from their uncle why he ignores them every chance he gets. A mother is important for a little girl, but a father is just as necessary.”
“I am nae their faither,” he growled, his patience snapping like a cord. “This isnae yer concern, woman.”
“Well, then, whatismy concern? They tell me their mother barely spent any time with them either! That their father was in his study from dawn until dusk, forcing them to play with theirmaidsrather than get any attention from their family. Do you think you are helping them by treating them this way?”
Callum’s blood was pounding between his ears, his chest tight with tension.
How dare she tell me how to care for me own nieces.
Lydia arched a knowing brow at him, and the superior look on her face was the final straw. She gasped as he stepped forward, lifting her off her feet and carrying her toward the wall.
She let out a smalloomphsound as her back hit the rough stone, and he pressed her up against it, growling at the back of his throat.
“Ye willnae speak of the wee ones again, is that clear?”
“No,” she retorted without a hint of fear. “I will hold you to your obligations.”
“Me obligations?”
“Yes. You have two children to care for, Callum. No matter how much you wish to push everyone out of your life and lock up your heart with an iron key, you still love them. I can see it in your eyes.”
I like the way me name sounds on her lips.
“Ye dinnae ken me, woman,” he whispered.
He had intended to teach her a lesson, frighten her to make her run from the room.
