Page 110 of Tempting the Highland Spy
“Ye’ve taken a likin’ to her,” Gerard observed with a smile.
God above, that was the understatement of the year.
“Ah, admit it, brother,” Gerard went on. “Ye can scarcely take yer eyes off the lass.”
“A man would have to be blind to be oblivious to her beauty.”
“It’s not just her comely face that draws ye, Harry. I can see how ye look at her.”
“Does it really matter? In a matter of days, she’ll be on her way back to America. One way or another.”
“Ye should be at her side.” Gerard took another drink. “If she’ll have ye.”
“It would never work. I’m needed here, in Scotland.” Harrison stared at the amber-hued liquid, focusing his thoughts. “I have my duty. I’m determined to find thesgian dubh.”
“The agents and I can retrieve that knife.”
Harrison cocked a brow. “I set out to find the dagger. And I intend to do so.”
“And later, after ye can claim the recovery of the artifact? What’s to keep ye here then?”
“Sooner or later, I need to return to Inverness. My medical practice—
“Bah, that’s a paltry excuse if ever I’ve heard one. A man with your abilities can practice medicine anywhere. Have stethoscope, will travel, eh?”
Harrison shot his brother a glare. Seeing Grace board a steamer bound for America would be hard enough as it was. Damned if he needed his brother spouting about possibilities he had no business considering. Between his responsibilities as a physician and his service to the Antiquities Guild, he could not see a way to leave it behind. For so long, he’d neglected his practice. It was time to put his priorities back into focus. His place was here, in the land of his birth.
Just as Grace’s place was in America. She longed for home. He could see it in her eyes.
Damned shame it would tear at his heart to see her go.
Something about Grace chipped away at everything he’d once believed about life. When he was with her, she challenged his way of thinking, the pragmatic approach to life he’d adopted after his older brother’s death.
They finished their drinks, and Gerard set off for a rendezvous with an agent in Falkirk. There was no time to waste if he was to make it to his destination before the sun went down.
Returning to the hotel, he met Grace and Mrs. Carmichael for an early supper. Soon after they finished their meal, Mrs. Carmichael pled exhaustion and retired to her chamber.
Alone—or so it felt, even though in the bustling dining room, they were surrounded by faces and sounds—he met Grace’s dark eyes, reading the questions there.
“I haven’t changed my mind…about tonight,” she said in a near whisper.
He heard the unspoken question in her voice, the twinge of hope and doubt. Fool that he was, he glanced away, stalling as he took another drink. Desire was transient and fleeting.
Duty was not.
Logic and his conscience demanded he make the right choice.
But in all his years, he’d never wanted anything as much as he wanted Grace.
Want.No, that isn’t right, he thought. The word was far too inadequate to express the longing in his heart. It didn’t even come close to describing the way he craved the sound of her gentle laughter and his hunger for her touch. When he held her in his arms and her eyes darkened with passion, the sight sated a need deep within him, a desire he’d never known to feel before he’d first laid eyes on her.
If he had any sense left in his thick skull, he’d cast aside any notion of loving her again.
Instead, he dipped his head, his lips nearly brushing hers. He was a fool. Of that, he had no doubt.
But he craved her with a desperation that defied all logic, all reason. Like an addict yearning for the pipe, he needed her.
“I’ll love you all night, Grace,” he murmured. “Tonight, you’ll be mine.”
