Page 15 of In Love With the Wrong Highland Sister
“Ah, there you are,” James said, grinning as he held out a hand to her. “I was just looking for a dance partner.” He pulled her to her feet to lead her to the dance floor, but he could not hide his surprise when he saw her dress. Although he said nothing, Laria saw the shock on his face and mistook it for an expression of contempt.
“I did not want to be here,” she grumbled, trying to pull away from him. “This is the best dress I have, so if you would rather I did not disgrace you with my frumpy appearance, then I give you leave to let me go.”
“Thank you, Laria, but I am a grown-up man, and I need no one’s permission for anything,” he replied. As the music began, he pulled her into his arms.
“I am not a good dancer,” Laria said grimly. “Don’t say I did not warn you.”
“I am suitably terrified,” he countered, grinning. Why did he suddenly feel as though he was playing a game of chess?
8
“There is nothing wrong with your dress,” James remarked.
“Do not patronize me,” Laria snapped. “My mother said it was a rag.”
“And do you always listen to what your mother says?” he asked, arching his eyebrows in a condescending fashion.
“Of course not! Do not make such stupid remarks!” Laria felt like slapping him.
“And do you treat all men this way?” he asked. “Because I am beginning to feel a little aggrieved.”
“Be quiet,” she growled, glaring at him from under the shadow of her lowered brows.
The two words hit him in the face like blows, and he bristled angrily. “Do not tell me what to do.”
The glare he received was positively venomous, and James thought that if he had possessed a sensitive nature, it might have killed him. Despite the hostility of their exchange, he was enjoying it, and when the dance parted them again, he was eager to pick up where they had left off.
When they came together again, he asked politely: “Are you always so hostile, or am I receiving special treatment?” he asked with a smirk. There was no answer to his question, or to the next one, or the one after that, but James was not a man who gave up easily.
“Then I am forced to believe that you are a stubborn bad-natured person who takes no delight in anything. Poor you. I would hate to be in your shoes.” He gave her a superior smirk.
“And I would hate to be in yours!” Laria growled. “And I will do everything in my power to see that my sister never marries you!” She tried to pull away from him, but he held her hands so tightly that she could do nothing. Despite herself, she found herself mesmerized by the blue orbs of the eyes that were staring down at her and forced herself to relax a little.
The steps of the dance parted them again, and Laria fleetingly thought of fleeing, but his gaze was still holding hers, and she found herself unable to look away.
James, too, was fascinated by his partner, and for the few moments that were left of the dance, he alternately gazed at her with a hypnotizing stare or held her so close that she could not move away from him. He did not know whether to be disappointed or relieved when the music ended, but he certainly knew how Laria felt!
As soon as the dance ended, she whirled around and stalked out of the great hall, then disappeared. James was about to go after her, but he had not taken five steps off the dance floor when Laird Colin McCann intercepted him.
He was a tall, dark, skinny man with penetrating brown eyes and a cadaverous face. His mouth looked like a slash across his face, and he had a massive hooked nose, hollows under his cheekbones, and large ears. McCann had been very keen to have James marry his daughter, almost obsessively so, in fact. For a while, he had even tried to pretend that Agnes was pregnant with James’s child, even though they had never been intimate.
When the rumor began to spread, James had denied it over and over again until, after a while, it became obvious that there was no baby at all and that Laird McCann was simply trying to trap James into marrying his daughter.
There was no denying that James Elliott, with his towering height, muscular body, and handsome face, was a great catch for any young woman. Indeed, most of the ladies were sneaking glances at him or even openly staring. However, that was not his only attraction. He was the heir to a rich estate, and his family had a long and noble history, tracing its ancestry back to a time before the great Scottish King Robert the Bruce.
McCann’s estate was in such a perilous state of disrepair that the laird needed help badly, and a catch like James Elliott could have solved all his problems.
Now, because propriety demanded, James bowed to the odious man and his daughter, then he looked at McCann with narrowed eyes. “What do you want, Laird McCann?” he demanded.
“Good evening to you too,” the laird said. “I merely wanted to greet you and apologize for our misunderstanding.”
“Which one? The one where you put out a rumor that I had got your daughter with child?” he asked scathingly. Then he laughed and stepped forward to within a foot of Colin McCann and glared down at him. Even though the other man was almost six feet tall, James had a height advantage of four inches over him. His fierce eyes were blazing with fury. “You certainly owe me an apology for that, McCann, and thank you, but you are the one who has suffered most since you have made your family a laughingstock. You have also rendered your daughter unmarriageable, which is a pity because Agnes is a pleasant young woman who has plenty to offer a husband.”
Agnes smiled at him gratefully. She had merely been a pawn in her father’s devious game, and he felt desperately sorry for her. She was not an unattractive young woman, looking more like her late mother than her father.
“Laird McCann, for the sake of the MacLean family, I will refrain from harming you, but do not come near me ever again, do you understand?” James glared into his black eyes. “I may not be able to stop myself next time.”
McCann swallowed and said fearfully, “I am sorry. I am completely to blame. I was desperate, and I should not have treated you the way I did. I will leave now, but will you let Agnes stay? She needs to be with people of her own age sometimes, and no one invites us anywhere anymore.”
