Page 25 of A Two-Faced Laird
Abruptly, Lewis asked, “Why are you wearing your bathrobe?”
Edina looked down at herself, suddenly realising that she was naked but for the flimsy woollen robe. Granted, it covered her from head to foot, but her feet were bare, and she was standing on cold stone flagstones. She had not even realised she was shivering, so caught up was she in her interaction with Lewis.
“I—just got out of the bath,” she replied, her teeth chattering.
“So you felt a pressing need to run to this desolated room, half naked?” he asked drily.
“I-I wanted to look at the picture,” Edina replied lamely, her teeth chattering.
“And you could not wait until you were properly dressed?” Lewis shook his head as Edina turned away.
She began to run, holding her robe shut as she did so, but Lewis could see that she was having trouble.
“Wait!” he called.
Edina stopped, and before she could react, he swept her off her feet and into his arms.
She gave a little squeal of surprise, then relaxed, loving the feeling of being held against the hard warmth of his body and being jogged up and down as he moved. She could have stayed where she was forever, she thought.
“I can walk,” she told him, laughing.
“I know, but I have walked barefoot on these floors myself,” he replied, “and I know that by now your feet will be nearly numb. Whatever possessed you to come out half-naked like this?”
He looked down at her, frowning, but regretted it at once. Those eyes…those lips. He urgently tore his gaze away from her.
“I was in a hurry,” she replied. “I wanted to be back in time to dress for dinner.”
“Why did you not dress first?” Then he answered his own question. “Because you were always so impulsive, always scrambling up trees and pretending you wanted to jump off the turrets.”
Edina giggled. “I might have done it one day if you two had not stopped me. The lowest one is only about ten feet off the ground.”
“Still high enough to break your leg,” he informed her as they began to climb the stairs.
Edina said nothing more until he set her down outside her chamber door.
“I wish we had those days back again,” she whispered. “Don’t you?”
“Sometimes.”
His face looked rather sad, she thought.
“I should only take twenty minutes or so to dress,” Edina told him. “Can you come and get me? There is something I want to show you.”
Lewis looked at her suspiciously. “What?”
“You will see,” Edina replied mischievously.
Lewis sighed and looked at her with narrowed eyes. Despite his better judgement, he knew he was going to do as Edina asked; when she was in this playful mood, she was impossible to resist. He pretended to be reluctant.
“I will come with you,” he told her, “to keep you safe, although somehow I know I am going to regret it.”
Then he watched as she closed the door behind her. His heart was hammering, and he was so preoccupied when he went to his room to dress for dinner that Mick asked him if he was quite well.
“Just tired, Mick,” Lewis told him.
It was his excuse for everything these days.
When he had finished dressing, he went to Edina’s chamber and waited outside for a moment. When the door opened, and she stepped outside, Edina had a mischievous smile on her face.
