Page 48 of Laird of Smoke
She gave him a hard shove that almost pushed him off the end of the log, as he deserved.But the sight of his eyes widening in panic was so comical that she couldn’t help but break into giggles.
He couldn’t maintain his expression of outrage for long.Soon he was shaking his head and chuckling right along with her.
When decorum was restored, she asked him, “Why do ye do it?”
“Do what?”
“The subterfuge.The costumes.The deception.”She wasn’t sure she wasn’t askingherselfthat question.“If ye’re not hidin’ from the law, why wear a disguise?”
He shrugged.“’Tis…amusin’.”
Eve didn’t believe him.“’Tis more than that.No one risks the wrath o’ the king for his own amusement.”
The lass was right.And though Adam knew it was folly to confide in a woman he barely knew—a woman who had too many secrets of her own—he didn’t really want her to believe his disguises were all just an amusing entertainment to him.Because they weren’t.
“The truth?”he said with a sigh.
“Aye.”
“I do it to protect the ones I care about.”
Her eyes were full of doubt.“Is that so?”
“Aye.I do what I can to keep them safe.”
“So when ye said ye followed me for my safety…” She looked into his eyes, as if seeking the truth.
Her dark honey gaze melted his resolve.“’Twas true.”
“And when ye came to the priory…”
“I wanted to be sure ye were unharmed.”
Her voice was little more than a whisper.“But ye said ye protected those yecareabout.”
“Aye.”
“So ye care…about me?”
He swallowed.In another moment, if she kept gazing at him like that, with her eyes all dewy and her face all hopeful, he’d close the space between them and show her just how much he cared about her.
But that would be a mistake.She’d already confessed to being untried in the ways of love.And sitting here in his damp leine, he might as well be naked.The last thing an innocent lass needed to witness was the rousing effect she was having on the beast in his braies.
Instead, he acted in her interests once more, protecting her.From himself.With a one-sided smile and a great deal of regret, he said, “O’ course I care about ye.Ye’re my sister, aye?”
Her brow creased.
Before she could shove him off the log again, he stood up and carefully turned away.“We should be movin’ on, m’lady.We’ve a ways to go.”
He donned his clothes, which were still uncomfortably damp, and tried to hide his disappointment as they returned to the road.She was disappointed as well.He could see that.They’d spent the day in a beautiful spring glade, whiling away the time in pleasant conversation, like two old warriors swapping battle stories.And now he’d put a cork in the bottle of their discussion.
He felt bad about it.But if they were to carry on this fiction of being brother and sister, they couldn’t afford to ruin the deception with any show of romantic affection.Even now, with his unruly cock stuffed into damp wool, his show of romantic affection was undeterred.
After about a hundred yards, she spoke.
“So if ye disguise yourself to keep others safe,” she asked, “who was the emissary o’ the Pope keepin’ safe?”
Adam hadn’t been prepared for such a pointed question.
