Page 59 of Laird of Smoke
Unfortunately, at the same instant, Adam said, “’Twas love at first sight.”
Eve’s eyes widened.“That is, wewerebetrothed, but—”
“After the betrothal was signed and we met for the first time,” Adam interjected, “I knew I had to have her.”
The ladies sighed again.So did Eve.
“Where did ye meet?”someone asked.
Eve chose the most logical place.“At my father’s keep.”
But Adam waxed poetic.“When I first laid eyes on Aillenn, she was standin’ beneath a laurel tree…outside her father’s keep…watchin’ the sun rise.She turned at my approach, and I remember she looked like a saint, her dark hair haloed in golden light, and her beautiful eyes shinin’ like gems.”He clapped a hand to his chest.“When she smiled at me, I knew I’d ne’er love another.”
He looked her straight in the eyes then, and Eve felt her heart catch at the warm affection in his gaze.Everything in her brain told her he was only creating a fiction to maintain their identities.But her soul told her something else.
“And what did ye think o’him,m’lady?”another woman wanted to know.
She stared at the lady, struggling for words.Then she decided she could let inspiration answer for her.Moving her gaze to Adam, she spoke the truth.
“I thought he looked like…Adam.”
By the furrow in Adam’s brow, he feared she meant to expose his real identity.
She rushed to add, “The first man.Made by God in His image.Handsome.Heavenly.Perfect.”
There were oohs and ahhs over that.
Adam blinked in surprise.“Did ye really?”
She nodded, which seemed to please him.
Now the ladies wanted to know everything.“Tell us about the weddin’ feast.”
“How many guests were there?”
“What was served for dinner?”
“Roast venison,” he replied, just as she was saying, “Fresh salmon.”
He added, “Roast venisonandfresh salmon.”
She said, “’Twas a magnificent feast with dozens o’—”
“Hundreds o’ guests,” he blurted, then amended, “At least itseemedlike hundreds.”
“Oh aye,” she said.“My da spared no expense, so happy was he to see me wed to such an esteemed warrior.”
“Warrior?”Pitcairn scowled at Adam, as if his memory had been stirred.“What did ye say your name was?”
“Ronan.But I’m sure ye wouldn’t have heard o’ me.’Tis my first visit to Scotland.”
His answer seemed to satisfy the laird.“What’s your weapon o’ choice?”
She answered for him, fearing he might know nothing about Irish weapons.“He’s an expert with the axe.”
“Indeed?And do ye have your axe with ye, Sir Ronan?”
Eve paled.She hadn’t imagined the laird would want to see it.
