Page 77 of Highland Champion
Damnation. He’d come outside to get away from the stifling heat and crowd. He’d purposely chosen a dark corner so no one would find him. He hadn’t seen Melissa anywhere but she must have noticed him sidling toward the French window and gone through another one. He’d not even had time for his eyes to adjust before her arms had been around his neck and she’d pressed herself against him. He’d been trying to disentangle himself by moving her arms when he’d heard the gasp.
And seen Lorelei’s stricken face.
“I was hoping you would come find me,” Melissa all but purred.
“I wasna…” He couldn’t say he wasn’t looking for her. It would be a rude remark to make to anyone, but he’d been around Melissa enough times to know she would behighlyoffended. Tonight’s dinner confirmed that her father completely doted on her. He didn’t need her going to her father to complain about him, especially tonight with all the lords present who could be potential allies. He’d observed many of them talking to His Grace, who seemed to be held in as high a regard as the Duke of Argyll. He couldn’t afford to risk falling out of the man’s favor. Not when they were so close to getting their petition heard.
But he couldn’t risk getting caught on the terrace with his daughter, either.
“I need to go back inside.”
“Why?” She reached for him again. “Nobody is going to see us here.”
He stepped back. “I wouldna take liberties with ye.”
“You would not betakingliberties.” She moved closer. “I aminvitingyou to kiss me.”
The idea was not appealing. For a moment, he had the strangest urge to laugh at the irony of it. If he’d found himself in this position a few months ago, he might have been tempted to do as she asked. Certainly, before he met Lorelei, he wouldn’t have turned down such a request. Melissa was very attractive. A man would have to be blind not to notice her. And yet…he feltnothing.
“I am nae that kind of man.”
Her lower lip thrust out. “You sound like Lord Westwood.”
Alasdair didn’t think he had anything in common withSaintWestwood, but then he hadn’t thought he had anything in common with Campbell, either, and that had changed with the abduction attempt. “Honor is not a bad quality for a man to have.”
“I thought you would be more adventurous than Randolph. Neither of you are anyfun. When I asked him to…” She stopped and clamped a hand over her mouth.
“To do what?” It was a totally inappropriate question but the words slipped out before he could stop himself. What had she asked the saintly marquess to do?
“I… He would not… Oh! Never mind!” With those words she rushed past him and back into the ballroom.
Alasdair let himself breathe a sigh of relief. At least she was gone and that was one problem solved. He turned to look up at the stars, glittering like diamonds across a black velvet sky, and wished that Lorelei were beside him. He would have no problem sweeping her into his arms and kissing her senseless. He sighed. The odds of that happening right now were about the same as King George abdicating and offering him the Crown.
His second problem—trying to explain what Lorelei had just seen—was going to take some very careful maneuvering. And it certainly wasn’t going to be easy.
But he was a MacGregor. He’d find a way.
Chapter Twenty-Three
As Louisa walked into the breakfast room the next morning, Lorelei and Fiona stopped eating in unison and sat back in their chairs to watch her.
“What?” she asked as she went to the sideboard to help herself to some porridge.
“I think ye kenwhat,” Fiona said with a grin.
Louisa didn’t answer right away. Instead, she added a bit of cream and sprinkled cinnamon on her porridge before carrying it back to the table. Then she proceeded to pour tea and stirred some sugar into it. Before she could lift her spoon though, Lorelei tapped her fingers.
“You might as well tell us who he is.”
“I suppose you are referring to Mr. Villiers?” Louisa asked.
Lorelei nodded. “You did not tell us you had a gentleman friend.”
“Well, that is because he is just that. A friend.”
Fiona’s eyebrows went up. “It sounded like ’twas more than that.”
“You danced with him throughthreedances,” Lorelei added.
