Page 31 of The Highlander's Alluring Spy
Heshouldregret it! So should she! Why on Earth was her brain behaving in such a maddening manner?
“Of course, My Laird. I think the summer is affecting all of us in our common sense,” Magnolia replied.
Nathair chuckled. “Why dinnae ye take the rest o’ the day, Magnolia? I’ll stay wi’ the bairn. William’s comin’ over again later, and Elaine would be right upset at me if I didnae let her play wi’ her favorite uncle.”
“That’s…very generous, My Laird,” Magnolia told him, once again taken aback by her surprise. “And not necessary. I know that you are busy, and—”
“Aye, but ye’re busy a’ the time, too. I never even saw this wee button yesterday. It’s a’right. Take the evening to yerself. Ye’ve had her all day out in the village, ye must be tired,” he said softly.
“Oh, yes, Maggie! I’d like to go play with Uncle William. Please?” Elaine asked, looking to Magnolia with those wide, silvery, pleading eyes.
Magnolia couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, all right, then. I suppose I shall find some other way to occupy my evening. Thank you, My Laird.”
He nodded at her. She walked forward to move past them, but as her body approached his, she was almost overwhelmed by a sudden, intense longing.
She ached to touch him again, to taste his lips once more. She wished to run her fingers over the hard muscles and the deceivingly soft skin, to feel what it was like to be in his power, and to have him in her own power…
“Magnolia,” Nathair gruffly said after she had passed.
She shook her head to clear those ridiculous thoughts before turning back to him. “Yes?”
“I willnae be visiting the library this eve. Just so ye ken,” Nathair told her. Then without another word, he turned and carried Elaine off into another corridor.
Magnolia stayed where she was, staring at where he’d been.
What was that supposed to mean?
Was he talking about the kiss? About the books? Or about something decidedly more sinister?
Just what was going on with this secretive Laird, who everyone seemed to love, anyway?
9
The Laird and the Commander
Not for the first time, Nathair wondered to himself what Magnolia was looking for. It was clear to him now that she was searching for something, but he hadn’t a clue what.
Did she wish for a new husband? A new home? Perhaps her old ones had been less than satisfactory.
Or did she dream above her station? That was unlikely but possible.
She is high born, of that I am fair certain. Though maybe not as high as I thought.
Perhaps she was looking for a rise in her social status? That would explain why a nanny had traveled all the way from the South of England to work in the Highlands. It was a far journey even for some Scots, never mind for such a foreign woman.
Or maybe she simply wanted to be educated beyond what her parents had ever allowed. It wasn’t entirely uncommon in women of her assumed status.
She indeed spends a lot o’ her time in me library. Maybe it’s learnin’ she’s seekin’ in all those dusty old tomes.
One thing was obvious. Magnolia was more than just a traveling nanny. She had an agenda, one that was not yet clear to Nathair. And yet, and yet, despite all that…he trusted her. He’d realized this to his shock and discomfort during his rest day after the kiss. Whatever her goal, it didn’t matter.
She cares about Elaine. She wouldnae hurt her.
And it went further than Elaine. Nathair cared about Magnolia, too. He still didn’t know how he was supposed to feel about that. It felt like a form of unfaithfulness. He’d never felt anything close for any woman except for Catrina, and he felt as though he was betraying his wife’s memory by lusting after the nanny.
Ye were raised better than this. What would yer Faither have to say?
If he was honest, he had no idea. He had not been old enough to really talk of women before his father was taken from him.
