Page 7 of Married to the Icy Highlander
Blaine had been hesitant to agree at the beginning. The fact that he was the only man she had ever met who she didn’t think was going to take advantage of her was exactly the reason she had asked him in the first place. However, perhaps that was only because he never intended to follow through on his promise.
“And what did me braither ask for in return?” the Laird asked, his eyebrows arched.
She couldn’t hold his gaze. She turned her head and started to move away, but the hand that had touched her so gently just a moment ago gripped her chin roughly and yanked her back to look at him. Now, she was forced to face the uncomfortable position that she had put herself into.
She could claim that Blaine wished for nothing and then explainthat, or lie to her Laird and risk insulting him.
Unable to look away, Ceana was at risk of losing herself in the Laird’s eyes. She pursed her lips, staring up at him defiantly.Were he anything less than a laird, she would have wrenched herself free and probably slapped him in the face. She balled her hands into angry fists. It felt like he was testing her for reasons that she couldn’t fathom.
“Just state yer price, M’Laird,” Ceana gritted out. “Ye must ken about me family’s situation. So, what are yer expectations of this marriage?”
The Laird dropped his hand, and she resisted the urge to rub her jaw.
Why did he look so skeptical? There was no point in avoiding the issue when she could cut straight to the heart of things. He was the one who made the offer anyway!
“I never thought me braither would end up with such a feisty, little thing,” he said, a hint of a smile on his lips.
Try as she might, she couldn’t resist the urge to roll her eyes at him.
“Ye are right, of course. I would never marry if I had nay use for ye,” the Laird continued, his forearms resting on his knees. “But before we seal the deal, ye must agree to all me rules…”
Rules?
“Ye think I’m just goin’ to blindly agree to yer rules and nae have any of me own?”
He didn’t answer her. He stood in a motion far too fluid for a man that large and muscular. He offered her a hand so that he could help her to her feet, but she didn’t need his help. It was bad enough that she found herself begging for a man’s help when she wished that she could resolve the issue on her own.
With an amused laugh, the Laird motioned for her to take the seat across from his desk. She considered not complying just so that she could feel the smallest bit of control over the situation. But running so far…
With a grimace, she sat in the chair he had indicated.
The Laird walked back to his desk and then leaned against it. He pulled a sheet of paper toward himself while watching her in a way that made her skin tingle.
“One, ye must raise me daughter like a Lady.”
Ceana blinked. She had intended to sit there and sulk, but she could not help herself. “Yer daughter?”
He lifted a finger and pressed it to her lips to silence her as he shook his head softly.
“Two, ye must nae interrupt me,” he continued.
The Laird was enjoying this far too much. Anger started to bubble up inside her at being silenced like that. When she was quiet, he raised another finger.
“Three, ye must nae bother me nor make demands of me. Nay seekin’ me out unless it’s about me daughter or our castle.”
Ceana didn’t know what to make of that one. It sounded more like he wanted a nursemaid than an actual wife. They would be wed but they wouldn’t see one another? She supposed that might be a suitable option. She would at least get to have time to herself if nothing else.
She had never truly given extensive thought to having a child of her own, nor to being a mother. But how hard could it be? She had a hand in raising Peter, and she had helped her mother with everything… Certainly, it could not be that difficult.
“Four, ye must give me an heir.”
That caught her attention.
Ceana’s eyes flickered to him, suddenly more alert than she had been a moment ago. It would be expected, of course. She would have to have an heir—he was a laird and only had a daughter.
“And in exchange for all of that, ye’ll have whatever reasonable freedoms me title can provide.”
Silence fell between them for a long while after he finished speaking. When it was obvious that he wasn’t going to add any more rules, she leaned forward, ready to bargain and argue with him as needed. It was only going to be a contract, after all. He could promise her freedom and take it away in the next moment.
