Page 36 of The Highlander's Kilted Bride
And that cryptic remark demanded an explanation, as soon as her feet were on solid ground again.
Charlie pried the cat from her shoulder and gently clasped her by the scruff of the neck. “Now, be a good girl, Maisy, and don’t claw Mr. Kendrick.”
Then she braced one hand against the trunk and leaned down as far as she could as she prepared to drop the little bugger into Kade’s outstretched hands. Thanks to that maneuver, he got an unexpected eyeful down the front of her bodice. Smooth, white breasts plumped out over the tops of her stays, and he fancied he could even see the rosy edges of her—
“Are you ready, Mr. Kendrick?”
He snapped his gaze up to meet hers, which, above her flushed cheeks, looked rather annoyed.
“Er, yes,” he replied, mentally wincing. “Perfectly ready. Fire away, Miss Stewart.”
She let go her mewling charge. Luckily, Maisy dropped straight into Kade’s loose grip, and he managed to catch her around her ribs. But she immediately wriggled away and fell to the ground, taking off like a shot in the direction of the stables.
Tommy and Billy exploded in hot pursuit.
“Thanks, Miss Charlotte,” they hollered over their shoulders as they pelted after the kitten. Peter doffed his cap and headed after his brothers.
Charlie shook her head. “Rascals. I have a sneaking suspicion I’ll be doing this on a fairly regular basis until Maisy is big enough to get down on her own.”
“Perhaps one of the grooms can go up next time. You keep tempting fate like that, and you might take a nasty tumble one day.”
She looked down on him, gently swinging her feet and clearly at ease on her perch. “I’ve been climbing these trees since I was a little girl, and I’ve yet to take a tumble. Didn’t you ever climb trees when you were a boy, Mr. Kendrick?”
“As a matter of fact, I did not.”
“Of course not. Because you were sick.” She grimaced. “Sorry. I can be such a ninny sometimes.”
“There’s no need to apologize. I suppose I could have climbed a tree if I’d had a burning desire to do so, though it surely would have sent my entire family into a lather.”
“It must have been difficult not to be able to run about and raise Cain like the rest of your brothers.”
He smiled up at her. “Or like you?”
She smiled back. “Or like me. I’m sure I could have given your siblings a run for their money.”
“In all fairness, unlike the rest, my brother Braden was very well-behaved and serious. And I did have my music and studies, which kept me very happily occupied.”
“Still, it must not have been easy.”
To be so sickly—and so sick of being sickly—that sometimes he’d wanted to rampage from one end of Castle Kinglas to the other? No, it had been the opposite of easy.
He shrugged. “I was fortunate to have a family that loved me and did everything they could to make life easier for me.”
“That part must have been nice,” she said, again sounding wistful.
“Now, are you going to spend the rest of the day up there? Because I’m getting a crick in my neck, and you know how delicate my health is. I might have to retire to my bed with a hot compress and headache powders.”
She huffed out a laugh. “For someone who used to be so sickly, you’reverytall and quite as brawny as your brothers.”
“I am, which means I am well able to catch you. Having practiced on Maisy, I feel sure I’m up to the task.”
And having caught a glimpse of her various feminine attributes, Kade rather thought he’d very much enjoy catching her in his arms.
“That’s not necessary, sir, but you should step back now.”
He did so, and she pushed off from the branch, landing in front of him in a neat crouch.
Good God.The woman was a veritable Amazon.
