Page 50 of The Highlander's Kilted Bride
Charlie faltered and stopped. “Is something wrong?”
Kade was staring at her with his eyebrows arched high. He looked, well, astonished. Not really in a bad way. Just very, very surprised.
“Do you want me to choose another ballad?” she asked.
“Huh,” he muttered.
She frowned. “Are you all right?”
His smile flashed, so quick and bright that it sparked an answering glow in her chest.
“Yes. Please continue, Miss Charlotte. I am happy to follow your lead.”
CHAPTER8
Leaving the piano, Kade wandered over to the French windows of the music room and absently gazed out over the garden. His work for the last two hours had met with very little success, largely thanks to an eccentric sprite of a woman who was taking up acres of space in his thoughts. Ever since their impromptu concert last night, he’d been sore put to think of anything but Charlie.
Truthfully, he hadn’t known what to expect. But when she had started to play, she’d all but knocked him off the piano bench.
Her bowing technique was excellent and she played with deft assurance, bringing forth dynamic tones from her violin. Of course, there was room for improvement, as there was with any good musician. Kade had itched to make a small adjustment to the position of her wrist that would give her even more flexibility and mastery over her bow.
Her wrist wasn’t the only thing you were itching to touch.
Kade sighed and rubbed his hands over his head, as if doing so might scrub away his muddled thinking. It wasn’t really her technique or her mastery of the material that had captivated him. It was the woman herself, and the way she threw herself into the music, body and spirit. Charlie practically vibrated with life even when just sitting and reading a book. But when she took up her fiddle? Then the energy practically crackled in the air as her lithe form moved in time with the music.
As he’d watched her play, Kade had recalled their arrival at Laroch Manor, when he’d caught that glimpse of her riding in the glen. She’d been like quicksilver then. Or perhaps like a new piece of music, full of surprises, beauties, and promises.
He’d never been the sort of man to tumble over a woman—or stumble over his feelings for her. Had he enjoyed a few minor dalliances with willing ladies? Yes, and so had they. Each time, he and the lady had parted without regret.
Ever since he was a child at the mercy of illness, Kade had relentlessly worked to gain control over his life. Charlie’s very presence threatened to upend that control, and he couldn’t decide if that was good or bad.
“Stop overthinking it,” he muttered as he stalked back to the piano.
He sat down, determined to polish off the second movement before dinner.
When the door opened a few seconds later and Ainsley marched in, he sighed. Clearly, the fates were conspiring against him.
“Goodness, Kade, what have you done with your hair? You look like somebody pulled you backwards through a thornbush.”
“And good morning to you, too, Ainsley.”
He stood and glanced in the mirror that hung over the fireplace. He had to admit his hairwaslooking rather ridiculous.
“It’s noon already,” his sister-in-law said. “I would have wished you good morning if I’d actually seen you this morning. But you skipped breakfast and dodged us all.”
He smoothed down his hair. “I wanted to get an early start on my work.”
He’d also wanted to avoid Charlie, so he’d made do with the coffee and toast a footman had delivered as he was getting dressed.
Ainsley regarded him with disapproval. “You’re still recovering, which means you need proper food and rest. You should not be slaving away for hours on your stupid concerto.”
“May I remind you that the king himself has commissioned this concerto?” he countered. “By the way, your glares and scolds may terrify the other Kendrick men, but they’ve never worked on me. You may leave off at any time.”
“Ah, yes, you’ve always been impervious to my scolds, even when the twins were climbing out windows to escape them.”
“That’s because I liked you from the beginning, remember? And you said that I was the best of the Kendricks—which I am.”
“Sorry, no. You’ve been bumped down to second place behind Royal. After all, he is my husband.”
