Page 35 of Sutherland's Secret
“It won’t work.”
“You should sleep.”
He grinned. “Ye’re only saying that so I stop telling ye the truth.”
She huffed out a frustrated breath. “Maybe I should sleep, then.”
“Go ahead. There’s room on the other side of the bed.”
“Not with you.” She rolled her eyes.
“Why? We’ve done it before.”
She pressed her lips together, and he chuckled, then groaned. “Now ye’re being prissy. I like sassy better.”
Someone knocked softly on the door, and Colin entered with a large mug. He held it up. “Ale.”
“Colin, ye are my savior,” Brice said.
Colin handed Brice the mug. “Eleanor is yer savior, ye big dolt.”
Eleanor stood, took the mug, and held it while Brice raised his head and drank deeply. When he was finished, she placed it on the table beside the bed.
“What happened?” Brice asked Colin, his gaze surprisingly alert.
Colin shot Eleanor a swift look. “English soldiers. We came upon them unexpectedly. They shot first, hit you right in the shoulder.”
Brice growled and cursed.
“We shot back, got a few ourselves.”
“Good,” Brice said. “Do we know who they were?”
Eleanor held her breath. Blackwood?Please let it be Blackwood, and let him have died.She’d never hoped for something more fervently and was a little taken aback that she would wish for someone’s death.
“No one I recognized,” Colin said. “But then it was dark.”
Brice shifted on the bed. Colin backed toward the door. “We’ll talk later. Ye rest now.”
“What were we discussing?” Brice asked after Colin departed.
“I don’t remember.”
“Sure ye do. I called ye prissy.”
“Ah, yes.”
They fell silent. He wasn’t sleeping. She could tell by the cadence of his breathing. It was a bit erratic because of the pain.
“I like the sound of yer voice. It’s…pretty.”
She smiled. Her voice had been called many things—melodious, musical, lyrical—but “pretty” was by far her favorite description. “My thanks, my lord.”
His lips twisted. “None of this ‘my lord.’ Call me Brice.”
“As long as you don’t ‘my lady’ me and call me Eleanor.”
“Eleanor. Prissy name. You need something sassy, like Ella.”
