Page 30 of Abducted By the Highlander
“Do ye want us to stay together or should I hunt down a purchaser alone?” Symon glanced at Roisin as he spoke before returning his attention to Hugh.
He’d assumed he and Symon would stay together in the market, but he instantly saw the benefits if they split up. Not least because it would be easier for him to find a messenger and send word to the earl, without needing to find an excuse to part company from Symon.
“Ye find a buyer. The lady and I will wait for ye in the inn.” He indicated the closest inn. It was a substantial stone building set back from the market and he was hopeful it would have a private room where Roisin could have a drink and a bite to eat in relative comfort. “Then we’ll purchase the goods Darragh requires.”
Symon gave a sharp nod before leading the horses away, and Hugh turned to Roisin who was gazing at him with an unfathomable expression on her face. His heart sank. Had she been keeping her true feelings to herself while Symon was around? But now that they were alone, did she intend to let him know exactly what she thought of his unpardonable behavior?
Chapter Eleven
Roisin tightened hergrip on her mare’s reins before she did something ridiculous, such as trace her fingertips along Hugh’s jaw. When he had kissed her, her good sense had fled and all the foolish dreams she’d woven around him had once again flooded her mind. Then he’d informed her it was nothing but a strategy, yet instead of wanting to sink through the ground with mortification…
She hadn’t believed him.
She still didn’t.
There was no logical reason for her certainty. She wasn’t so sheltered that she believed a man’s kiss meant anything deeper than a fleeting desire, however much she’d love to think so. Hugh had likely kissed many lasses in the past and there was no reason to think the one they had shared was anything special to him, even if it was to her.
But this certainty that shifted within her, like the fragile flicker of a candle’s flame, would not be extinguished by rationality. It was the same way she’d felt, deep inside, that when William Campbell had washed up on Sgur beach he was Isolde’s soulmate, and how, from the moment she’d met Alasdair, she’d known it was Freyja’s destiny to wed him.
Whether he admitted it or not, Hugh had kissed her because he’d wanted to. Not because it would distract passersby into believing they were a married couple. And maybe he didn’t want Symon to know, either, although she wasn’t sure what difference that would make.
For an eternal moment, he simply gazed upon her with eyes asblue as the finest summer day. She had the surreal notion that if she didn’t break this spell, she might lose her soul forevermore in those sapphire depths.
Would that truly be such a terrible thing?
Before she had time to berate herself for such a foolish thought, he spoke.
“We can wait for Symon in the inn. There’s sure to be a private room I can hire and ye can have something hearty to eat.”
She tore her besotted gaze from him and glanced at the market stalls that overflowed the square like unwrapped treasures. “I’d rather explore the market.”
There was no mistaking the surprise on his face. “Ye would?”
“Ye mustn’t laugh, but I so rarely have the chance to visit such a grand market. I should like to browse.” Even though the coin she had brought with her, and secured in her trunk, had vanished along with most of her possessions, it would still be an intriguing expedition.
“Then we shall explore the market.” He offered her a smile and the warmth in his eyes tugged at her heart, as though no time had passed since they’d first met at Sgur Castle. It wasn’t that she ever forgot she had been spirited away to a rebel MacGregor camp, but the truth was whenever she was in Hugh’s company, the danger she was in simply faded. “It didn’t occur to me that ye’d enjoy such a thing.”
“I went with Isolde and Freyja to a large market the last time Amma and I visited the Highlands.” She didn’t want him thinking she had never been to such an impressive market before, although admitting she had only visited one was likely quite tragic. Ah well, it was too late to regret that now. “’Twas rather thrilling to see so many different things for sale.”
She’d certainly spent a good amount on beautiful new goose quills and had been unable to resist purchasing an elegant swan quill and a vibrant peacock quill, as well as colored inks and a new bronze inkwell, all of which she had left behind in the solar at Sgur.
“Then I’m glad ye have the chance to browse another.”
“’Tis certainly more exciting than entertaining visiting merchants at the castle.”
He laughed, as though she were jesting although she’d been serious. She had never enjoyed the enforced proximity that receiving merchants had entailed, despite whatever luxuries they had brought with them from across the sea.
“I doubt ye’ll find the silks or fine jewelry here that a merchant could acquire.”
“Then ’tis lucky I have little interest in silks and fine jewelry. And what would I do with such things here, anyway?”
He had the grace to wince. “Ye’re right. Here, let me carry yer satchel for ye.”
“Oh.” Instinctively, she clutched the strap that was slung across her breasts, and the images that she had drawn of him flashed across her mind. Of course, he wouldn’t see them if he carried her satchel, but inside she shuddered at the notion of having those portraits she’d sketched with so much tenderness merely inches from discovery by him. “Thank ye, but I can manage.”
“Are ye certain? It looks mighty heavy.” He gave her satchel a dubious glance and she couldn’t blame him. It bulged in a most ungainly manner with everything she had stuffed into it yesterday afternoon. And now that he had drawn attention to it, the weight upon her shoulder magnified excessively.
She forced her fingers from the strap and rubbed her mare’s neck to give her hand something useful to do so she wasn’t tempted to reach out to Hugh instead. “’Tis fine. I’m simply glad I have it.”
