He couldn’t resist laughing. “I take it ye dinna cook?”
“Only if ye like yer food with a healthy char on it.” An endearing grin pulled at the corners of her mouth. “But getting back to the subject, if ye wish to boot Lady Murdina and her brother from the keep and let the young ones stay, I have no problem with that plan of action.”
“I fear it is not as easy as that because of the wording of the contract.” He joined her at the hearth, noting she kept a respectable distance between them. Admiration at her tenacity to stick to her word both impressed and frustrated him. “Even though I threatened to oust her at the time, one simple night of showing her arse in front of the clan would not be serious enough to dissolve the contract before it has run the thirty days.”
“So, what would it take?”
He leaned closer and lowered his voice to a mysterious whisper. “Why do ye ask?”
“Because I want to know.” She shot an irritated glare at him and tossed in a curt shrug. “Why else do ye ask something?”
“Why, indeed.” He squinted as he tried to remember the contract’s wording. “Deception.” He turned to her and made a face. “Grave deception, mind ye. Not a harmless lie of vanity.”
Lorna nodded. “Anything else?”
Unable to not tease her, he smiled. “What would ye suggest?”
“What I would suggest is immaterial, since the contract is already in force,” she snapped.
Delighting in her mild show of temper, he offered an apologetic nod. “Verra true. But let us suppose ye could add any terminology ye wished. What would immediately dissolve the agreement?”
Eyes narrowing, she counted off on her fingers. “Cruelty to children or animals. Rude and or demeaning to servants. Lying. Cheating. Stealing. Acting like a complete cow.”
Laughter rumbled from him. He couldn’t help it. “Acting like a complete cow, ye say? And how would Lady Murdina manage that?”
Lorna eyed him like he was an utter fool. “Ask yer daughter. Bella would be happy to enlighten ye.”
“I am sure she would.” Still chuckling, he smiled while staring at the floor. “I dinna wish to give the wee youngling any false hope, though, so I dinna believe I will ask her.” He risked a glance her way. “I ken ye feel the same.”
Her smile had turned sad. “I dinna want ye making a mistake that will make ye miserable the rest of yer days.”
“Ye know my reasons.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know yer foolish reasons well and am sick to death of hearing of them. When ye constantly walk backward rather than forward, eventually ye step in yer own shite, ye ken?”
“Bear ye no sympathy for a poor man wishing to protect his heart from more pain?”
“I bear no sympathy for a man who willna let others help him overcome the pain of his past. Instead, he wallows in it, constantly throwing it in his own face.” She caught hold of his arm and shook it. “I may not be a trained counselor, but I have dealt with them enough to know that ye must be willing to do the work. Ye have to battle yer inner demons and the evil that keeps dredging up the pain. Fight them. Whenever they rear their ugly heads, beat them back with all that is good and joyful in yer life. Cast them back into the shadows and drown them with happy memories.”
Unable to help himself, he pulled her into his arms and crushed her to his chest. “Happy memories,” he whispered, then took her mouth with his.
Instead of pushing away, she melted into him, kissing him back with a delicious intensity that shook him to his core. She tasted of honey wine and a fierce need that rivaled his own. Then she pinched the tender flesh under his arm, twisting it until it stung like a burning brand.
He released her with a jerk. “What the devil did ye do that for?”
Chest heaving and her lips swollen and red from the kiss, she shook a finger at him. Fire flashed in her eyes. “Daren’t ye ever do that again! Understand? Not ever!”
“But ye kissed me back!”
With a flustered jerk of her hand, she said, “That is not the point. Ye grabbed me up and kissed me without my permission. Never again, ye ken? Ye belong to another woman, and I have already told ye I will never play second fiddle. Never.”
“But if I did not belong to another woman?”
“Aye, but ye do.” She wiped her mouth on her sleeve and put even more distance between them.
“But if I did n—”
“Stop saying that!” she interrupted. “Because ye do, and there’s naught to be done about it until ye either find yer spine or grow some bollocks and kick her to the curb.”
