“Ye dinna answer,” he whispered, shifting ever so slightly and brushing a hand down her arm from shoulder to elbowwith an awkward, hesitant stroke. “I do mean to win yer trust,” he finally said. Then he fell silent, his mouth still excruciatingly close. All she needed to do was lean in—just lean in a little closer. No. He needed to do it.She felt the warm, soft brush of his breath against her skin. Sadie held her breath, waiting and hoping that Alec MacDara would finish what he had so artfully started. He needed to be the one to kiss her. Not the other way around.
Alec’s hand that had been hesitantly brushing up and down her arm paused just above her elbow and squeezed, holding tight as though he suddenly feared she was about to turn and run. Running had left the list of options at least a dozen heartbeats ago.She wasn’t running anywhere. She wasn’t about to leave until she figured out what the devil was going on. And she also wasn’t about to miss what promised to be the best kiss of her life.
Just one kiss. No harm in a little kiss.Sadie risked sliding a hand to the center of Alec’s firm chest, tracing her way up the ridge of buttons pulled tight between his pecs, until she brushed her fingertips against the heat of his bare throat. His pulse was pounding out a rhythm just as thunderously scattered as hers. Wow. He was as scared as she was.
Alec squeezed her arm again while lacing the fingers of his other hand into her hair and tilting her head back.
Good. He was finally going to kiss her. What could one little kiss hurt?
Something suddenly flickered in his eyes and he stiffened beneath her touch. His hands dropped away and he took a step back, politely ducking his head and pointedly doing all he could to avoid making eye contact. “I shall leave ye now to unpack yer things.”
He coughed, covering his mouth with his fist as his voice rasped with a deep huskiness—the huskiness of a man fightingfor control. “I am certain ye wish to get settled afore ye start yer duties.”
Sadie didn’t say a word, just folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the deck railing.
He cleared his throat again, then stole a quick glance up at the sun. Flexing his hands into fists, then slowly relaxing them, he jerked his chin down with a decisive nod. “Aye, ye’ll get yerself settled and we’ll have the noonday meal with the rest of the family. I’ll send Ross or Ramsay to fetch ye, then I’ll give ye a tour of the park and we can get better acquainted so ye can feel comfortable teaching me all ye ken about this filming business yer sister has planned for Highland Life and Legends.”
Still refusing to look her in the eye, Alec politely nodded in her direction, then was gone before she could reply. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear the man was doing his best not to break into a run. Tapping a finger against her disappointed lips, she couldn’t help but smile. Maybe she wasn’t the only one on treacherous ground here.
CHAPTER 6
“Iam a damn fool.” Alec cradled his head between his hands while propping his elbows on either side of the empty plate in front of him. He hadn’t meant to attempt a kiss—or get so close to actually stealing a taste of Sadie’s sweet mouth. He’d sworn he was going to take care. Put her at ease. Be cautious. Convince the woman that he meant her no harm or disrespect.
But then she’d been so damn tempting. So fragile and sweet—looking up at him with those dark eyes that reminded him of the finest amber whisky swirling in the torchlight. He’d almost sampled those ruby lips of hers. Almost given in to temptation. His fingernails dug into his scalp and he closed his eyes against the memory. He’d resisted. Barely. Surely, he’d avoided what would most certainly have been a disaster. Thank the gods and all the demons of hell that he’d stopped himself in time.
“Ye tried to kiss her,” Dwyn repeated as he peered over the sagging pages of the daily gossip paper he held in midair in front of him. The demigod was all-knowing, but it never ceased to amuse him to keep up with the tall tales and bold lies the paparazzi told about unsuspecting celebrities. “After all yer talk about taking care and not scaring her away, ye nearly kissed thewoman before she’d even been here a full hour. She hadna even had time to unpack her wee bags.” Dwyn snapped the paper taut, then raised it back up, his voice booming loud and clear from behind it. “Aye. I believe ye’ve called it right on the money this time, Alec Danann MacDara. Ye are a damn fool.”
Miss Lydia thumped him in the center of his back as she toddled past him. “Elbows off the table and man up because I hear her coming up the steps. You fouled out in your own game—now fix it and stop your whining.”
Meddling old woman.Alec obediently straightened in his chair, sucked in a deep breath, and made a silent oath. He would win her trust. One poorly handled battle would not lose this war. He would win this.
Light footsteps pattered up the stairs behind him. Alec rose from his chair and moved to stand behind the empty place setting to his right. “All settled into yer rooms, are ye?” Damned if he didn’t sound like one of those overstuffed hotel maître d’s that he and Dwyn had encountered in New York City when Dwyn had dragged his arse to that confusing place of light, noise, and entirely too damn many people.
Sadie beamed up at him with what appeared to be a genuinely relaxed smile. “All settled in and thank you again. My suite of rooms is awesome.” She wrinkled her nose, lifting it with an appreciative sniff. “I really hope that’s lunch, because it smells delicious and I’m starving.”
Good. Perhaps he hadn’t fared so badly in their first skirmish. She seemed no worse for his actions.Alec gallantly pulled out her chair. “Mistress Lydia is the finest cook in all of North Carolina. If ye leave her table feeling deprived, the fault will be yer own.”
Sadie took her seat and Alec helped her scoot closer to the table.
“Thank you,” she said softly as she took the cloth napkin from beside her plate and spread it across her lap.
The smile she gave him warmed his heart, making him wish they were the only two people in the room; then he could make up for his earlier mistakes without any help from Dwyn or Mistress Lydia.
“I’m not used to such gallantry. I’m afraid chivalry is dead in Los Angeles,” Sadie said as she added a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint to the tall glass of iced tea Miss Lydia placed beside her plate.
“Aye, well—’tis alive and well here in Brady, North Carolina.” Alec propped his elbows back on the table, folding his hands above his plate.
Miss Lydia turned from the stove and gave him a pointed glare. She cleared her throat with a loud, growlingahembefore turning back to her bubbling pots and pans.
Removing his elbows from the table, Alec shifted in his seat. Damn the old woman. She needed to stop treating him like an ill-mannered lad rather than the acting chieftain that he was.He didn’t say the words aloud, just straightened, sat taller in his chair, and returned Miss Lydia’s glare.
“Will Esme be joining us for lunch today or is the wee beastie still on a rampage?” Alec truly hoped the answer wasyes. Sullen or not, if his sister was present, at least the interfering old woman would have a target to nettle other than himself.
“Esme is dining in her room, where she’s also likely to spend the rest of her life if her mother and I can’t talk some sense into that hard head of hers.” Miss Lydia plopped a heavy ceramic soup tureen down on the table and handed Alec the ladle. “Serve your lady and yourself while I finish dishing up the barbecued brisket and the bread.”
His lady. Quite the ring to those words.Alec stole a discreet look at Sadie, relieved that she didn’t seem bothered a bit byMiss Lydia’s verbiage. “D’ye fancy chicken and dumplings then? Mistress Lydia lets nothing go to waste. Last night’s leavings of the roasted chickens is today’s tempting stew.”
Sadie leaned forward, holding out her bowl. “Waste not, want not, and what better way than with chicken and dumplings? I adore them.” Her eyes grew ever wider as Alec kept ladling, filling her bowl to the rim with a Highlander-sized portion. “Uhm . . . wow—that’s a lot.”
