“If she sits, bring her here,” Emma replied.
Stella saw Emma and lifted both arms. The nurse obliged, and the baby came warm and heavy into Emma’s arms, snuggling into her neck at once, an adorable giggle escaping her lips. Emma smiled and gently rubbed the baby’s back.
“She is quite taken with ye, is she nae?” Jack noted, his voice low.
“Ye’re nae the first person to say that to me today, believe it or nae,” Emma answered.
“Then she is a clever lass.” He then paused. “For today, I thought we could continue with the training.”
Emma kept her gaze on the child. “And what if I daenae want to train?”
“Then I will try again tomorrow night,” Jack said, a hint of a smile in his voice. “Midnight. Outside me study.”
“Ye are incredibly persistent, are ye nae?”
He leaned even closer to her, his breath making the hairs on her neck stand on end. “I can be many things.”
Her stomach fluttered as she shifted Stella higher, as if the child had grown heavier at that moment. “I still daenae ken if this is a good idea.”
“If ye expect me to give ye another lecture on how to defend yerself, ye have another thing coming.”
Emma exhaled. It wasn’t like she could get out of this anyway, no matter how hard she tried.
“We will see,” she allowed.
“Aye, we will,” he murmured, straightening in his seat.
Across the table, Catriona was speaking with Olivia about vinegar and bay salt. Ava was arguing with the younger maid over the ribbon again, this time on principle.
Everything at the long table felt ordinary, but Emma knew it was far from it. She stole a glance at Jack again as the baby pressed down on the collar of her dress. He grabbed a cup of water and drank it, then turned to her, a smile on his face.
“Ye are too close,” she pointed out quietly.
“I am where I should be,” he said.
“The hall is full,” she added. “They are looking.”
“They always do.” He shrugged. “Let them.”
“Ye like that.” She kept her tone light. “All eyes on the Laird.”
“What I like,” he said, “is knowing who stares and why.”
“What about me?” she asked. “Why do ye stare at me?”
He did not deny it. “Because ye are hard to look away from.”
She swallowed and turned her head away. She knew better than to answer him. It would only push him to banter even more with her.
She didn’t know why she suddenly felt this way. Usually, she loved pushing him to the limits during their verbal exchanges. This one, however, felt a bit different. Perhaps it was because they had more eyes on them than usual.
She tapped Stella’s back and counted slowly to ten in her head. When she reached ten, she started over.
Catriona rose and came around to tickle the child’s foot. “Is me girl awake or only pretending?” she asked.
“Awake enough,” Emma replied.
“Let me take her for a bit,” Catriona said. “Ye have barely eaten.”
