He rolled his shoulders, and she heard the joints crack loudly. The sound made her wine. “Well, I didnae, and I cannae go back in time now.”
This was a fair enough point. Megan narrowed her eyes, taking a step forward.
“This doesnae explain why ye need me. It doesnae explain the ploy ye made to lure me here. Do ye want me to find out who tried to take yer sister?”
Ryder shifted. “Nay, I’ll find out meself. Now, to explain what I want from ye, I must tell ye a wee bit about me sister. Alaina is… well, she’s a wee bit pig-headed.”
Megan bit back a smile. “Of course she is. She’s sixteen and has probably been brought up as a princess. Even without that sort of upbringin’, she issixteen. I recall what I was like at that age.”
“I dread to think,” Ryder murmured, quirking up an eyebrow. “At any rate, ye can imagine what she’s like. She wants freedom, but with our faither’s enemies bouncing around, she cannae simply go walkin’ around wherever she likes. She has to be watched, and she hates bein’ watched.”
“I cannae imagine why.”
“Me duty as her braither is to keep her safe,” Ryder continued, as if Megan had not spoken. He straightened up, pushing away from the desk, and began to pace up and down the room. His expression was inward-looking, almost as if he were talking to himself and not to Megan at all.
“I added guards outside her room,” he continued, “and she was nae pleased. I caught her climbin’ out of her window one night. She didnae plan to sneak out of the Keep, only out of her room. She claimed that she’d planned to climb along to the nextwindow, crawl into that room, and then roam freely around the Keep without her guards knowin’.”
Megan bit back a smile. “She sounds like an interestin’ lass.”
He made a dismissive gesture. “She’s a headache, but I love her. The point is, she is nae fond of the guards. She willnae admit to any danger. And when I forbade her to leave the Keep…”
“Ye didwhat?” Megan interrupted, staring in horror.
He blinked at her. “I forbade her leaving. What else could I do?”
“Well, forbiddin’ a girl of that age to do anythin’ is the worst thing ye can do. It’ll make her want to do it more.”
“Aye, well, I ken that now, daenae I?” Ryder sighed, raking a hand through his hair. “She’s furious about all the new guards and restrictions.”
“I cannae blame her!”
He glowered at her. “I must keep her safe! And that, lassie, is where ye come in.”
Megan pursed her lips. “Explain.”
“Isn’t it clear? I want ye to guard her. I want ye to watch over her for the next three months, which will give me time to hunt downthe men who want to take her and deal with them. I chose me sister’s guard carefully. I have watched ye for a while. Winnin’ the competition was only the final thing I needed to see from ye. I think that ye would be able to keep my sister safe when I’m not around to do it myself.”
Megan blinked, not sure what to do with this sudden compliment. She cleared her throat, glancing around.
“I see,” she managed, a little lamely. “Thank ye.”
He barely seemed to notice. He paced up and down, as restless as a wild animal in a cage. Megan found her eyes following him, up and down, up and down, her chest growing tighter. Whatwasthis feeling?
It’s because he’s handsome,she told herself furiously.If he were old and ugly, he wouldnae affect me in this way. I havenae seen any handsome men in a while, that’s all.
“The thing is,” Ryder continued, reaching up to scratch his head, “ye cannae act like a real guard. She’ll see through that in a moment. This isnae a case of ye replacin’ all the guards and standin’ at attention outside of her room for three months.”
Megan frowned. “Then what am I to do?”
He sighed impatiently. “Ye ken, Megan, I thought this conversation would go very differently from the way it is goin’ right now.”
She bit back a smile. “Well, considerin’ that ye brought me here with the understandin’ that I’d win me faither’s long-lost treasure, ye should probably be glad I’m nae stickin’ ye full of arrows.”
Ryder paused in his pacing, glaring at her. “Careful, lassie. That sounds like a threat. Threatenin’ the laird of a Keep within his own walls is never a good idea. At this range, I am nae sure yer arrows will help ye very much.”
Megan clenched her jaw, lifting her chin. “Ye never stabbed a man with an arrow?”
Ryder chuckled. “Aye. I have. Have ye?”
