Enough! Now is nae the time!
“So, it’s nae over, then,” Megan murmured flatly. “Alaina is still in danger?”
He nodded grimly. “I believe so. Me guess is that somebody found out about the attempted kidnappin’—well, what wethoughtwas an attempted kidnappin’—and decided to make their own attempts.”
After a moment of silence, Megan leaned forward, tilting her head.
“Ye killed the men who tried to take Alaina the first time, did ye nae? The men Hamish hired? Do ye feel guilty about it?”
Ryder shook his head. “They were mercenaries, and while Hamish was innocent as to what mercenaries are like, I ken full well what they’re capable of. They’ve probably committed worse crimes. In this case, as far as they kent, they were kidnappin’ a lass simply because a lad wanted to marry her. If they were willin’ to do that for money, I’ll nae lose sleep over their deaths.”
Megan nodded slowly. “Fair enough.”
“The mercenaries are not me problem anymore,” Ryder continued, draining his goblet. “Whoever tried to take Alaina from the carriage, however,isme problem. They’ll strike again, I’ll wager, soyerpurpose in all of this is nae over yet. I’ll need ye for a while longer.”
He could feel Megan’s eyes on his face. What was she trying to see in his expression? What was she looking for? He avoided her eyes.
“They’ll strike again? Ye are sure?” she said at last.
He nodded. “I’ve been seen to drop me guard. They’ll try again, and I ken when they’ll try. At the…”
“At the cèilidh,” she finished, understanding dawning. “So that’s why ye daenae want me leavin’ yet.”
He nodded, setting aside his goblet. “The Keep is goin’ to be full of strangers when the cèilidh happens. It’ll be noisy, crowded, and chaotic. It’s the perfect time to snatch away a lass. I willnae be able to keep me eyes on Alaina at all times, and that’s when ye come in. And since she still believes that ye are me betrothed, she’ll not question why ye are stickin’ so close to her.”
Something passed briefly across Megan’s face, too swiftly for him to interpret. The expression was gone as quickly as it had arrived. She drained her goblet and set it aside, folding her arms.
“And once the cèilidh is over, I can go home?” she questioned.
“Aye,” Ryder heard himself say. “I daenae see why nae, if the culprits are caught. So long as I ken that I can count on ye now.”
“Ye can count on me, sure enough. But I’ll leave as soon as we’ve caught these people, so there’ll be nay need for me to stay the full three months. Aye?”
“Aye,” he confirmed. Something was tightening inside his chest, bit by bit, until he could scarcely breathe. It was a new feeling, and an unpleasant one.
It’s nae that I daenae want her to go,he told himself furiously.It’s much more complicated than that. I… I daenae want her to go until the job is done. That’s all.
If he told himself it often enough, then he would unquestionably believe it. And once she had gone, the Keep would return to normal.Hewould return to normal.
“Ye seem keen to get gone, at least,” he added after a moment of quiet. “Ye must be sick of this place.”
Megan pressed her lips together, glancing over at the fire. “I’ve gotten used to it.”
“Hmph. Ye ken what I think?”
She lifted her eyebrows, glancing back at him. “What?”
“I think that ye enjoy challengin’ me.”
A slow smile spread over her face. She shook her head, chuckling quietly.
“So what if I do? I think that ye enjoy tryin’ to tame me.”
“Tryin’? Ha!”
She laughed aloud, and Ryder laughed back. For a moment, the atmosphere was warm and calm. There was a spark in his cold, lonely room that he couldn’t remember feeling before.
The moment passed quickly, when Ryder remembered that Megan was here because he’d all but paid her to be. They might have their games to pass the time, but when Alaina was safe or her three months were up, Megan would leave.
