“What? Uh, nay, I daenae.”
“Are ye sure? He seemed very reasonable the last time we talked, but Ry is so very changeable. He…”
“I… I have to go,” Megan managed. Her voice cracked. Ryder was still watching her, and now there was no denying that hewasstaring at her. He was watching her, and he was grinning.
“Ye have to go?” Alaina queried, frowning. “What for?”
“I have a headache.”
“Ye never said anythin’ about a headache until just now. Shall I get ye a ladle of water? There’s a bucket just over…”
“Nay! Nay, thank ye lass.”
“Well, I am supposed to be accompanied by somebody while I’m out here.”
“Yer… yer braither is just over there,” Megan said, choking ever so slightly. She wasn’t exactly lying about the headache. There was a throbbing sensation between her temples, and a tight, hotfeeling in her chest. Was he still looking at her? Yes, he was, of course he was.
He’s laughin’ at me,Megan thought, equal parts aroused and furious. Part of her imagined stamping over to confront him.
And then what? What will I do? Tell everybody that me betrothed had the audacity to kiss me and touch me in bed?
Not quite touchin’, though. He was tryin’ to avoid that.
No, there was no solution here. She made herself turn her back. After all, every time she turned around, it would make it easier when she had to turn her back on him once and for all. That day might come sooner than she expected.
She hadn’tmeantto twist around and look at him, but she did. Megan peered back over her shoulder, and sure enough, he was still watching her. The other warriors were taking their turn at the water barrel, talking and laughing and splashing each other, but Ryder had stepped away, his attention focused entirely onher.
Feeling Ryder’s eyes burn into her back all the way, Megan hurried across the grass and out of sight.
CHAPTER 21
THE DAY OF THE CÈILIDH
“Nobody can settledown in the kitchens; there’s so much to be done,” Flora laughed, nimbly braiding Alaina’s hair into a deft twist. “The steward is goin’ mad. He loses his mind if he sees anybody even sittin’ down. EvenIwas given tasks.”
Sophie clicked her tongue. “That’s nae fair, Flora, ye are pregnant! Ye should be restin’.”
“I find that I daenaewantto rest,” Flora confessed. “Aye, I daenae want to trudge up and down endless flights of stairs, but nor do I want to while away me days with me feet propped up, sippin’ mint tea.”
“I daenae ken,” Megan remarked, sifting through the basket of flowers Flora had brought, shortening the stems and snipping off leaves. “Feet up and mint tea sounds good to me.”
They chuckled at that. Flora caught Megan’s eye in the mirror and shook her head affectionately.
“Maybe it’s just me, but bein’ with child has made me restless. When ye are pregnant, Lady Megan, ye must tell me how it makes ye feel, and we can compare notes.”
Megan’s smile faded a little at that. Flora’s careless reference to Megan’s expected marriage and pregnancy reminded her of the obvious—that in the eyes of everybody, she was Ryder’s betrothed and would soon be his bride.
Alaina glanced over at Megan, her expression unreadable. Flora clucked her tongue and nudged Alaina’s head back into place.
“Is there another daisy in there, Lady Megan?” she asked, finishing one braid and moving onto the next.
“Aye, a couple. Here.”
Sophie had come up with the idea of braiding flowers into their hair, and Alaina jumped on it eagerly. She insisted on lots of daisies, and if Megan had had to make a guess, she’d have said that daisies just so happened to be Hamish’s favorite flowers.
The party wouldn’t start in earnest for an hour or two, but some guests were already arriving early. Not the important guests, of course. They would be fashionably late.
Megan and the girls couldn’t be late. It was rude of the hosts to be late.
