When she paused again, this time glancing down, Lucian captured her chin and tipped her face to his.
“Dinnae forget I’m a Highlander.” He released her chin and held out his arms, turned in a slow circle. “It’s no’ hard to see, given my kilt and such.
“Keep that in mind, lassie.” He stopped then, once again folding his arms.
“I will.” She waved a hand at the window. “It’s a full moon night. I might only have seen a moonbeam.”
“You dinnae believe that.”
She glanced at the door. “No, actually, I do not.”
Lucian went to peer into the shadowy corridor. “No one is about, not a soul will hear you,” he said, closing the door. “So tell me what happened?”
“The old woman was bent over,” she began, pacing back and forth in the little room as she spoke. “It was hard to see what she was doing because she was all in black, even wearing a hooded cloak. But I thought she was tying her shoelaces.”
“Her shoelaces?”
She nodded. “I did catch a glimpse of a small black boot peeking out from the hem of her cloak.”
“So why did an old woman adjusting her boot’s laces make you come in here?”
“That’s just it – she did.”
Lucian frowned. “She was in here?”
“Yes, I mean no.” Her brow pleated. “She just looked like she’d come in here.”
“I see.” Lucian stroked his chin.
“No, you don’t.” She stopped pacing and set her hands on her hips. “Whatever she was doing, she was right ahead of me in the corridor. When she straightened and kept on, I saw a red plaid shoelace on the carpet. Naturally, I picked it up and followed her, thinking to return it to her. But then…”
“She came in here?”
“That’s what I thought. But…”
Lucian knew. “When you entered to look for her, she wasn’t here.”
She nodded. “Yes! That’s exactly how it was.”
“Let me see the lace.” Lucian hoped she wouldn’t answer as he expected.
“That’s the weirdest thing,” she said, just as he’d guessed. “As soon as I stepped in here, I was no longer holding the red plaid shoelace. It was gone. I looked everywhere to see if I’d dropped it, but I didn’t find it.”
“Och, it’ll be about somewhere.” Lucian went over to her, set his hands on her shoulders. “Dinnae fash yourself, lassie. Think of the shoelace as a gift.”
She blinked. “A gift?”
He smiled. “Highland magic, if you prefer.”
“You truly believe?”
“My ancestors would come after me in the dead of night if I didnae,” he said, deepening his burr. “They’d ride a swirl of Highland mist clear into the heart of this great Sassenach city and scold me as I sleep.”
“Is that so?”
“True as I’m standing here.”
“You, sir…” She tilted her head and twirled a length of her glossy red-gold hair around her fingers. “You are teasing me.”
