She did not walk.
She stormed.
She did not knock when she reached his chamber door.
She did not even think. She simply pushed it open, strode in, and froze as if turning to stone.
Maxwell was in a steaming bath.
Not just a bath.
A large, copper tub filled with water that glistened against his skin.
His very bare skin.
Ariella spun around so fast she almost tripped. Her face went up in flames. Her ears burned. Her thoughts scattered like frightened birds.
“Good God,” she whispered to herself. “Good God, good saints, good everything —”
Behind her, Maxwell’s voice came, maddeningly calm. “If ye meant to knock, ye missed the moment.”
She covered her face with both hands. “I did nae expect ye to be… bathing.”
“It is me chamber,” he said.
“Still,” she hissed.
Water sloshed. She heard him stand. Heard the quiet drip of water sliding from him.
Her imagination betrayed her.Scars. Strength. Broad shoulders. The deep cut of muscle along his waist. The sheer, rawness of him.
She squeezed her eyes shut harder.
“Ye may turn around now,” he said.
She did.
And immediately wished she had not.
He was decent, mostly. Trousers were on. Bare chest still bare. Wet hair pushed back. Water beaded along his collarbone and slid down the ridges of his chest, disappearing where she absolutely should not be looking.
Her voice came out strangled. “Ye broke our rule.”
His brows drew together. “What rule?”
“Me rule. Our agreement,” she snapped. “Ye promised nae to keep me from the truth. Ye promised to treat me as an equal. Yet I had to learn from Mairi in the kitchens that a feast is being prepared for O’Douglas.”
A darker shadow moved through his eyes, but his voice stayed maddeningly steady. “I intended to tell ye tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” she repeated sharply. “When he is expected? Ye expect me to believe that?”
His arms folded across his chest, muscles shifting. “I believe the O’Douglas will nae be arriving until later this week. His men will arrive before him, as will ours.
She stared at him. “Ye are lying. Ye were nae going to tell me tomorrow.”
He frowned. “I daenae lie.”
“Then ye avoided the truth,” she said. “Which is the same thing by a different name.”
