The four men continued to make plans while she fumed in silence, the decisions taken out of her hands. She could argue all she wanted, however her wishes would be overridden in this particular democracy. When it came down to it, she couldn’t fight Rutledge and his men on her own.
Her irritation didn’t extend so far as to deny the twins a pleasant farewell when they prepared to find their rooms for the night a short while later. In turn, they enveloped her in tight bear hugs and planted exuberant kisses on her cheeks. She couldn’t help but feel as if she’d gained two new brothers that night. Three, if one counted the more reserved Lord Temple.
“Fine lass ye got here, Connor.” Ian slapped his brother on the shoulder. “Shame we dinnae have a fair chance to give ye some competition before ye won her for yerself.”
“What makes ye think I won her?”
Connor’s grumbled comment caught Piper’s attention and she turned to him with a frown. He’d drawn a step back from them, arms crossed over his chest and a glower marring his gorgeous face.
“Ye get to be the one to carry her across the border, aye?”
“Obviously, he disnae ken how fortunate he is, the galoot,” Tam complained with soft solemnity.
Ian nodded and cast her a wink. “If ye grow weary of his taciturn moods, ye let me know. Dinnae wait too long. Scotland isnae far away.”
* * *
“What does crossing the border have to do with it?” Piper asked when they were gone.
“Ye wisnae listening to the plans?”
“I was busy silently fuming over my lack of control over my own fate. Why?” she inquired. “What is the plan?”
“We discussed this option last night, aye?” He spun away and retrieved the small valise of clothing and personal items Edith had secreted from the cottage from the bed. “If ye wed, Rutledge will have nae advantage over ye.”
Had that been only last night? A single day since she’d experienced the greatest joy of her life? Their night of passion had wiped her mind clear of much of the conversation preceding it, although now that he mentioned it, she did recall his suggestion that marriage would solve the majority of her problems. “The plan is for us to elope?”
“Ye dinnae listen at all?” Connor shrugged a bit too nonchalantly as he read the realization on her face. “It’s the simplest course of action.”
“Just like that?”
He set the bag she hadn’t even had the chance to unpack yet next to the door in anticipation of her grand escape. “If the idea vexes ye, it need no’ be me.”
Needn’t be him? The previous night, she’d briefly determined it couldn’t be him for reasons that no longer made any sense to her. Plan or not, as far as she was concerned, it could be no one other than him.
Given his mulish expression, he did not agree. “Is this the reason for your taciturn mood, as Ian put it?”
“Ye can tell them apart?” He arched a brow and set about removing some of his own clothing from the wardrobe. “My mood isnae taciturn. I’ve more weighty matters to consider than their roguish flummery.”
“Yet you would have me wed one of them instead of you?”
His head jerked, though he merely lifted his shoulder again and focused his gaze over her head. “They are all good men. If they had been here instead of me, any of them might have been the one to—”
“To what?”
His lips curled into a grimace, and at last, she understood what bothered him. When it came to his family, he never thought he measured up. Slipping her hand into the crook of one of his arms, she tugged until he lowered his eyes to hers.
“You were right when you said you didn’t win me.” His body tensed, and she entwined her fingers with his. If only he could see how grand he was when he stood alone. “I consider it quite the opposite, you see. That I am fortunate enough to have won your esteem. Your brothers are amusing, however, they aren’t the ones I want to laugh with each night. Lord Temple is kind and inspires confidence, though it is not his arms I want to comfort me. You are the one I place my faith in. I chose you. I cannot help but wonder how you don’t see that.”
“It wisnae a choice, lass. It was a lack of options.”
Winding her fingers through his hair, she caught a lock and gave it a firm tug. “I could have every lord lined up before me or the whole of the British army to pick from, and I’d still prefer you above them all.”
“Ah, Piper.” He took her hand and flattened it between his, kissing her fingertips.
“What? Unless you’re disposed to argue the night through, I would refrain from debating me on the matter. I could expound for hours on all the reasons I’d choose you.” His expression softened into tenderness and she let her fingers brush across his cheek, enjoying the prickle of his whiskers. Enjoying touching him. As she always had. And always would. “There is no chance, given a hundred years, another could compare. My fear is that I have not proven myself worthy of one day winning your heart in turn.”
“One day?” He shook his head and tugged her into his lap as he lowered himself into the armchair where he’d held her earlier. “God help me if ye put more effort into it.Mo chridhe. My heart.”
