Instead, he flashed a faint smile and tilted his head.
“Ye daenae seem upset.”
“Upset? No, of course not. You say that it was a mistake… well, if that is a mistake, I’d be happy to make a few more with you.”
He gave a huff of laughter. “I can imagine so. What am I goin’ to do with ye, lassie?”
She lifted her chin. “Marry me, I suppose.”
“Good Lord.”
“No, I mean it! I have explained my reasons, and I believe that you are clever enough to understand them. Besides, after all that, it would be the respectable thing to do.”
“Ye seem to care a good deal about respectability.”
“When it suits me.”
He chuckled again, shaking his head. For a moment, in the firelight, with his face free of its usual scowl, he seemed much younger than before.
Callum stepped forward, hand outstretched. She half expected another searing kiss, but instead he cupped her cheek, leaned in, and pressed his lips faintly to her forehead. The touch was the chaste kiss, the sort one would give a particularly troublesome great-aunt. Melody’s heart sank further.
“Perhaps we will marry, after all,” he said at last. “But nay more mistakes, lass.”
She bit her lip. “None at all? I don’t understand. Did I not do well?”
He pulled back, frowning at her. “What do ye mean?”
“Just thatyoudid extremely well—not that I have anything to compare it to—whereas I simply…Well, I just stood there, didn’t I? I didn’t do much. The only reasons for that, you see, is that I didn’t know whattodo. I haven’t ever been kissed before, except by you, so all of this is very new to me, and I just…”
“Lass…”
She plowed on, determined to get out the little speech spooling in her head.
“I just think that with a little practice, or perhaps a few suggestions, I could be good at makingmistakes. It’s not entirely fair for you to do all the work while I do nothing. I’m more than willing to make some mistakes of my own if you’d only tell me what…”
“Lass. Lass.Melody.”
He stepped forward, cupping her face in his hands. The gesture slowed her babble—she was secretly relieved to stop talking—and forced her to look up at him.
“Ye misunderstand me,” he murmured gently. “I am nae upset, or disappointed, or anythin’ like that. I enjoyed meself, and I daenae care to sit back and let my partner do all the work when it comes tomistakes. Frankly, I am a man who likes to make things happen himself. I like to take charge.”
For some reason,taking chargesent another pulse of heat through Melody’s gut. She swallowed, waiting for him to continue.
“The reason this cannae continue,” he said, choosing his words carefully, “is because I daenae want children.”
She took a moment to absorb this. In her experience, many people in society did not like children. Maybe they loved their own, but nothing they said or did made her believe they liked children. However, they all intended to have children. One had to have children, after all. They naturally followed marriage, andone needed heirs and whatnot, to say nothing of children to care for one in one’s old age.
She’d never heard somebody state so plainly that they did not want children.
“But what we did…” she hazarded, after a moment. “It will not result in children. Will it?”
He bit the corner of his mouth. She had the feeling that he was trying to hold back a smile.
“Nay, lass. Nae unless it’s a miracle akin to Jesus’ birth.”
“Well, then, I’m not sure I get what you mean.”
“Well, with these mistakes, one thing leads to another. If I let myself touch ye, Melody, I daenae ken if I can control myself. And then we might find ourselves in a situation where a child comes. I will nae let that happen, nor tempt myself. So, nay more mistakes. Nay more risks.”
