“Ye are a fool.”
The words left his mouth before he’d truly thought them through. And the moment they did, Elijah knew he’d stepped right into trouble.
Her eyes widened, shock flashing across her face before it hardened into fury. “Did ye just say ‘a fool’?”
“Aye, a fool,” Instead of steering the conversation away from the mistake he made, Elijah decided to repeat it. He kept his tone neutral as if they were merely discussing the weather.
He saw heat flood her cheeks as fury rose in her chest like a tide. “I see. So ye think I was foolish to end me engagement to a man who was unfaithful?”
“That’s nae what I meant.” he said quickly, already feeling the trap close in around him.
“Because that’s what ye just said, isnae it?” Her voice was getting louder, drawing glances from nearby tables, but she was too angry to care. Elijah resisted the urge to rub a hand over his face. “That I was an idiot for breakin’ off me betrothal to a cheatin’ bastard?”
“Ye’re misunderstandin’ what I said.” The fire in her eyes told him she wasn’t hearing a word.
“Am I? Because it seems quite clear to me.” She leaned forward, her brown eyes flashing with hurt and rage. “Ye think I should have been grateful for Malcolm’s attention, regardless of how he treated me. Is that it?”
“That’s nae what I meant, and ye ken it,” Elijah said, his patience wearing thin. And just then he felt something, a flicker of amusement?
Why am I enjoyin’ this?
“Then what exactly did ye mean?” she demanded. “Because callin’ someone a fool generally has a fairly specific meanin’.”
“I meant… ”
“Ye meant that I was foolish to have standards. That I should have accepted whatever scraps of affection Malcolm waswillin’ to give me, even if he was sharin’ himself with half the countryside.” Her Scottish accent growing thicker in her agitation.
“Ye’re puttin’ words in me mouth,” Elijah said, and this time the amusement crept fully into his tone. He couldn’t help it.
“Am I? Because that’s certainly what it sounded like to me. What ye said was that I was a fool for havin’ the nerve to expect fidelity from me betrothed. For thinkin’ I deserved better than to be cheated on and humiliated.” She jabbed her finger at him across the table.
“That is nae what I said.”
“Well, let me tell ye somethin’, Elijah Craig.” Her voice had taken on that careful edge that said she was trying not to cause a scene and failing.
“If I hadnae been such a ‘fool’, if I’d been content to marry a man who couldnae keep his word or his hands to himself, then ye wouldnae have a bride at all, would ye?”
He blinked, caught completely off guard. “What?”
“Think about it,” she continued, her logic building steam like a kettle on the boil. “If I’d been the kind of woman who accepts infidelity with a smile and a curtsy, I’d be married to Malcolm Fraser right now instead of sittin’ here arguin’ with ye.”
“Iris.” he warned.
“So maybe, husband, ye should be grateful that I’m such a ‘fool’.”
“Ye’re bein’ dramatic.” he muttered, but his lips were twitching despite himself.
“Dramatic?” she echoed, arms crossing as she glared at him like she might set him on fire through sheer willpower. “Or just continuin’ to be the fool ye married?”
For a moment, they just stared at each other, her eyes blazing, his jaw tight, the air between them crackling like the sky before a Highland storm. And then, amusement broke through again. He could feel the corner of his mouth twitch, fighting a smile.
She’s impossible.
“Are ye laughin’ at me?” she asked, her voice dropping to whisper.
“Nay,” he said quickly though his dark eyes betrayed him with the mirth dancing in them.
“Ye are! Ye’re actually amused by this!” she accused, her voice rising once more. “I’m sittin’ here defendin’ meself against yer insults, and ye think it’s funny?”
