She suddenly asked him, “Have ye e’er been unmasked?”
“Me?Nay.Ye?”
She thought about the time Hew du Lac of Rivenloch had tried to court her.“Not exactly, but ’twas close.”
“What happened?”
“Someone fell in love with me,” she recalled, gazing out at the sunny meadow.“He didn’t realize I was—” She broke off.She’d almost saida nun.“I wasn’t who I said I was.”
“And who was that?”
She had to think fast.“A…a courtesan.”
Shite.Why had she said that?Shehadon occasion disguised herself as a woman of easy virtue simply for access to men’s secrets.But she’d never indulged in any immoral activity.When Hew confessed his love, she’d been dressed just like this, as Lady Aillenn.In the end, she’d taken pity on his bruised heart and admitted to being a nun.
She glanced at Adam.Suspicion was etched on his brow.
“I’mnot,o’ course,”she said, reading his thoughts.“I’m not a courtesan.I told ye, I’ve ne’er e’en kissed…”
Shehadn’ttold him that, though.She’dalmosttold him that.
“I knew it,” he said in triumph.“I knew I was your first.”
She blushed, more from the indignity of having trapped herself with her own words than his smug delight at being her first kiss.
Then he leaned in to murmur, “If it makes ye feel better, ’twas my first as well.”
“Nay.Is that true?”
“Aye.I’ve ne’er kissed a bearded pilgrim before in my—”
She gave him a hard shove that almost pushed him off the end of the log, as he deserved.But the sight of his eyes widening in panic was so comical that she couldn’t help but break into giggles.
He couldn’t maintain his expression of outrage for long.Soon he was shaking his head and chuckling right along with her.
When decorum was restored, she asked him, “Why do ye do it?”
“Do what?”
“The subterfuge.The costumes.The deception.”She wasn’t sure she wasn’t askingherselfthat question.“If ye’re not hidin’ from the law, why wear a disguise?”
He shrugged.“’Tis…amusin’.”
Eve didn’t believe him.“’Tis more than that.No one risks the wrath o’ the king for his own amusement.”
The lass was right.And though Adam knew it was folly to confide in a woman he barely knew—a woman who had too many secrets of her own—he didn’t really want her to believe his disguises were all just an amusing entertainment to him.Because they weren’t.
“The truth?”he said with a sigh.
“Aye.”
“I do it to protect the ones I care about.”
Her eyes were full of doubt.“Is that so?”
“Aye.I do what I can to keep them safe.”
“So when ye said ye followed me for my safety…” She looked into his eyes, as if seeking the truth.
