“Did I do someaught improper?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow. “Ye need to give me some more lessons, I reckon.”
The lessons she had in mind had nothing to do with propriety, and she didn’t think they had much to do with gratitude, either. The man in whose arms she dancedwas simply… mouthwatering. “Very improper,” she returned, “but you sent your brothers to dance with me, so I cannot complain.”
With a barely perceptible shrug, he grinned down at her. “Ye like to dance, and ye werenae dancing.”
“But you didn’t ask for a place on my dance card.”
“I had my eye on this one,boireannach gaisgeil,” he returned, his voice a low, seductive murmur. “And I couldnae take it unless all the others were claimed.”
“You might have said so,” she whispered back.
Aden shook his head, his fingers flexing around hers. “Ye’re nae one to hide what ye feel, Miranda. I reckoned ye’d be better off if ye were surprised.”
“Teach me how to hide my silly feelings, then. I certainly don’t want to go about shouting secrets with my eyes.”
A grin cracked his expression. “I’ll do what I can, but I reckon I like seeing the sunshine in yer smile and the thunder in yer frown.”
Whatever disaster had led her to this point, whatever subsequent madness had seized her, nothing had ever made her feel what she felt right now as she waltzed with Aden MacTaggert. If that showed in her eyes, shewouldhave to learn to conceal it, because she did not want to give up the sensation. A giddy, breathless excitement, a… rush of heat, the desire to always be touching him—if this was simple lust, it was very compelling. “Well, then.”
“If I ever do keep someaught from ye, I promise ye now it’s only because ye’ve enough weight on yer shoulders, and I’ve more practice being… evasive.”
“So you expect me to trust you?”
His expression stilled. “Aye,” he answered slowly. “I’d nae do a thing to cause ye harm. Ever. Ye have my word on that.”
She believed him. “You can’t expect me not to ask questions.”
Aden’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “I’d sooner expect my dog to turn into an elephant than I’d expect ye nae to ask questions, lass.”
That made her grin in return. He was practically the only man she’d ever met that she couldn’t dance circles around, and the only one who simply expected her to keep up with him.
“Whatever it is ye’re smiling about now, I hope I’m the cause of it,” Aden said in his low brogue, his stormy green gaze holding hers.
She finally had a simple answer to something, because of course he was the cause of her smile. But he wouldn’t be the only man looking at her right now. “Even if you were,” she returned, “and however angry this dance may be making someone else, I still have an axe against my neck.”
His expression cooled just a little, and Miranda abruptly wondered if he hadn’t been pondering that very thing. At least he’d put Vale out of her thoughts for a few minutes, but the captain had signed papers in his hands and plans that required a marriage to her, while Aden only spoke about naughty, tantalizing things that sent tingles down her spine.
“I finished reading yerTom Jones,” he said, changing topics with dizzying speed.
“And?” she prompted.
His hand on her waist drew her a breath closer to him. “Ye’ve a nice selection of books in yer library. I reckon I’ve a mind to choose another one.”
Where was he leading her now? “You’re welcome to come by anytime, of course, as long as you keep in mind that Matthew will likely be telling Vale.”
Aden nodded. “I prefer reading at night, when I cannaesleep. Two, three o’clock in the morning ye’ll find me awake, reading.”
Before she could decipher why he’d decided to regale her with his sleeping schedule, the music rose to a glorious crescendo and then stopped. He held her for an additional few seconds beyond that, then with a visible breath released her to join in the applause.
“I’ll see ye to yer parents,” he said, offering her a forearm.
“Don’t push Captain Vale too far,” she returned, hesitating. Dancing with Aden had been one thing; with the way he’d walked into the middle of the waltz, refusing to allow him to cut in would have caused just the stir about which he’d taunted Vale. Even the captain had understood that. This, though, walking about on his arm, she could choose to avoid. And Vale would understand that, too.
“Trust me, lass,” Aden murmured. “Take my arm.”
“Tell me what that ‘gazgeel’ thing was you called me earlier.”
“Ah.Boireannach gaisgeil.It means ‘brave woman.’”
