Betsy sighed. “This is the second day, My Lady. Do you not plan to leave your bed again?”
Lilliana snorted. “Do not be impertinent. Am I not allowed to mope?”
Betsy came to sit at the side of her bed. “Not really. You are the Laird’s wife. You are supposed to be out there, doing…” She waved her hands helplessly. “… things.”
Lilliana laughed bitterly. “It is not as if anyone has noticed my absence.”
“Of course, they have noticed. Moira asked me about youtwiceyesterday, and even that old man you hang around with was concerned that you might have fallen ill.”
“And I am sure that you told them that I am well.”
Betsy gave a rather loud sigh. “Just what did the Laird do to you?”
Lilliana burrowed deeper into the blankets. “Nothing, I told you.”
“You told me that you encountered him and that you kissed. That is not nothing.”
“It seems to be nothing to him.”
“How do you know that?”
Lilliana sat up in bed, glaring at her lady’s maid. “You said that Old Fergus and Moira asked about me. Do you not see the glaring absence of one person’s concern?”
“So, you want him to be lovesick over you, is that it?”
“No!” Lilliana flopped backwards onto her pillows before pouting at the ceiling. “Yes.”
Betsy giggled. “Do you want me to ask him?—”
Lilliana shot up again, glaring at the maid. “No!”
“And you absolutely will not come down for breakfast?”
Lilliana shook her head. “No, not today.”
Betsy nodded sadly. “Very well. I will bring you a tray of tea and crumpets if I can get it.”
“Bannocks, you mean?”
Betsy shrugged. “I certainly do not mean porridge. I know you hate it.”
That coaxed a genuine laugh from Lilliana, for which she was grateful. “Thank you, Betsy.”
“You are welcome, My Lady.” Betsy got to her feet and made her way to the door. “But I beg you not to get used to this. I do not feel good about it.”
Lilliana lay back with a sigh, her mind immediately returning to Kayden and the quandary that was their kiss. If she closed her eyes and focused, she would feel him surrounding her, his scent intoxicating, his touch alien yet reassuring. His lips insistent on hers…
That thought alone should be enough for a whole meal, should it not?
She licked her lips and moaned at the delicious memory,and then sighed and forced herself to stand.
You are being ridiculous, Lil. Enough!
She was the one who had run away.
“I still cannot figure out why I ran. Why did I do that?” she whispered to herself, her eyes drifting to the door between their rooms.
Her hand twitched, and before she even thought to move her feet, she was gripping the handle.
