“The laird said again that you’re a grand girl and I should marry you.” As Signy’s head shot up, Ramsay said dryly, “I think he wanted to ensure that there would be a strong hand at the tiller if I decided to return to exploring someday.”
She sank onto the other chair as she studied Ramsay’s cool gray eyes. Except that they weren’t cool now. He burned with grief and intensity. “Will you go off again?”
He shook his head. “I gave my word that I’d return when I was needed. I won’t go back on that promise.”
She believed him. Many things about Kai had surely changed over the years, but he’d always been true to his word, and she sensed that he still was. “Since you don’t plan on leaving, there’s no rush to find a wife. I’m surprised that you’d consider a matchmaking suggestion from your grandfather.”
“I’m surprised myself,” he said with the hint of a smile. “But Duncan was as shrewd as they come, and he knew you very well. He knew your worth.”
Her brows arched. “So you’re looking to marry a permanent assistant? Why would either of us want that?”
“I don’t know what you might see in me, but I know you will never be boring.” His eyes gleamed. “Not to mention that my first thought when I saw you yesterday was that you’d gone from being a knobby little girl to a Nordic goddess. Surely you’ve noticed that you’re beautiful enough to attract any man’s attention, and that isn’t even counting your intelligence, talent, and knowledge.”
She felt herself flushing a color that would surely clash with her hair. “I see you’ve learned flattery on your travels.”
He shook his head. “That’s not flattery, but God’s own truth. You’re a strikingly attractive woman, Signy Matheson, and attraction is always an asset in marriage.” He sighed. “But attraction and my grandfather’s blessing aren’t enough to make you want to marry me when you despise me.”
She poured tea for them both, then brought out the tin of shortbread again. Serious discussions shouldn’t be undertaken on an empty stomach. She sat and sipped her tea as she thought. “I don’t despise you,” she said at length. “But you’re right that there is much history between us. Perhaps too much.”
“There was pain and loss, but also friendship,” he said quietly. “Though I was courting Gisela, it was also a pleasure to see you. You were a delightful girl who gave promise of great things, and you’ve grown up to fulfill that promise. I’m not proposing that we rush into marriage. But since we’ll be working together, perhaps we can have an open mind about future possibilities?”
She raised her head and studied him. When he’d come ashore the day before, he’d been intimidatingly cool and polished, a sophisticated gentleman who looked out of place here at the end of the world.
Now he was gray with fatigue and very real. She’d been infatuated with him in an innocent way when he courted Gisela. Her interest was no longer innocent. She tried to look at him not as a man she’d known much of her life but as if he were a stranger. Handsome. Compelling. Vulnerable. And yes, unnervingly attractive.
At this moment, he seemed interested in her. Would it last? Or was he so unbalanced by all that was facing him that he merely saw her as a familiar face in a storm? Impossible to tell, but with sudden fierceness, she wanted to see if they might have a future together.
Keeping her voice calm, she said, “I intimidate most men, but I’m willing to be open to possibilities if you wish. We shall see.”
“I’m glad,” he said with a slight, sweet smile. Then his eyes closed and he rubbed his temple. “What a day this has been.” His eyes opened and he rose unsteadily. “I should be leaving.”
He swayed and looked ready to collapse, as if he’d reached the end of his strength. A new burst of wind rattled the windows.
“You shouldn’t go out in this,” Signy said briskly. “You’d fall over the bluff and drown. You need to stay here and rest.”
“You’re probably right,” he muttered as he caught the back of the chair for support. “Where?”
She thought swiftly. The floor was cold, hard, and drafty. She didn’t want the new laird to come down with lung fever before he’d even accepted his heritage. The only real place to lie down was her bed. It was wide and long enough for his height.
“Come along, Kai.” She moved beside him and draped his arm over her shoulders so she could guide him. It wasn’t far, just out into the wide front room and a right turn into the bedroom. The covers were tangled from when she’d awoken at the sound of his knock, so she flipped them over the end of the bed with her free hand. Then she sat him down on the edge of the mattress, pulled off his boots, and gently tipped him back onto the pillows.
He was half unconscious and didn’t resist. His tension faded as he fell fully asleep. A light brown stubble was visible on his chin. Ramsay was a long way from the polished gentleman who had set foot at Skellig House the previous morning. She liked him better this way.
She pulled the covers over his long body and circled to the other side of the bed. She was almost as drained as Ramsay, and she’d be damned if she would sleep on the floor. Luckily the bed was wide enough to hold two people if they didn’t thrash around. There was even room for a warm dog to lie at the foot of the mattress and settle down into soft snores.
She stretched out on her side of the bed and rolled so her back was turned to Ramsay. As she pulled the covers up, she reflected that at least she wouldn’t go to her grave without ever having slept with a man.
Chapter 8
The brightening sky woke Ramsay at dawn. He lay still as he tried to figure out where he was. The bed wasn’t moving, so he wasn’t on a ship as he’d been for weeks.
And he definitely wondered why he was lying on his side with a warmly curved body tucked against him, her back to his front. His arm was around her waist. His eyes opened and he studied the red-gold hair that tickled his face. Signy, soft and yielding in sleep as she wasn’t during the day.
With a deep ache, he remembered his grandfather’s death and his journey through the storm to inform Signy. Had he braved the wind and rain because she had the right to know as soon as possible, or because he’d been drawn to her for comfort? Both, he supposed.
The storm had blown out in the night, and the light that entered the cottage through the open bedroom door was warm with soft early sunshine. Soon he’d have to get up and face all the complications of the laird’s death, but for now he just wanted to lie still in the peace and warmth of Signy’s bed. Being this close to her stirred gentle desire, all he had strength for at the moment.
She shifted, then suddenly stiffened as she came awake. “Don’t worry,” he murmured. “It’s only me. Thank you for lending me your warm bed.” When she rolled onto her back and studied him with narrowed eyes, he added, “I won’t misbehave. You have a dirk and you know how to use it, which I know because I taught you.”
