His eyebrows lifted at the sight of her sling. “What happened to you?”
“I fell. Why are you here?”
Rather than helping her, he leaned against the side of the house and watched as she picked up the fallen pieces. “Like I said, I was looking for you.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Why would you do that?”
“We have some unfinished business.”
Sienna faced him, her arm full of wood like a shield between them. “The only unfinished business we had was our wedding, but it’s too late to change that.”
“I always did enjoy when you got out your claws.” His smile was slick and patronizing. “But you can put them away for now. I think you’re going to appreciate what I have to say.”
“Unlikely.” She walked around him, intending to leave him in the darkness behind the house, but he followed her.
“I think we should get married.”
His words froze her feet in their steps. She turned on one heel and blinked up at him slowly. He wore a self-assured smile on his face. “Excuse me?”
“I was just thinking: You wish to retain your position here at the lighthouse. By law, this property should be mine. If you marry me, we both get what we want.”
Sienna pressed her lips together and breathed slowly, doing her best to keep her tongue in check. “Let me make sure I understand you correctly. You want to marry me for my lighthouse?”
“Not only that.” He stepped forward and ran a finger down the side of her cheek. “There are other reasons. We were engaged once before, you know.”
“I am aware.”
“So that’s a yes?”
She backed away from him, shaking her head. “No.”
Erik’s face immediately lost his charming facade. “Why not? This is the way for us both to have what we want.” He laughed cruelly. “It’s not like you’re ever going to have a better option.”
The door creaked open behind her, and Casper’s frame filled the doorway, framed by the firelight from within. “Si? Are you alright?”
Sienna turned back to Erik with a falsely sweet smile. “You’re wrong on both counts. Marrying you could never give me what I want, because what I want more than almost anything in this realm is for you toleave me alone.And I do have a better option.”
Erik was snarling at Casper like a territorial dog itching to pick a fight. “Who is he? What’s he doing here?”
Casper said nothing, but calmly placed himself at Sienna’s side and slightly in front of her. He held out his hands, offering to take the heavy wood. She handed it over gladly and hooked her hand around his bicep. “This my fiancé, Casper.”
The way that Erik’s eyes bugged out was one of the most satisfying sights she had seen in weeks. “You’re—but he’s—how?”
“Oh, the usual way,” Sienna answered breezily. “He asked, and I said yes. So you see, I really can’t say yes. Have a good night.”
She pulled Casper along into the house, and they shut the door on the elf, who still stood with his mouth gaping open like a fish.
Sienna giggled as soon as they closed the door. “This week will be worth it for that moment alone.”
“What did I miss?” Jem poked his head out of her father’s bedroom, where the two men were bunking while they stayed.
“Oh, just Erik finally getting put in his place.” Sienna grinned. “It was a thing of beauty. I don’t think he’s ever been forced to deal with the fact that he’s not the Almighty’s gift to women.”
“I’m sorry I missed it,” Jem answered somberly, but with a twinkle in his eye. “As my dear old Mormor used to say, ‘Bright is the moment when a being becomes elf-aware.’”
Chapter thirteen
The Composition of a Captain
