“Yer nay a very good servant, are ye?” he said with a chuckle.
“I suppose not,” Laila said stubbornly. She would not allow this man, whom everyone swooned over, to have the best of her. She was smart, and she would show him that she was not just another servant girl, though that was exactly what she was supposed to be.
“Ye cain lay out me clothes fer the day,” he said, gesturing to the chest with his elbow as he tore off a chunk of hot bread and wolfed it down in one large bite.
“Very well,” she said and gingerly moved the sweat-soaked rag to open the chest. She rummaged for a few moments until she found what she thought to be a particularly nice tunic and turned to show it to him, asking, “Will this suit—” but she stopped for he was untying his britches. “What are you doing?”
“What?” he seemed stuck midmotion as if he were amazed that she would say something like that to him.
“Shouldn’t you ought to wait for me to leave before you dress?” Laila said obstinately, holding the tunic in one hand.
“I dinnae excite ye?” he asked, cracking a grin. She wasn’t about to let humor, or his good looks, get him out of this one, though there was something about that smile.
“Is this how you are with all the girls?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow and folding her arms as she gazed upon half of his naked ass. He did have a terribly good body, better than any she had ever seen on any man. “I shouldn’t be surprised, the way they talk about you.”
“The way they talk about me?” he said, still frozen half in motion of pulling down his britches. It was as if she had disarmed him by challenging him at all.
“About how strong you are, about stealing a kiss from you,” Laila went on, determined to get the better of the encounter.
“D’ye want a kiss?” he asked, a grin creeping back onto his face.
“I’m sorry,” Laila said, shaking her head. “I thought I was an English troll. Surely you wouldn’t ever want to kiss such a thing.” Kyle blushed deeply, and she knew she had struck a nerve.
“Look,” he began, sheepishly pulling his britches back up, and Laila felt her heart give a little flutter as the pants slid back up over his cheeks. “Aboot last night, I’m sorry, I should nay have said such things.”
“Apology accepted,” Laila said and tossed the fine tunic toward him, and he caught it awkwardly. “And just so you know, you can be as strong as you want, but what’s more important is who you are as a person.”
“What?” Kyle blinked, standing there with a tunic in one hand and his other holding up his britches.
“The other girls may like you for your strength,” Laila pressed ahead, sure that she was winning now. But one day, you’ll wed a lady, and if you keep on being dumb, she’ll make you a cuckold.”
“Ye think me dumb?” he asked blankly, still frozen in position.
“I do not know you yet,” she answered. “I mean, only you cannot rely on strength alone. The body will decay, but the soul will stay the same. Here,” she said, scooping up a fresh pair of britches. “Now, you may change.”
She tossed the britches at him, which he caught in the same flustered manner, took a respectful bow, and walked out of the room before he had time to retort. She felt proud of the scolding she had delivered, even if it was far outside the bounds of how a servant should act.
As she shut the door behind her, though, she caught one last look at his confused, half-naked stance, holding fresh clothes in one hand and his britches with the other, and her heart gave yet another little flutter. She hurriedly shut the door and felt herself blushing, so she hurried away and stood in the corner of the hallway for a moment, rubbing her face in an attempt to calm down.
What on earth had come over her? That was no way for a servant to behave! She would not last a week in the castle if she kept that up. Yet there was something about him, something intensely compelling. It was his eyes, that calm breakwater, that had caught her by surprise and drew her into the bay. She felt she had to respond the way she had, or perhaps she would have kissed him, despite all her lectures on the human soul.
She felt a fool, yet she was also terribly excited. When she looked into his eyes, she had felt in a way that she had never felt before, and she knew not what to make of it. It was all so much to happen so fast, for she had only just arrived the day before, and already she was standing out. She was supposed to be a servant. Laila knew that if she betrayed that, she could well find herself in Lord Hamilton’s bed, and that thought brought all the charm of everything crashing down.
“Wait!” she heard him cry out and looked down the hall. He was standing just outside his door, dressed in the fine clothes she had picked out for him, clutching the rag and his sweaty britches from the morning’s training. “Ye forgot tae take these fer washin’.”
“Of course,” she said, composing herself in a hurry and walking back down the hallway. “My mistake.” She reached out to take the small bundle of clothes, and at that moment, their hands touched, sending a shockwave through Laila’s core.
“I—” Kyle stammered, holding onto the clothes for a moment longer. “I dinnae think ye are a troll. I am sorry.”
“And I do not think you will be a cuckold,” she answered as they held eye contact for a moment. There was a charge in that gaze between them, and neither knew what to say for a few moments as they drank it in.
“Well, thank ye,” he suddenly said, bursting out into a smile and finally letting go of the clothes. “But does that make me dumb?”
“I shouldn’t think so,” She flashed him a quick smile, eager to turn away and hide her rapidly blushing face. She took three steps down the corridor, feeling his lingering gaze on her back when a thought crossed her mind. She turned around again and said,
“Yesterday.”
“What?” he said, halfway back through his door.
