As he stood, he felt someone at his shoulder. His hand went to the broadsword at his hip. He was ready. If a man was going to pick his pocket, he wouldn’t get far.
“I have been looking for ye. I have an offer tae make ye.” The lass’ voice intrigued him, but what piqued his interest even more were her words.
An offer? What offer, lass?
“I am willing tae pay whatever it takes.”
Wait… that voice.
Kai whipped around fast, turning so quickly that the lass standing at his shoulder stepped back to avoid colliding with him.
This is nae possible!
The woman before him shouldn’t have been here. The blonde hair shouldn’t be there, those hazel eyes, the full cheeks, the wide mouth that was so kissable and yet out of reach.
“Ava?” he hissed in alarm as her perfect lips fell apart in an ‘o’ shape of shock. It was the woman he had loved hopelessly for years, the one he could never have, the one he had to love quietly from a distance and be nothing more to her than her closest friend. “What in God’s name are ye doing here?”
“Och, damn me life…”
CHAPTER THREE
Ava struggled for any more words. The curse hung in the air between her and Kai as she stared at him in disbelief.
The seer never said it would be Kai!
Yet Kai was before her. The seer’s words came back to her,he’s a man of careless elegance, a man whose confidence is his second skin, and has eyes like a storm over a sea.
Ava couldn’t look away from those eyes now. It was the bane of her life that Kai, her dearest friend in the world, had grown up to be so handsome. He had a litheness to his body his brothers didn’t have. He was toned, as was evidenced by the shirt and tartan pulled tight across his shoulder. The dark chestnut hair visible just beneath the ugly hat was tousled around his ears, as if a lass had just been playing with it. The stubble was as endearing as ever. More than once in her life had Ava caught sight of a woman peppering his jaw with feather-light kisses.
She stepped back.
“It cannae be ye,” she muttered.
“What are ye doing here, Ava?” he said sharply again, reaching for her arm and pulling her toward him. She had to plant a hand to the center of his chest to stop him from tugging her any closer.
“Kai!” she hissed, looking around. “I dinnae want everyone in this tavern tae think I’m yer courtesan for the night.”
“Ye should have thought of that afore ye just whispered in me ear about making me an offer.” His dark eyebrows raised, nearly disappearing up beyond the hat.
“That’s nae what I meant!” She threw the words back at him, trying to disentangle her arm from his grasp, but he had a tight hold of it. “Why are ye holding on so tight, Kai?”
“Because this isnae a safe place tae be.” He nodded his head around the tavern, at the thieves and bandits who were doing little to hide the wide they were eyeing up one another’s sacks and purses. “Now, tell me why ye are here and what offer ye are going tae make me, and then I’m taking ye out of here. Somewhere safe.” His voice had deepened on the latter words.
Ava tried to shift the feeling of warmth that Kai always brought with him. He only ever seemed to use this deep tone with her. It was always the way.
He looks at me as if I am his sisters, doesnae he? He always tries tae protect me.
“Offer? There was nay offer.” She pulled her arm out of his. “I… I’ve made a mistake… that’s all… I thought ye were someone else.”
He raised a solitary eyebrow this time as he folded his arms. She could feel the penetrating gaze of those blue eyes. It was always the way. Kai had a knack for reading anyone’s emotions, especially when they were trying desperately to hide them. The thought that he could read her as if she was anyone else in this world infuriated her.
I cannae tell him the truth.
She could just picture Kai’s protectiveness if she did. He would probably yell and shout that she was not to bind herself to a man for the sake of her sister. She was not going to give him the choice to argue with her.
“I… I have tae go,” she said, fidgeting constantly, though she was aware her feet weren’t moving to take her away.
“Ye going tae tell me why ye are feeling so anxious?”
