Half-expecting Gregor to be lying in wait, ready to pounce on her the moment she left the safety of her chamber, Cate didn’t leave her room until she heard the door open and close across the corridor, and the familiar heavy fall of footsteps down the stairs.
Of course, she’d known there would be hell to pay for her interference; she’d just hoped to have more time before paying it. But her plans to have him realize how perfect they were together hadn’t progressed as quickly as she’d hoped, and she could not stand by and do nothing while he took more women to his bed.
God knew, there had been enough of them. Cate could not change the past, but she was no longer willing to make excuses for him:you aren’t old enough, she would tell herself,he doesn’t see you yet; just be a little more patient, and it will be you.
She was tired of being patient, and she wouldn’t let him do anything to break her heart before she’d had a chance to give it to him.
He would thank her for it.
Eventually.
She hoped.
But his expression yesterday at the kirk definitely hadn’t been thankful. It had been more an “I’m going to give you an ear-blistering lecture” kind of look. Until he had a chance to calm down a bit, she thought a little evasion was prudent. There was a difference between cowardly and not stupid.
Perhaps she’d go on an extra-long ride this morning? After checking with Ete that Eddie and Maddy were taken care of, and swiping an apple and a piece of cheese from the kitchens since she’d missed the morning meal, Cate clambered down the wooden stairs of the tower house into the bailey below in search of Pip. Though he’d never sat on a horse before arriving at Dunlyon, the lad had taken to riding like a fish to swimming. As she thought she might ride out to Loch Tay to visit her friend Anna, Willy’s older sister, she wanted Pip to accompany her. It would give him a chance to build on their conversation of yesterday.
Assuming she would find him in the barn with the pup, she ducked inside and was about to call out when she came to a hard stop, feeling as if she’d just slammed into a stone wall.
Her breath caught, her heart lurched and hung weightlessly in the air, and the blood racing through her veins drained to the floor. The shock was so profound, it took a few blinks to process what she was seeing. And then she wanted to close her eyes and block out the image forever.
No. He can’t be kissing her. Please let it not be Seonaid. Anyone but Seonaid.
But there was no mistaking the perfectly coiled plaits of long blond hair beneath the veil, the fine dark blue velvet gown, and the generously curved backside. Seonaid was standing on her tiptoes, her arms twined around his neck, her body stretched out against his. His head was bent, silky golden-brown hair slumped to the side, as he deftly tipped Seonaid’s chin with his fingers to tilt her mouth to his.
The wide, sensuous mouth that Cate had imagined so many times pressed against hers was kissing another’s. No, not just another’s,Seonaid’s.
She’d seem him kiss other women before, but this time it was different. This time the hurt was bigger and more powerful. The white-hot knife of pain stabbed through her heart and stayed there burning, twisting, digging deeper as the kiss went on.
Stop. Please, stop.
She swayed, her legs suddenly weak. They want to crumple to the floor like she did.
God, it hurt. How could he do this? This wasn’t supposed to happen. This wasn’t what she’d planned.
It’s supposed to be me.
Seonaid’s taunts came back to her. Was this what he wanted, then? Someone like Seonaid?
This is the kind of man he is.
No. It couldn’t be. But then why was he doing this?
Cate felt the tears threatening to storm, hot and tight in her throat. She wanted to turn and run before he saw her, but her feet had turned to lead.
Then it was too late. A fierce barrage of yapping rang out as the pup came tearing across the barn toward the embracing couple. The tiny terrier obviously didn’t like what he saw either, because he started to growl ferociously (as ferociously as a five-pound pup could) and nip at Gregor’s heels.
Gregor had to push Seonaid back to break the kiss. That he seemed to do so with obvious relief didn’t make Cate feel any better.
“What the hell?” He tried to move his feet around to untangle the pup, but the pup had no intention of letting go.
Seonaid, who at first seemed furious to have been disturbed, started to wail as if terrified by the tiny ball of fur who was barely big enough to fill two hands. “What is it?” she cried. “Oh God, kill it!”
Pip appeared out of nowhere to pluck the dog from Gregor’s heels to the safety of his arms. “It’s only a dog,” he said scornfully to the whimpering woman.
Finally, Gregor turned in her direction. Their eyes locked, and the blow landed anew, reverberating through her chest in a heavy drum of hurt, pain, and disappointment.
But now there was also anger. She’d believed in him, defended him to this very woman, and he’d made her look like a naive fool. She’d thought there was more to him than the handsome heartbreaker. More to him than the untouchable rogue. She’d thought she understood him. That they had a special connection, and that one day he would see it.
