“Aye. And… this,” he responded, gesturing towards her attire. “I didnae ken ye were here, Emma. Or else I would have come sooner.”
“You abandoned me on our wedding day,” she huffed. “I seriously do not believe you are in a position to make a joke here.”
He held her gaze. “Nay.”
She blinked once. “No?”
“Something came up.”
He stopped before the desk, arms crossed, expression unreadable. That steadied her far more than any chair could have done.
“You must forgive me, Laird MacLellan. I am afraid I will need much more thansomething came up.You know, since we had an agreement. What could possibly be more important than getting married?”
His gaze sharpened, as if he had not expected the first blow to land so cleanly. “Emma, ye must understand?—”
“Lady.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “What?”
“It isLady Emmato you.”
“Is it now?” he drawled.
She hated how he seemed to be enjoying this conversation. She hated even more how his physique had managed to knock out every argument from her head.
“Aye.” He dropped his arms and moved closer to her. “Well,Lady Emma,I sent ye a letter the day of the wedding explaining that I wouldnae be able to make it. Did it nae reach ye?”
Emma jutted her chin. “I do not know if it reached my home. I left almost at once, after the worst public humiliation of my life, to find you.”
“Ye neednae have done that. I would have come for ye when I was ready.”
“And when would that have been? When all the hairs on my head turn completely grey?”
He exhaled and took another step closer, slowly closing the gap between them. “Emma—LadyEmma, I was unable to come tothe wedding because me castle was attacked. A battle that left me severely injured, as ye can see.”
He lifted his shirt to reveal fresh bandages that wrapped around his ribs.
However, the bandages weren’t the only thing her eyes snagged on. She could not help but trace the ridges in his abdomen. The V that disappeared beneath his trousers. The faint trail of hair from his navel to his?—
“Ye must have spent two weeks on yer way here. A myriad of things could have happened to ye,” he said, pulling her out of the reverie before she could embarrass herself further.
Her cheeks flushed, and she swallowed, trying to look anywhere else.“Well, the only thing I have to complain about is the road.”
“Still,” he insisted. “Ye should have waited for me.”
“No. The me from two years ago would have waited for you. But now? Now I am tired of men dictating my life, my supposed future husband included.”
He let that sit for a heartbeat, before the same lazy grin crept back onto his face. “What, are ye going to punch me too?”
She swallowed. “I hope I will not have to.”
He took a few steps towards her until he was close enough that she could count the dark lashes framing his eyes. “Or else what, me Lady?”
Her breath stuttered. She made to step past him, but his hand closed around her arm, firm and certain.
“I’d like an answer to me question,” he said.
“And I’d like a groom at my wedding. It does not look like we can both get what we want now, does it?”
