“I will know whether I do or I do no’ inthe morning.”
He seemed satisfied with her reply and turned to leave the room.
“Mr. Cameron, even if you prove to be trusted, I want nothing to ever do with ye after tonight.”
He nodded without hesitation—which hooked Ismay in the belly just a wee bit.
She didn’t worry about how she felt. She was bone weary and almost forgot to lock the door. But she remembered, knowing he was out there.
She didn’t have much time to think about him because three breaths after she climbed into bed, she was asleep.
She must have indeed felt safe because she slept until morning and more soundly than she had since her father died. When she finally did wake up it was due to hunger. She wondered if it would be safe to venture down to the tavern alone? Was Mr. Cameron still outside her door? She washed up in a small basin and dressed in the clothes she’d arrived in.
Then she remembered that she had locked the door from the inside. No one could get in to bring her food.
When she stepped outside her door, she was mildly disappointed to find that Mr. Cameron was not there.
A wave of panic rose over her. Would she be attacked while she filled her belly? Fear made her hesitate, but hunger drove her onward.
When she reached the foot of the stairs and looked inside the tavern, she saw the Highlander sitting alone at one of the tables. Had he stayed there all night as he said he would? What would he want in return? She waited there four stairs up, watching him in the early morning light streaming through the windows. His skin was golden, tanned from spending time outdoors. He was the Cameron chief. Was the castle she’d seen his home? What kind of chief was also a cattle rustler?
She thought about hating him, as she hated all clan chiefs, but this one had gotten her a bed in a private room that locked from the inside.He’d paid for her supper and didn’t allow her to use her last trinket.
He was stunningly handsome in the filtered light, with smooth cheekbones and a sculpted yet gentle jawline. The slightest trace of melancholy shaped his lips. Natural waves and strands of his windblown hair framed his face and eclipsed his soulful gaze while he stared longingly toward the window and the great Ben Nevis beyond. He appeared distracted and mayhap…agonized by what he saw in his thoughts, what they made him feel.
He had likely done terrible things and suffered the guilt of it all. Was she his atonement? Did he still do terrible things? She shivered as a chill crept down her spine.
He turned toward her, and for an instant his faraway gaze fell on her. She felt breathless, lightheaded, incredibly sad.
Then he sawher,and his expression went a bit tender, evoking romance and mystery and compelling her to take another step down the stairs, then another, moving toward him.
He rose from his chair—like a mountain rising with the morning sun, though he was crafted in lean sinew rather than overly bulky muscle. How heavy was the weight he carried on his wide shoulders?
“Lady,” he said, his voice sounding rough with the first word of the day. “Ye rested well?”
She nodded. He called her lady again. “I owe ye much fer keeping yer word and staying the night.”
“Ye must be hungry.” He reached a hand out to the chair beside him and dragged it out from under the table for her to sit.
She did and grabbed at the black bread on a plate close to him. She graced the male server with a smile when he brought her a cup of water. It was lukewarm but clean. She drank and then asked for more.
She felt the chief’s eyes on her. One would have to be an incoherent fool not to feel the power of his gaze. But she was so thirsty for clean water, she could have drunk four cups. And the bread. It was the same she’d had last eve, so good she’ddreamed of it.
“’Twas two nights, lass.”
“Hmm?” She looked at him and stopped chewing. “Pardon?”
“Ye slept fer two days and two nights.”
What? What was he saying? He had not left her for over forty-eight hours?
“I wouldna have ye be confused aboot the days.”
She swallowed, still staring at him. “I havena slept soundly but with one eye open and one foot on the ground fer some time now. I think I made up fer it these last two days.” She smiled shyly before she realized what she was doing. When her blood warmed her veins at the way he was looking at her, she cleared her throat and darted her gaze to the door.
“No one will harm ye here,” he said in a deep voice coiled in restraint.
“Have ye been home?” she asked after a moment of silence between them.
