Dominic prided himself on being more sensible, more logical about such things. He wasn't about to turn into a tittering girl over a pretty face. He'd ignored distracting women very neatly in the past, and he could so again.
Nay, ye can't, fool,whispered a little voice at the back of his head.Did ye or did ye not spend the whole evening watching Paisley tonight?
Dominic gritted his teeth, angrily pushing aside a branch which hung across the path.
Hehadbeen watching her. He'd tracked her progress through the crowds, and watched her smile and laugh with the patrons, chatting easily. She received all the expected insults on her Englishness with a good grace and a solid sense of humor, and quickly got the hang of moving around the crowded bar floor without knocking into people.
She was bonnie, too. There was no sense in denying it – Dominic found her attractive.
Dangerously so, in fact.
He swallowed hard, trying to focus on the road ahead of him.
Leave her be,he threatened himself.She's running from something, that much is clear. Ye will only find trouble if ye dig around too deep in a person's past. The lass probably has a husband and a flock of children back home in England.
He stopped dead, not quite sure how to handle the sudden wave of anger and jealousy which washed over him at the thought of Paisley being with another man.
Whoa, lad,he told himself.Just nip that in the bud, eh?
He took a few deep breaths, resolutely removing all thoughts of Paisley from his mind. The girl had a life and a mind of her own, and she could do damn well what she liked. It was none of his business, unless she saw fit tomakeit his business.
Dominic was just the man who paid her wages and gave her orders and considering his abrasive personality and fiery reputation around these parts, it was a fairly safe bet to say that the pretty young English girl wouldn't be falling in love withhimanytime soon.
The path widened abruptly near the tree line, and Dominic stepped out of the green darkness into the open air. He drew in a deep breath, enjoying the clear night air, tinged with the delicious scent of wet greenery and fresh rain.
He glanced down the hill toTheSinner. He could see a light glowing in the window of his office. That was a habit he'd picked up lately, so that he didn't come home to a pitch-black place on a night.
But underneath, the main windows of the pub were lit, too. Dominic stiffened. Nobody had been in when he locked the doors earlier, so how...
The thought trailed off when he saw the carriage. Smooth, black, and well-polished enough to glint in the moonlight, he recognized the thing at once.
Sighing to himself, Dominic made his way down the hill.
The coachman glanced up at him as he went by, dropping him a respectful nod.
"Evening, Laird MacLennan."
"Evening, Rob," Dominic replied. "She's in there then, eh?"
"Aye, sir, that she is."
Taking a moment to gather his courage, Dominic stepped over the threshold, pushing open the door.
"Maither," he said lightly. "What a pleasant surprise."
"Oh, I'm sure it is." Catriona Sutherland, also known as Lady MacLennan, huffed. "Here I am – the one woman a man can never escape – hismaither. Now, be a good lad and get one of those chairs down from the table. They're too heavy for me to move, and me old bones need a seat."
Dominic felt a pang of unease at his mother having to stand here, in the drafty, dark old building, with nowhere to sit. She was easily sixty, having had him fairly old, compared to other ladies, and looked every inch of her years.
"Ye could have asked Rob to get a seat out for ye." he said lightly, taking down a chair and angling it towards the fireplace. The fire was out, of course, but a few embers still smoldered. She should be warm enough, at least.
Catriona settled down with a sigh. "Rob's business is to drive the coach and mind the horses. I'm not decrepit yet, Dominic."
He said nothing. His mother had never had the best of health. She'd outlived his father, but now her old bones creaked and twinged in the cold weather, and she moved more and more slowly. He worried about her, although of course it would do no good to tell her that.
"So, can I assume this isn't a social call, then?" Dominic asked dryly, pulling up another chair beside her. It would be warmer and cozier up in his study, but Lady McLennan could barely manage stairs these days.
"It is not," she responded curtly. "I'll be blunt, Dominic. Ye are never at the Keep these days, so ye are out of the loop with many important matters."
