Rowen spun around, startled, but she immediately bristled at how Alec stared at her with consternation from the doorway.
“Stoking the fire, if you must know,” she retorted, glancing over her shoulder at the fireplace. “You see the logs have burned down.”
“Aye, but with a gown? A fine one, too, from the look of it…and the same color as your eyes, which are a lovely hue, if you dinna mind me saying so?—”
“Idomind, Mackay,” Rowen cut him off, feeling strangely warmed by his unexpected compliment—och, it wasn’t that at all, just her temper flaring hotter. She turned back to the fire to dispose of the offending garment only to have him cross the floor in three long strides and grab her arm.
Not roughly, but firmly, Rowen gasping in surprise.
“Ease yourself, wife, and tell me what is amiss so I can try tae make it right for you.”
Doubly stunned, Rowen wrenched her arm away and met his gaze that she would swear held true concern for her.
What madness had come over the man? He had never spoken to her so gently before. She took a few steps away from him, still disconcerted to hear herself addressed as “wife” as she made a sweeping gesture about the room.
“Do you see a tunic anywhere? Where are my clothes? Gaira told me that she didna pack my belongings at my father’s behest, but I dinna believe her! Why would he have done such a thing tae me? I’ve never worn anything else—but now look. Gowns, a dozen of them, but one less as soon as I burn it…”
Rowen advanced again toward the fireplace, but Alec stopped her by catching her hand before she could toss the garment into the sputtering flames.
“Mayhap your father wanted you tae have something pretty tae wear—as would any man wanting tae provide for his daughter. Tae please your new husband—och, but you look comely as well in a man’s tunic, so it makes no difference tae me what you wear. Go on, throw the thing into the fire if you wish.”
The gown dangling from her hand, Rowen stared at Alec in utter disbelief while her cheeks flushed hot at how he looked at her…with bold masculine admiration that made her breath oddly quicken.
His slate blue eyes an even deeper hue in the sunlight spilling into the room from two narrow windows and his hair appearing blonder, Alec standing as tall and strapping as a legendary Viking beside her.
“So you’re saying you dinna mind if I wear what I want, Mackay?” she queried, his nod making her drop the gown to the floor and kick it closer to the fire.
A squeal of protest erupted from Gaira, who rushed forward from the doorway to snatch up the garment and then run to gather up the other ones scattered around the room.
“I will pack them away, sweeting, you dinna have tae look at them any further…though mayhap one day?—”
“Never.” Rowen ground her teeth at how Alec still stared at her while Gaira flitted from one garment to another.
She knew exactly what her nurse had meant, but she had no intention of ever wearing a gown to please Alec, who bore a quizzical expression as his gaze swept over her linen nightgown.
Aye, the only feminine sort of garment she possessed, and thin enough that she suddenly felt chilled, her skin puckering with goose bumps…though she sensed it was more from how he still looked at her than any coolness of the air.
Not quizzical any longer, but something else…
At once she clasped her arms tightly across her breasts, her hardened nipples pressing into her skin, which made her suck in her breath as she realized what Alec must have been staring at—damn him!
“What am I tae wear, then?” she blurted out, his slow smile making her think again, in spite of herself, that she had never seen a man more strikingly handsome than Alec Mackay. “Or must I remain in this room until I get my tunic back?”
“A waste of a day, if you ask me. I thought mayhap you’d enjoy a ride, it’s beautiful outside. You can wear one of mine…unless you prefer tae wait?—”
“One of yours?” As astonished at his offer as that he would want to go for a ride with her after she had nearly run him off a cliff, Rowen stared at him with suspicion. “You’re mocking me.”
“Not at all. You’ll find my clothes in that chest over there. Gaira, see that my bride is dressed and ready tae go within the hour—aye, and fetch her a bit of breakfast. I hear her stomach grumbling.”
Rowen gasped, her hands moving to her abdomen, which once again made Alec focus upon her breasts for a heart-stopping instant before he turned and left the room.
His low chuckling as he closed the door behind him making her bristle while Gaira, holding an armful of gowns, stared at Rowen in astonishment.
“One of his own tunics?”
“Aye, Gaira, so he said, and it willna take me an hour.” Rowen ran barefooted to the carved chest sitting against one wall and threw open the lid, a half dozen woolen tunics stacked neatly inside. “Does he think me some preening female tae need so much time? Ha! He doesna know me at all—and dinna fetch me any food, Gaira. I’ll grab some oatcakes from the kitchen.”
Rowen tugged the nightgown over her head and donned one of the tunics, though a laugh from Gaira made her glance sharply at her nurse.
