She stepped back from the door, and he stepped past her, bringing his usual scent of woodsmoke and mint. She bit the inside of her cheek, pushing the door closed behind him.
“Where is yer sister?” he enquired, peering into the kitchen.
“Out. It’s market day.”
“Ah. And ye didnae go with her? Shame.”
I’ve gone nowhere in the last week, me Laird.I’ve lain in bed and wished I were anywhere else. Wished I was with ye. Pathetic, eh?
She clenched her jaw and lifted her chin. “What do ye want, Aiden? Ye made it clear last time. We have had our fun, and now ye wish to part ways. So, let’s part ways.”
He turned slowly, gaze boring into her.
“Had our fun?” he repeated, slowly and carefully. “Is that what ye thought it was?”
A blush crawled across her cheeks, hot and insistent.
“That’s whatyethought it was.”
He gave a thoughtful nod, a gesture that seemed to neither agree nor disagree with what she’d said.
“I’m here because ye owe me something,” he said brusquely, turning away. His plaid was affixed around his shoulders with a heavy iron brooch. He fiddled with it, unclasping it and tossing the plaid carelessly over the back of a chair.
“Owe ye?” she spluttered, hardly able to believe what she was hearing. “Ye have a cheek.”
“Oh, aye,” he responded, throwing her an easy smile. “We had a bargain, remember? And ye have only delivered four bottles of whiskey. Ye owe me one more. Five was what we agreed upon, and five it’ll be.”
Hannah glanced around the kitchen. A pie was cooling on the counter. Apple, by the smell of it. She let herself imagine picking it up and hurling it at his smirking face. Oh, it would be satisfying. The crunch of the crust, the horror on his face, the slow drip of thick, apple-y filling slipping down his face.
Yes, it would be wonderful.
But there’d also be consequences, the least of which would be Violet’s disappointment upon learning that her beloved pie was gracing the face of Laird MacBain and could no longer be eaten.
“I daenae make that blend anymore,” Hannah managed, hoping that she sounded cold and unafraid.
She almost certainly did not.
“And why nae?” he murmured, taking a step toward her. She stepped back, bumping her back against the counter.
“None of yer business,” she snapped, and moved forward to push past him. “One of us should leave. If it willnae be ye, then I will?—”
His arm shot out, curling around the front of her waist. She froze. His chest brushed against her shoulder when he breathed.
“Stay, Hannah,” he whispered, voice suddenly soft. “Please. Stay.”
25
Hannah clenched her jaw, glancing up at him.
“Very well,” she whispered. “I’ll stay.”
He relaxed, shoulders dropping.
She stepped back, and he removed his arm from her waist. Almost at once, she missed the heavy, reassuring weight of it.
“What would ye like to talk about?” she asked, more stiffly than she would have liked.
Why am I acting like this? I dreamt of him coming to visit me. I dreamt of… oh, I daenae ken.
