If she was going to do this, it would be now or never.
Her eyes swept across the crowd for a brief minute, looking through the horde of sweaty and shirtless bodies.
Then she saw him.
Ciaran stood near the center of the yard, his hand gripping a sharp sword. His shirt clung tight to his glistening skin, outlining the broadness of his chest and the ridges of his abdomen.
Ava swallowed hard and tried to keep her eyes on his face.
His face.
His face, for the love of God.
He was not shouting. That was the one thing Ava had noticed. He did not need to. A word from him, or only the lift of a hand, and the men would shift where he wanted them. They obeyed like they knew exactly what he was and did not wish to disappoint him. His authority sat on him almost as naturally as his shadow.
It was quite irritating. And worse, deeply compelling.
Ava slowed her pace for one breath, hating the fact that her body noticed every single detail about him. It was the last thing a woman uninterested in a marriage with him would do.
A woman uninterested in marriage would not notice the breadth of his shoulders or the controlled strength in the way he moved. She wouldn’t notice how sharp his jaw looked from a distance and how his hair fell over his forehead and almost covered his eyes.
The reason why she had come snapped her back to the present almost immediately.
Get it together, Ava.
She crossed the yard before hesitation could grow teeth. A few men looked at her, but they looked away just as quickly. Ciaran turned when she was still several steps away, and the sight of his attention settling fully on her stirred her nerves again, but she crushed them at once.
“Me Laird,” she greeted.
His gaze moved over her face, reading more than she liked. “Me Lady.”
“I would have a private word.”
Something like surprise touched his expression, though it vanished quickly. “Would ye now?”
“Aye.”
He studied her for another moment, then gave a brief order to the nearest man and stepped away from the yard with her.
They stopped at the edge of the training grounds. The sound of the men practicing was still present, but it had dulled.
Ava clasped her hands together to stop herself from fidgeting.
“Well?” he prompted.
“Ye told me last night that I might set conditions.”
“I did.”
“Then I shall.”
He folded his arms. “Now?”
Her eyes remained on his face. “Aye. Now. Why would I call ye here?”
“So ye have thought of these conditions?”
Ava narrowed her eyes in annoyance. “Are ye trying to confuse me?”
