Cameron sobered. “And I’m grateful for it.”
Mary crossed her arms. “Ach, Cameron, did ye think I would let ye die?”
“Never.” He traced a knuckle down her cheek and across her lips. “Ye have given me much to live for.”
Her pulse kicked up and something sizzled and twisted along her nerve endings. It seemed every time Cameron touched her, he touched her more intimately than the last time. “I’m glad,” she told him, and meant it.
Cameron grinned. “Me, too.”
Mary knew if she didn’t distract him, he’d take her in his arms and kiss her, right here in Mhairi Grant’s guest chamber. “Hungry?”
“For ye, aye.”
She stepped aside, torn but determined to protect herself from his allure, and from the desire for him coursing through her veins, making her weak, while prickles broke out across her chest and down her arms. She wanted him to kiss her, she did, but she dared not encourage him. He was too accustomed to being alone with her. And the rest of the clan, as well, would think nothing of her spending time alone in Cameron’s chamber. Where anything could happen, now he felt better. “Flirting comes as naturally to ye as breathing, does it no’, Cameron Sutherland?”
“Given the proper incentive, aye.”
“Sorry, I’m no’ on the menu.” She closed the door and stepped past him across the hall. She gave Seona’s chamber a cursory glance while she got her racing pulse under control, then turned back to Cameron. His gaze had not left her. He looked hungry, indeed. For her. She forced herself to ignore his gaze and said brightly, “Let’sgo to the kitchens and see what delicacies Cook has prepared for us to taste. Then I must check on Da.”
Cameron’s lips twisted into a rueful smile as he capitulated. “Aye.”
Four days later,Mary stood in the bailey with her father. An hour before, a messenger had warned them the wedding guests would soon arrive. Now they were here. Following a pair of guards, Lady Grant and her daughter rode through Rose’s gates with heads held high, barely glancing at their surroundings. Their maids and a cart loaded with boxes and bags trailed the ladies. A guard force made up of another dozen men followed and gave the keep a short inspection, no longer than necessary to ensure they were not under attack. Mary watched with interest as her father greeted Lady Grant, taking her hands and helping her from her mount. He escorted her into the keep, leaving poor Seona to fend for herself. Mary glared at his retreating back and went to greet her future mother-in-law, striving for the courtesy her father had denied. Seona looked wan and pale. Tired from the journey, no doubt. Mary escorted her straight to her chamber, leaving the steward to settle everyone else. The bride’s brother, it appeared, had remained at Grant.
Seona took one look at the chamber Mary showed her to, shook her head and refused to enter. “’Tis smaller than my chamber at home!” she complained.
“’Tis temporary,” Mary reminded her, clenching her fists in her skirts where Seona would not see them. “After the wedding, ye’ll move into the laird’s chamber with myfather.” Mary found it hard to believe the girl could get any more pale and remain upright, but she did.
“I must have my own chamber,” Seona announced. “Larger than this one. I am unaccustomed to sharing. I canna sleep with someone else in the room.”
“No’ even your maids?” If Seona and her mother insisted on private quarters, Mary would have to find the maids sleeping arrangements nearby.
Seona crossed her arms. “I prefer solitude.”
Mary wished her luck with that. Seona would have much to adjust to, it seemed, in her married life. Clan Rose was less formal than Mary had observed Grant to be. “In any event, supper will be in an hour. If ye like, ye may rest here until then. I will send a bath, if yer maid will be here soon to help ye dress.”
To Mary’s relief, Seona relented and entered the room with a sniff. “Rest well,” Mary told her. She meant to take her leave, but remained at the open door when the steward led her father and Lady Grant to the chamber across the hall.
“Ye will let me know if anything is no’ to yer liking,” Rose said to Lady Grant.
Mary closed Seona’s door and rolled her eyes while her back was to her father. To all appearances, he remained smitten with the mother. Then she turned to them and nodded. “Welcome, Lady Grant. Yer daughter is just here. I was about to see a tub sent up to her. Would ye like one as well?”
Lady Grant sniffed and turned her gaze to the steward. “I am dismayed to find it is not already in place awaiting me.”
“It will be brought in minutes,” the steward assuredher, then hurried away down the hall. Mary watched him go, angry at being ignored and jealous of his easy escape.
“I’m sure my daughter can see to everything else,” Rose announced with a frown at Mary.
She fought down her irritation and nodded. “Ye have only to tell me what ye need and I will see it brought to ye,” she promised Lady Grant. She knew her smile looked forced, but what did they expect such arrogance to achieve? She wasn’t a servant. As the laird’s eldest child and heir, she deserved some respect.
The Lady sniffed again and entered her chamber, then closed the door on Mary and her father.
Rose frowned at the door, then rounded on Mary. “I thought ye had everything prepared for their arrival. Ye promised me…”
“I did, Da. I do. But what sense is there in readying a tub in their chambers until after they arrive. Naught, aye? Unless they wish to bathe in cold water.”
Rose crossed his arms over his chest. “They are here now, so see it done.”
Mary sighed and held her tongue as her father stalked down the hall in the same direction the steward had taken.
