Page 58 of Highlander’s Beautiful Liar

She was no fool. She knew the moment that he’d been alerted to her presence, he’d sent a messenger to Cora and Alec. Since her escorts were stopping every few hours, even forcing her to stop at the inn for dinner even though they were so close, she was well aware they were giving the messenger time to get there first.

So when torches lit up the border of his lands, and Lana saw Alec standing there, she wasn’t afraid. “Lana,” he said in a low voice. “Are ye well?”

She heard the underlying anger. In the past few years, he’d come to see her as his own younger sister and was protective of her.

She wondered what he would do if he discovered the real reason that she was there.

“Yes, thank you, Alec,” she said as though his was the most natural visit in the world. “I am sorry to arrive unannounced, but I hope you won’t mind my visit. I very much wanted to see Cora and the babies.”

Even in the barely lit dark, she could feel his suspicious gaze on her, but it wasn’t her brother-in-law that she was interested in. No, she was staring at another. The real reason that she was here.

Stephen Sinclair.

There was no mistaking the large man who sat rigid on his horse. She’d come to know that outline well and the anger in his dark gaze. Come to know it because for the last three seasons, he’d sat outside her house, in the shadows, staring up at her window. Because he so easily broke into the houses hosting parties and events and watched her from afar.

Her own highland stalker.

At first, she had assumed that her father had reached out to Alec and asked for his help after that one little debacle. She’d tried to tell him that there wasn’t anything to worry about. The son of a duke had gotten a little randy with her in the gardens and grew a little belligerent when she’d told him no. Apparently he’d made a bet with his pasty and spoiled little friends about taking her by the end of the season, and he would not be denied.

Until his manly bits met her knee and his nose met her fist.

The next year, the first event of the season, there was Stephen Sinclair.

“Of course,” Alec said in a resigned voice. “We have a chamber prepared. Have ye eaten dinner?”

“We stopped at the inn.”

He read the annoyance in her voice and raised his eyes to the heavens before he smiled and turned his horse.

So Lana Thistle did not arrive to the massive MacKay keep alone. She arrived with nearly a dozen men escorting her. So much for being subtle.

Alec might have kept his temper, but Cora did not. “Lana Thistle, what the devil do you think you’re doing?” she demanded as soon as they walked in. One by one, the guards began to slink away, and even Alec made a hasty retreat as Cora hurried down the stairs with little Maria bouncing on her hip.

“Oh, look at you,” Lana cooed as she reached out to take her niece. “You have gotten so big! You’re just the most gorgeous thing I have ever laid eyes on.”

Even with a gaze that would stop even the toughest highlander in their tracks, Cora handed her niece over. “Do Mother and Father know that you are here?”

“Shouldn’t she be in bed?” Lana asked as she deftly ignored the question. “It’s so late.” Unable to help herself, she yawned.

Her sister narrowed her eyes. “Do you think that’s going to make me feel sorry for you? Acting all exhausted?”

“It’s a yawn,” Lana said with a wry grin as she handed Maria back over to her mother. “A yawn does not mean exhaustion.”

“No, but a trip from England does.” Cora softened her features and then reached over and hugged her tightly. “You have no idea the terror that I felt when I got Connor’s message. What happened, Lana? If it’s Mother and Father, you would have sent a message, so it must be something that you didn’t want them to know about.”

“Nothing happened,” Lana assured her as she returned the hug. Between them, Maria wiggled and protested. “Honestly, I am fine. I just needed to get away from London and get some fresh air. I will write to Mother tomorrow and explain, and I’m sure they’ll be furious, but please let me stay for a week or two. I won’t be any trouble.”

Behind her, Stephen snorted, but Lana ignored it. She would deal with him later.

“All right. Stephen, will you see Lana to her room? I need to feed Maria before putting her back to bed.”

“Aye,” Stephen said before he snagged her elbow and walked her to the opposite staircase. Her heart pounded in her chest when they were alone, and she waited to see what he would do.

“Ye could have been killed,” he hissed in a low voice as they walked through the halls. “The roads are riddled with highwaymen.”

“I hired skilled footmen,” she said calmly as she jerked her arm away. She was not there to be led around like a child. “We did meet some trouble, but they were so skillfully dispatched that it barely took any time at all.”

“And did those footmen escort ye into the Highlands?” Stephen demanded, knowing full well the answer was no. Lana didn’t possess the kind of wealth it would have taken to hire an Englishman to protect her in the Highlands.