Page 14 of The Highlander’s Unexpected Wife

“Hunter,” Lennox growled.

“I think we have seen enough,” Selwick remarked.

He was yanked back and spun to face Lennox.

The man’s chest heaved with fury. “How dare you?”

Cameron faced Alison again. He grasped her hand and helped her into Lennox’s carriage. She settled on the seat and he said, “I will see you tomorrow, my dear.”

She didn’t speak, but only gave him a hard stare.

He stepped back and faced the two men. “Davis and Coleman will accompany you to Lady Alison’s carriage.” He faced the two servants. “When you reach Lady Alison’s carriage, please accompany her home. You may take a cab back here.” They bowed and Cameron said to Lennox and Selwick, “Goodnight gentleman,” then he turned and strode back to the house.

The kiss would leave little doubt in Lennox’s mind about the state of Cameron and Alison’s relationship.

***

Alison repressed the impulse to touch her mouth. What had just happened? Cameron’s lips had been soft but firm…and demanding. Robert had never kissed her like that. Her heart raced. God help her. Had she truly gone from being engaged to the man of her dreams to being shackled to a man who melted clothes from a woman’s body with a single kiss? This simply wasn’t possible. Why had Lord Weston proposed marriage? He had no desire to marry anyone, much less her.

The carriage shifted under her uncle’s weight as he entered. He sat across from her as Lord Selwick followed, then lowered himself onto the seat beside Uncle Harrison. The driver closed the door and, even in the dim carriage light, she easily discerned their condemning stares. The carriage listed right as the driver climbed into his seat and Lord Weston’s two servants joined him in the driver’s seat.

“What happened?” her uncle demanded when the carriage jolted into motion. “I know you too well to believe this drivel about performing on the stage. Why did you go to Hunter’s tonight?”

Could she tell him the truth, that she had wanted to stop a scandal…not become one?

“Then you do not know me very well,” she said. “The viscount told the truth. I wanted to know if he could introduce me to some of the women he knows from the stage. I know Robert won’t approve, but it is something I wanted to try. Once we are married, I will be a wife and, soon after, a mother.”

“That kiss tells a different story,” Lord Selwick said.

“What do I tell Erin?” her uncle snapped. “How do I explain to her that her closest friend, her cousin, whom she thinks of as a sister, has betrayed her? Only a whore slips out in the middle of the night to bed a man while betrothed to another.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I am no whore.”

“Liar!” he roared.

“Lennox—”

“Stay out of this, Selwick. I needed your support tonight.”

Selwick frowned. “My support? I am here to make sure Hunter does right by the young woman we found in his chambers. I thought you would be grateful that lady was not your daughter.”

Lennox cleared his throat. “Of course, I am. But my Erin—“

“Will be grateful.”

“For goodness sake, I was not in his bed,” she said. “Pray, do not discuss me as if I am not here.”

Her uncle’s gaze bore into her. “What do you know of Cameron Hunter?”

“Nothing besides what I hear,” she replied. And what she’d learned tonight. What had she learned tonight?

“Do not play the fool, Niece.”

The carriage slowed. Selwick peered out the window. “I believe that is your coach up ahead, my lady.” He looked back at her. “You are hardly the first young lady to rush to the alter. Once married, no one will care.”

“I have no intention of marrying Lord Weston. I am engaged to another man.”

Selwick edged toward the door. “I am afraid no gentleman will understand your shenanigans this evening.”

“When is Robert to arrive home?” her uncle asked.

“In a little less than six months,” she replied with a frown.

“You are fortunate he is at sea and will not hear of your actions.” He gave a slow nod. “The scandal will have died down by the time he arrives home.”

“Have you lost your mind?” Mister Selwick demanded. “Hunter must marry her.”

“Silence,” her uncle hissed. “She made a mistake. I would not see her suffer a lifetime for a youthful indiscretion.”

Mister Selwick frowned, but remained silent.

Alison turned her attention toward the door. Why had Lord Weston declared his intention to marry her? Why hadn’t he continued with the lie that she had approached him to ask about his connections to the stage. And why, oh why, had he kissed her?