Page 32 of Highland Flame

“Go on, then.” She raised her chin in the air, wondering how he was going to get out of this mess. Once a womanizer, always one, she thought. And Cam MacKeefe was the biggest one in all of Scotland.

“I am attracted to ye, Yvaine, even though I canna understand why.”

“Well, that’s no’ goin’ to win ye any favors,” she said, scowling at him for making her feel suddenly undesirable once again.

“I only mean that in the way that ye havena been very kind to me at all.”

“That’s no’ true.”

He held a halting hand in the air. “Let me finish, please. I want to tell ye that I havena been able to stop thinkin’ about kissin’ ye since the moment we met.”

That shocked her to hear him say it. He almost sounded as if he meant it, and that surprised her. Especially since she didn’t think he really liked her at all. Then again, if he was attracted to her that quickly, it had to be naught but lust.

“I – I’m sorry,” he said. “I ken it was wrong of me to do it, and I swear it will no’ happen again. I didna mean to scare ye, lass.”

His kiss hadn’t scared her. Not really. But what did scare her was how much she liked it when his lips touched hers and he held her close to him in his strong arms. It felt right, and comforting for some reason that she could not explain. She’d never felt comfortable around any men besides her brothers. This man was a stranger and a Highlander, which meant she should fear him more than any other. So why didn’t she?

Yvaine had never been kissed by any man with so much passion before. At three and twenty years of age, she had kissed several men before actually marrying Dun. However, Cam’s kiss was different. It was a claiming kiss for sure but, at the same time, it didn’t feel forced or unwelcome. It felt like he actually cared for her, and she liked it. Her lips continued to tingle, and her heart fluttered like a butterfly flitting through the sky. This was a feeling she’d never experienced with any man, and especially not with her late husband.

“Da?” came Avianca’s voice as she sat up and rubbed one eye.

Cam’s head turned quickly, and his body seemed to stiffen. “Dinna call me that,” he mumbled, seeming very upset now.

“Well, that’s what ye are to her,” said Yvaine. “She is yer daughter, Cam, and ye are her da.”

“Nay. We dinna ken that for sure,” he ground out, being in total denial. By his actions, she guessed that even if he did have bastards walking the earth, this was the first time he really knew about it.

“Well, what do ye want her to call ye?” asked Yvaine.

“She can call me Cam. Just like anyone else does.”

The little girl walked over and looked up at Cam. “Since my mama is dead, are ye goin’ to take me home with ye to live?” she asked him with wide, innocent eyes.

Cam’s gaze darted over to Yvaine and then back to the girl. His lips quivered, but he didn’t answer. Yvaine could see the sun reflecting in his dark brown orbs, and she noticed something she hadn’t seen earlier. In his eyes, she witnessed fear if she wasn’t mistaken. Fear masked by a tinge of desperation. She knew that look well because she’d seen it in her own eyes many times before. Every time she’d looked into the reflection of a candle holder as she’d polished it back in her chandler’s shop in town, she saw the same thing she was witnessing now. The man was afraid of having a child – or perhaps he was just regretting his past actions now. Either way, he couldn’t change the past.

Cam’s jaw clenched, and he turned his head to look out the door, rather than to look at his daughter. “I have to go find my friends now,” he mumbled. “I’ll meet up with ye later, Yvaine.” He didn’t even mention the girl, nor did he acknowledge her by answering her question. Yvaine found herself wondering if all Highlanders were this rude.

“Why canna I call him Da?” asked Avianca, watching Cam walk out the door and down the stairs.

Yvaine pulled the little girl to her in a half-hug, not knowing exactly how to answer.

“I suppose it’s because everyone has demons that haunt them, Avianca. Even though, sometimes, we might not ken exactly what they are.”

“So, my da . . . I mean Cam, is bein’ haunted by the devil?” Avianca seemed very concerned.

“I wish I kent but, alas, I am no’ sure.” Yvaine didn’t want to scare the girl but, at the same time, she didn’t want to lie to her either. She didn’t know what shadows were lurking inside Cam. All she knew was that the devil was on her tail and probably would be for the rest of her life.

As Yvaine watched Cam hurry down the stairs and through the courtyard, she got the feeling he was running away from something . . . or someone in particular. She had thought it had something to do with his daughter, or mayhap he was running from himself. Then again, perhaps it was neither. After that kiss they’d just shared, she started wondering if mayhap she was the one who Cam MacKeefe was really running from, after all!