Page 19 of How to Woo a Highlander

William seemed to like her now, even though when Alastair had asked he did not give that impression. He did not want to struggle with William for a woman, but when it came to Jane, he had tried already, but he could not shrug off his attraction.

He had meant to avoid her, but even that was impossible. William continued to put them together by leaving him in charge of her. The fact that William trusted him to take care of her instead of doing it himself could have meant that he did not have any interest in the woman, but then again, Alastair knew that the clan was in turbulent times, so William was possibly putting off his romance for a more suitable period.

What if William liked the woman, and that was why he asked his most trusted friend to take care of her when he could not. If the clan went to war, she might even be a target if she was known to have William's affection.

The carriage stopped, and he looked out the window to find that while he was lost in his thoughts, they had already arrived at his inn. He had made it his mission to acquire several inns across the clan over the years. Although he was living in the castle and working for William, he had his own business to tend to.

The town Inn was his most prosperous establishment, perhaps because the town near the castle was the biggest one. People also preferred his inn to others as he had rules against unruly behavior, so his was safe. Drinking and cheering were allowed, but the moment anyone started trouble, they would be tossed out by able guards.

He managed his inns remotely and only visited the Inn whenever he needed to relax away from the castle. This was one of those times. He had a room on the third floor, which was his own and not open to the public, so he could go there any time he wanted and have it readily available.

Bertha, the innkeeper who had been working for him the past five years, rushed out to greet him. She was a plump, middle-aged woman and was a mother at heart. He could not help but like her.

"Mr. Alastair!" she greeted joyously. "It's so good to see ye again. Ye spend so much time at the castle, I barely see ye."

Alastair chuckled softly; she was not wrong.

"It's good to see ye too, Bertha. How are things here?"

She shrugged as she led him in. The place was full of people, as usual.

"Would ye like me to bring ye some ale?" she asked, handing him the keys to his room.

"Aye," he agreed, making his way up the stairs as she went to ready some ale for him.

He reached his room and opened it. It was clean, as always. Bertha never slacked when it came to that. He had just sat down at his table by the window when she came in with his ale, dropping the mug and tankard on the table.

"Dae ye need me to bring ye anything else? Would ye like me to bring ye the books? Or are ye expecting company tonight?" she asked.

He shook his head, slightly embarrassed at the last question. Usually, when he visited, he either looked over the books or brought a woman. It had been quite a while since he had done the latter, however.

Bertha nodded and left, leaving him to his ale and thoughts. He wondered if he shouldn't truly get a woman. There was still the possibility that if he did, his attraction to Jane would disappear since it stemmed from physical desire.

A part of him was worried to do so in case he still wanted Jane, as it would mean his attraction to her was more than physical. He sighed, leaning back and glancing out of the window to the streets, which were lighted by lanterns around the stalls and buildings.

People moved about, enjoying the evening after working through the day. Things would remain that way until midnight when only the whorehouses would remain open to welcome the drunkards in the street who could not remember the way home.

He realized that he had not shown Jane this side of the clan. He wondered if she was used to nightlife. Did she step out of her home at night when she was in England? She probably did not with how prim and proper she seemed most of the time. Was she always that proper? Perhaps she just did not trust him enough yet to be lax in his presence.

He could not imagine how boring life would be if one took things as seriously as the English did. He had never liked such people, so he could not understand what made him so drawn to Jane Baxendale.

It might just be the lass's looks that have me in a bind

Her beauty was beyond all else, in his eyes. Her body was exquisite, made for sin in every way, and yet she had such a beautiful face. It was unfair how attractive she was, and she was no stranger to the fact. She dressed to play upon her features, all of her outfits leaving enough cleavage to the eyes to send a man's mind into the gutters with no hope of return.

He had been immediately weakened to her when he saw that she had a more agreeable personality than he’d imagined. Although he could not claim to be close to her, spending time with her made it clear that she was a good person. That was enough to break down the walls he had against her and make it very difficult to resist her beauty.

Now, all that he relied on to keep him from getting closer to her was the fact that he couldn’t tell whether or not William liked her. He pressed his lips together and leaned back in his seat. He came to relax, but instead, he was troubling himself by thinking.

The clan might be going to war, and ye are spendin’ so much time deliberatin’ on a woman. It truly has been too long for ye, Alastair.

The clan was another thing that made him worry. William’s head was in the right place, as he was paying more attention to the clan than he was to Jane. He pressed his palm to his forehead. If a war were to break out with the clan Grant, he would have no time to think about Jane either. The people were in danger, and soldiers were dying almost every day.

They were still not sure if the attacks were coming from Grant, or if they had a hidden enemy. Things with the Grant clan had always been somewhat shaky, since Mackenzie was their biggest trade rival and their direct neighboring clan.

In the history of their clans, Grant had tried to assimilate Mackenzie twice, first by war, and second by an attempted marriage. Both had failed, and now it seemed like Grant was readying to try war again. His spies had brought him information that the clan was gathering soldiers, but there was no news that the clan was already attacking.

Was it that the Grant clan was secretly attacking the Mackenzie’s, or did they have a new ally who was distracting the clan by attacking while Grant prepared for a full-scale attack? As William’s right hand, he was the one who needed to make sure that the clan was ready for whatever the enemies had in store. It was a bad time to be thinking of a woman.