Page 23 of A Dangerous Highland Affair

Teasag laughed, but inside, her head was pulsating. Something about the scent of his hair triggered a reaction in her. It was so soft and sensuous, with the smell of lavender hanging in the air above it.

Neacal dangled his head tantalizingly close to her hand, so near that Teasag had to fight the urge to stroke it, just to discover its softness for herself.

Suddenly, Neacal caught her gaze, honing in on her with his gentle blue eyes. The longer he looked, the longer it was impossible to stop looking at him. Both of them felt it, with Teasag’s cheeks coloring red as she stared. It was no longer comfortable for either of them to keep looking, but still, she could not stop.

Teasag coughed dryly. If she did not turn away, she was sure that she would kiss him. Or maybe he would kiss her. She didn’t know and didn’t care. All she did know was just how much she wanted that to happen, yet how much she was trying to fight the instinct to stroke his cheek and plant a kiss squarely on it.

Neacal must have felt it too, because suddenly he looked away, although Teasag could still see the glimmer of mischief in his blue eyes.

“Like I said, lass, yer safe wi’ me, from any men…. But I warn ye... if there’s any more women, I’ll be running under yer skirts for cover because yer all way too scary!”

Then, laughing, he took her hand as they wended their way west, on the path towards Blackness.

“How many miles is it noo?” asked Teasag as they stumbled on down the dirt track, which led to the town of Blackness.

Neacal looked at her archly and raised his eyebrow. “Aboot one-fifteenth of a mile less than it was last time ye asked how far it was,” he replied with a dry smile.

“Hm!” huffed Teasag and punched him softly in the upper arm, but then she turned to him and smiled gingerly. “Are ye trying to say I’m impatient?”

“I’m nae trying to say anything at all, lassie, I wouldnae dare to,” he said, his bright blue eyes still teasing her. Then for a moment, he looked serious again. “Seriously, ye were braw wi’ those women back there, I dinnae ken what I’d have done wi’out ye here!”

Teasag glanced up at him, her sky-blue eyes sparkling against the grey clouds. “Been dead in that there ditch, I daresay. Those ladies didnae mess aboot, did they?” she said, indicating the shallow bog which ran alongside the muddy dirt track road they were plodding through.

Neacal looked about, taking in the wide-open vista of the Highlands around them. The road's position gave him a good vantage point to be assured there weren’t any more in the immediate vicinity.

He was safe for now, but Neacal knew all too well the dangers of getting too cozy. Still, for the time being, he could take some time out, so facing Teasag breezily, he plastered the widest smile he could muster onto his face.

“Aye, that they didnae, well, ye ken what they say about a woman scorned, dinnae ye?” he smiled straight at the lassie and fixed her with his most sincere grin.

“Aye,” she said guardedly. Neacal could tell by the tone of her voice that she must be wondering where he was going with this. But Neacal only smiled at her.

Outwardly, he was as smooth as a cat, sleek words tripping from his forked tongue, but inside, he was on fire.

The girl was doing things to him that he hadn’t even known were possible. In the twenty-four short hours since their meeting, his every thought had been occupied with seeing her again.

Ever since she had made her entrance into the White Hart Tavern, Neacal had been lingering in her shadow. Not only had he slept at her door, but when she disappeared without saying goodbye, he’d raced to the cart to see her. Just thinking about it was enough to make Neacal’s cheeks burn up like a fire.

What was happening to him? The lass was causing him to act like a fool, and now, even when he thought that was all behind him, she quite literally appeared from nowhere to pull him out of a tight spot.

Her timing couldn’t have been better. She had effortlessly seen the women off but deep inside, Neacal had felt his heart sinking.

In coming to his defense, she had painted a picture of him as whiter than white. Seeing the trust in her eyes had almost destroyed him. There was no way she could ever find out the truth.

As someone who thought he’d seen it all, it unnerved Neacal just how wretched he felt at the thought of her seeing the real him.

The way she had effortlessly convinced the women that they were mistaken had taken guts, and he was both awed and guilt-stricken in equal measure.

Even so, it was plain to see that the girl’s next logical question must be to ask why the women had thought to accuse him in the first place. Which is why he dived in before she had a chance to.

“So, which of the unlucky ladies was the lassie ye scorned?” asked Teasag, taking the bait. “An’ why did they accuse ye of stealing their ha’pennies an’ jewels?”

Teasag cast her hair back against the blustering skies, losing it to the tune of the wind. Instantly, a gust took it, her platinum blonde locks billowing in the metallic skies ahead.

Neacal watched, in wonder, as the winds combed her hair, stretching it out and across the vista of the Glenside.

But Teasag wasn’t distracted by the advancing winds. She simply tossed her face against it and smiled, before turning her delicate features back to where Neacal was standing and smiled again.

Despite the cold gray skies, Neacal felt himself perspire. The inside of his palms began to clam up, and he could feel a cold drip weave down the back of his spine. But it would not do to show it, and ever the professional liar, Neacal simply turned his cheeks upwards and smiled.