Page 33 of In Bed with a Highland Liar

Lilith didn’t respond immediately, but even that was a victory for Aaden. He was half-expecting her to fight back right away, but at least she was considering it.

Before Lilith could answer him, two pairs of footsteps approached them and Aaden looked over her shoulder to see Evander and Freya there, walking down the corridor. Freya’s footsteps were quick and Evander was trailing behind her, his expression pinched with concern while hers was a storm, anger radiating off her much to Aaden’s surprise.

He had never seen her like this. The sweet, quiet young woman he knew was nowhere to be found now.

“What is the matter?” Lilith asked as Freya walked past them. Freya didn’t respond, though. She didn’t even stop, but rather kept walking without a single word.

It was Evander who lingered. “Dinnae fash,” he told Lilith. “I will take Freya fer a ride soon.”

“A ride?” Lilith asked. “I thought she was goin’ tae the town today.”

“The plans changed,” Evander said with a small, uncaring shrug.

“Was she nae supposed tae be with Cameron?” asked Lilith. Her displeasure was palpable, but if Evander picked up on it, he didn’t let it show on his face.

“As I said, the plans changed.”

Aaden didn’t have time to say anything before Evander, too, left them. His footsteps echoed down the hallway, chasing after Freya. Lilith, too, hurried down the hallway after Freya and before he knew it, Aaden was left alone. Cursing quietly under his breath, he turned on his heel and went the opposite way, heading to his guest chambers as was his plan from the beginning—only now he had no book to read.

There was nothing for him to do but wait and see.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Though Lilith hadn’t responded to Aaden’s request at first, the next time he asked her for another chance to court her that very same day, she agreed if only because she was curious to see how much better he could do this time.

She still hadn’t forgiven him for taking his cousin’s side, but she supposed they were family, after all, and ever since that day, she had never seen Evander near another woman, even though she had been observing him like a hawk. Perhaps Aaden had spoken to him and had managed to make him see reason. Lilith didn’t trust Evander with Freya, though. It didn’t matter if he pretended to have changed. If she could help it, the two of them would never wed.

She would come up with a plan. She would make her sister see that Cameron was a much better option than Evander could ever be.

Until then, she had to deal with Aaden as he took her to the lake near the castle once more, only this time he didn’t invite her to race him. Instead, they rode at a leisurely pace, taking their time under the sun that had decided to show its face through the clouds for the morning.

It was a pleasant day, Lilith had to admit, and she was surprised to find that Aaden’s presence near her didn’t ruin it. When he wasn’t trying to bed her or impress her with silly tricks, he was rather entertaining to be around.

“I’m nae lyin’,” he said, not for the first time since he had begun telling her his story. “Mrs. MacCaibe wouldnae let us near the kitchens, so Gilchrist an’ I had tae stay in the cupboard fer the whole afternoon an’ the evenin’. Everyone was lookin’ fer us an’ we could hear them, but we thought we’d be punished less fer disappearin’ than fer stealin’ the bannocks.”

Lilith laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. “That doesnae make ye or yer friend sound verya clever.”

“I never claimed we are,” Aaden said. “An’ we were certainly fools back then. We were already almost grown… we could barely fit in the cupboard an’ the bannocks kept fallin’ out o’ our pockets. That’s how they found us in the end. One o’ them rolled right out o’ the cupboard and Mrs. MacCaibe saw it. We were punished fer disappearin’ an’ fer stealin’ the bannocks in the end.”

It was easy, imagining Aaden as a boy. Lilith had the impression that he hadn’t changed much since then. He was still mischievous, always up to no good. Maybe he wasn’t stealing bannocks from the kitchens anymore, but he was doing other foolish things.

Still, the story amused her. It showed her a side of him that was playful without being improper or rude, and Lilith could appreciate that.

“What?” Aaden asked when Lilith gave him a disbelieving look. “Did ye an’ Freya never dae things ye shouldnae have? When ye were younger?”

Lilith pursed her lips, considering the question for a long while. She tried to pull up a memory of them misbehaving, but it was mostly Lilith herself who got into trouble as a girl. Freya had always been quiet, causing little trouble in the castle, and even Lilith was often only scolded for the state of her dresses and her refusal to embroider what their governess was trying to teach them.

“I cannae say that we did,” she said in the end with a small shrug. “Though our faither gave us much freedom as bairns. There wasnae much that was forbidden tae us.”

“Well, he does seem tae never say nay tae ye,” Aaden said. “Does he give ye everythin’ ye want?”

“Nae everythin’,” Lilith said, a hint of bitterness creeping into her voice. The truth was that their father did give them everything they asked for and he loved them both dearly but Lilith couldn’t get past his insistence that she had to marry. It was the only thing she wished she could change, this stubbornness of his on this one matter.

Then again, she had probably inherited her stubbornness from him.

Aaden fell silent, perhaps sensing it was a sensitive matter for Lilith. Soon, they reached the lake and dismounted their horses, but as Lilith made to walk towards the bank, Aaden stopped her with a hand on her arm.

“Look,” he said, pointing into the trees that lined the area.