Page 31 of Secrets of a Kilted Seduction

“After I left Blaine, me and Knox⁠—”

“Oh, Knox it is now?”

“Aye. He’s a good man. The only man I trust around here. Anyway, me and Knox had a wee conversation. He told me tae watch me back around here. Ye ken ye said earlier that ye thought Blaine might have been deliberately provokin’ me tae fight with him?”

“Aye, I did, but that was just me own thoughts. I could easily be wrong.”

“Knox said exactly the same thing.” He filled her in on what Knox had told him about Blaine acting out of character.

“Is that so?” The little frown was back, he noticed. “Did Blaine say anythin’ tae ye when ye went fer a dram in the study?” she asked.

“Aye, he apologized tae me, I accepted, and we buried the hatchet, as he put it.”

“Dae ye believe he meant it?”

“I’m nae sure. He looked as if he did, but there’s somethin’ peculiar about the way he’s actin’. I cannae help thinkin’ ye must be right and he daesnae believe were really married. ’Tis like he wants tae catch us out and prove it, so he can get rid of me and have ye fer himself.”

Alana blanched. “D’ye honestly think that’s what he wants?”

“Ach, of course it is. I told ye that from the beginnin’. That’s what this wee charade of ours is all about, remember?”

“Aye, how could I forget,” she said with a tired sigh. She looked at him, her lovely dark blue eyes shadowed in the flickering light. His heart skipped again.

“So, what d’ye think we should dae about it?”

“Is it nae obvious? We have tae dae more tae make him believe it.”

“What d’ye suggest?”

“We have tae act… more married.”

She scoffed. “More married? And how dae we dae that?”

“Go ahead and laugh, but fer a start, ’tis nae helpin’ tae convince anyone when

ye insist on me sleepin’ on the floor every night. Servants gossip, and ye can bet Blaine’s got them all spyin’ on us fer any proof we’re lyin’. The bed is the first place they’re gonnae look fer evidence.”

Her slim brows drew together once more. “Evidence? What sort of evidence?”

“That we’re sleepin’ together, of course. Dae I have tae spell it out fer ye?” he asked, frustrated in more ways than one.

“But ye were up when the maids came in this mornin’, and ye put yer cover and pillow back on the bed and mussed the sheets tae look as if ye’d been sleepin’ next tae me,” she said.

“’Tis nae enough.”

“I’m nae sleepin’ with ye.”

“Aye, ye’ve made that plain.” He turned to her with an appealing look. “Alana, we were gonnae be married once. What d’ye imagine that would have been like? Livin’ together as man and wife.”

The pain he saw in her eyes then made him feel bad for asking her to remember. But he knew they had to do more if he was to keep her safe from Blaine’s machinations, real or not, so he steeled himself.

He moved closer to her and gazed into her eyes, trying to show her how earnest he was. “I ken I hurt ye terribly, and I’ll be sorry fer it fer the rest of me life. But this is serious. Try and think, how would we have been as man and wife?”

“All right. Give me a chance tae think.” She was quiet for a minute, then she shook her head. “I cannae imagine it.”

“Ye mean ye willnae.”

“That’s right. I willnae… because it hurts too much.”

That was upsetting, but he was not about to give up. “Alana, I ken ye dinnae wantae hear it, but ye’re the most precious thing tae me on this earth. Ye mean more tae me than me own life,” he told her, meaning every word.

“Is that why ye abandoned—” she began, but he placed a gentle finger against her lips, and she stopped talking.

“I can. I can imagine everythin’ about us bein’ married. I can picture it in me mind right now.”

Her features softened. “Can ye really?”

“Aye, I’ve imagined many times what I’ve lost.”

“Och, that’s sad, but ye’ve only⁠—”

“Aye, I only have mesel’ tae blame. D’ye think I dinnae think of that all the time? ’Tis torture.”

“Tadhg, dinnae say such things,” she said, her voice surprisingly soft as she put down her teacup and met his gaze. He started to get excited, and hopeful. Somehow, he seemed to be getting through to her at last. She was actually listening to him and not shouting at him.

He gave himself a mental shake and said, “But never mind that. The important thing is, I can imagine how we would be as man and wife, all the little things we would dae together, and that’s what we need tae dae now tae convince Blaine and his cronies that we’re truly wed.”

“All right. Tell me then.”