Page 45 of Seduction in a Kilt

CHAPTER TWENTY

Ivy headed back to the drinks table where she had been talking with Effie earlier. She found a large goblet and filled it with wine. She really was quite thirsty, and as the wine was deliciously cool, she soon drained the goblet and poured herself another.

Most of the people she knew were dancing, so she spent a few quiet minutes by herself, sipping the wine, tapping her foot in time to the music, and trying to look as if she was enjoying herself and merely taking a breather from the floor.

However, inside, she was still seething from the encounter with the haughty coquette, Lady Helen. She was bad enough, but the way Liam had pandered to the woman’s obvious attempts to flirt with him had upset her more than she thought possible. She had never seen him so suave and charming, clearly basking in the attentions of a beautiful woman.

But I suppose, with him bein’ so handsome, he’s had a lot of practice with charmin’ women. Ach, let’s be honest about it—he’s probably had lots of women.

“So why nae me?” asked a little voice inside her head “Is there somethin’ wrong with me?”

She could still see them from where she was standing. In fact, she could not take her eyes off them. There was Liam’s dark head and his broad shoulders, standing out above most of the other guests, and few inches below, the top of Lady Helen’s blonde crown of plaits.

The current dance came to a tumultuous conclusion, and the hoots and shouts and whistles of the guests filled the hall to the rafters. While the next dance was announced, folk poured from the dance floor, and Ivy was glad for the distraction when one of the villagers she recognized came up and invited her to partner him in the coming reel.

But out on the floor, her jealousy flared again when she spied Liam and Lady Helen standing together—Knox was on the dance floor as well now—talking and laughing. Liam appeared to be thoroughly enjoying it, and Lady Helen looked like the cat about to get the cream. Ivy forced herself to look away. She tried her best to put the pair out of her mind and enjoy the dance.

After that, she drank more wine, made an effort to be sociable, and danced several more times with other gentlemen. One slightly comforting thing was that she had not seen Liam dancing with Lady Helen or anyone else, which she thought rather strange. Had he not said she would likely find him out there once he’d drunk enough ale?

At least an hour had passed since she had made her excuses and left Liam with Lady Helen. She was between dances, sitting down and resting her feet, sipping wine, when a familiar figure at last appeared in front of her. Her heart thumped painfully in her chest as she looked up and met Liam’s eyes.

He came and sat next to her, looking annoyingly delectable, with a tankard of ale in his hand. “Are ye havin’ a nice time and enjoyin’ the party, Ivy?” he asked.

She put on a falsely bright smile. “Och, aye, I’m havin’ the time of me life.”

“That’s grand.” He looked at her, his eyes dark, his face half in shadow. “Ivy?”

“What?”

“I havenae had the chance tae tell ye how beautiful ye look tonight.”

Her breath caught in her throat, and pleasure flooded through her at the compliment. However, she was not about to let him see how much she liked his sweet words. Or so she thought. But to her chagrin, it seemed the wine had other ideas.

“I bet ye’ve said that tae all the lassies ye’ve met tonight. Tae all the lassies ye’ve ever met, come tae that.” She could not believe she had actually just said it aloud. She was appalled by her apparent inability to hide her jealousy. It must be the wine, she thought a little desperately.

But he did not respond, not with a single teasing word, which she had expected. In fact, the way he was looking at her, his eyes so unfathomable and intense, was making her feel hot and breathless. So was the way his thigh was pressing against hers.

“I tried tae find ye before, but ye seemed always tae be dancin’,” he said simply and drank some of his ale.

Had he? Her heart softened a little. She had the urge to be truthful and tell him that she had only been trying to distract herself from thinking of him. But instead, she said, “Aye, ’tis a party. People kept askin’ me, so I kept dancin’.”

“But Ivy, we’ve nae danced together yet.”

“Ye’ve nae asked me.”

“I was caught up with somethin’, but I did look fer ye.”

“Somethin’? Someone, more like.” Fer goodness’ sake, girl, hold yer tongue, will ye?

He had the good grace to look slightly guilty. “If ye mean Lady Helen, the woman could talk the hind leg off a donkey. She wouldnae let me go.”

“Hmm, a likely story. I didnae see ye tryin’ very hard tae get away.”

“How d’ye ken? Were ye watchin’?” He gave an annoying little smirk.

“Ach, yer head’s so big!” she snapped back. “I just happened tae glance in yer direction from time tae time while I was out on the floor, as ye dae.”

The corners of his mouth turning upwards. “Ye dae look lovely in that dress, Ivy.”