Page 20 of The Highlander’s Dangerous Desire

In the firelight, it was difficult to be sure, but he thought Grace’s color deepened further. “Niamh and I agreed as girls that we did not want to marry. She was afraid of being required to bear children. And I… I did not want a husband my uncle chose for me. So we made a plan to make sure no one would wish to marry us. We made a list of actions we committed each year to make ourselves seem ineligible for marriage, and shared them at the festivals.”

Ewan couldn’t help it. Despite his best efforts, a low snicker broke out of his chest. “Ye… ye… every year?” He laughed.

“We did. With every suitor, we both devised methods to convince our suitors that we were unsuitable brides.” To his surprise, a small, ironic smile curved Grace’s mouth. “I confess, I was at a loss with the last one, until you gave me your unknowing assistance.”

Ewan stared at her. “I didnae.”

“You did.” From the way Grace laughed, he must have looked as confused as he felt. “The night at the bar, when you spilled your ale all over me. I was very vexed, but our altercation convinced my suitor that I was not the bride he wanted.”

“Are ye… ye cannae be serious.”

“I am. And despite the embarrassment, I am most grateful. That particular suitor was…” She paused. “The hat was his idea of a proper courtship gift to me.”

“The hat? Nae that… that…” Words failed him as he recalled the hat. The idea that anyone would consider such a hat appropriate for someone like Grace - or that anyone would try to force her to marry such a man - sparked anger inside him. Ewan took a deep breath and squashed the anger. It hadn’t happened. “I’m nae sorry tae have insulted the hat, now that I ken whose idea it was.”

“Indeed.” Grace smiled. “He chose the hat, and I could not get rid of it. Nor of him, for my uncle was watching me too closely.”

Ewan laughed. “Och, I had nae idea. I’d have been kinder had I kent.”

“Just as well you were not. My uncle would never have tolerated such a thing.” But Grace was smiling alongside him, and her shoulder leaned into his.

The brazier’s warmth was beginning to fill the interior of the hut, or perhaps the weariness of the day was taking its toll. Ewan’s body felt heavy and sluggish, and his eyes kept wanting to slide shut of their own accord. Grace looked little better.

She was also still shivering. Ewan sighed, then reached out and tugged her closer. Grace stumbled a little. “What?”

“Ye’ll be warmer if ye sleep between me an’ the brazier.” He tugged her down to the straw-covered floor. “I ken I’m nae yer favorite person at the moment, but ‘twill be better than freezing, aye?”

“Yes… I suppose so.” Grace’s voice was quiet, and exhaustion slurred her words until she sounded almost… Scottish.

Ewan stretched himself out on the floor, and let Grace tuck herself into a comfortable position beside him. His back was practically against the wall, but that was all right… he was warm enough. Ewan closed his eyes and listened as Grace’s breathing slowed to a familiar, restful pattern.

He was asleep before the brazier began to burn down.

CHAPTER TEN

Grace woke with her face and hands slightly chilled, and her back pressed against something wonderfully warm. She felt stiff, and still very tired. With a sigh, she made an effort to wiggle backward, to get closer to the source of the warmth.

The warm surface vibrated, and a low rumble of laughter sounded next to her ear. “Nae that I mind wakin’ up tae ye lass, but if ye want tae get on the road any time soon, ye’ll need tae stop pressin’ up against me like that. Unless…” the voice dropped to a rough purr. “...ye’d prefer tae dae something else.”

Grace jolted upright and scrambled away from Ewan as he sat up. “You… what are you…” Her brain felt hazy with sleep, as if the morning mist had shrouded her thoughts.

Ewan sat up, a slow, easy smirk on his face as he stretched. “Relax, lass. I didnae dae anything, save offer ye some warmth while we slept.”

Grace flushed as her memories returned. The rain. The cold. The small brazier and the night’s conversation, ending in huddling together for additional warmth. “Oh.”

“’Tis fine.” Ewan cracked his back. He was moving stiffly, as if he felt the same aches and weariness she felt. Then he rolled to his feet, and she saw another reason for the stiffness.

Grace scrambled to her feet, her cheeks blazing with a warmth she would have welcomed the night before. “Oh, I…”

Ewan opened the door to let in the fresh morning air, then turned back. She saw his jaw clench, eyes dancing before he burst into laughter. Grace stared at him. “What is so humorous?”

“Naething. But ye may want tae neaten up.” His hand gestured toward her hair.

Grace frowned, then reached up to touch her hair. There was straw stuck in it. Then she felt the tangle of it, and the way it stood out from her head, like the awful teased and curled styles her uncle had once tried to make her adopt.

The other side of her head, the side that hadn’t been slept on, was tangled but much less outlandish. It was still somewhat tamed into the traveling braid she’d wound her hair into some days before.

She must look frightful. Grace turned scarlet. “I… my brush. Where is my brush?”