Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
K ate had seen her share of tense business meetings, but nothing quite compared to watching a Highland chief try to negotiate his brother’s release while looking like he wanted to throw his dirk across the great hall. The vein in Connor’s temple throbbed as he read the latest message from the MacDonald clan. His jaw clenched so tight she worried he might crack a tooth.
From what she had learned, Connor wasn’t engaged and wasn’t seeing anyone, so either the guidebook was wrong or it hadn’t happened yet? And what if this unknown MacDonald woman tried to murder him? It wasn’t like she could tell him how she knew what was coming. No, if it looked like a MacDonald woman might enter the picture, then Kate would figure out what to do.
Seated at a wooden table, the uncomfortable bench making her butt go numb, Kate stayed to the periphery of the hall as the room buzzed with whispered conversations and concerned looks. Even Nessa had abandoned her usual brisk efficiency, hovering near the kitchens and twisting her apron in her hands.
“They ask for more than we can give,” Connor said finally, his voice carrying across the hall. “The Bronmuir Brooch and three hundred head of cattle.”
Ewan cursed colorfully. “They ken well we don’t have that many cattle to spare.”
This was just like the Jensen merger last spring, one party deliberately asking for the impossible to see how desperate the other side was. They’d wanted to merge Love Lasting with Hook Me Up, which was a hook up app, while Love Lasting was a relationship app. Talk about a bad idea, not that anyone had asked what she’d thought. The deal had fallen through when the CEO of Hook Me Up hosted a party at a strip club and was caught on video with two strippers in a compromising position. His wife was not amused.
Connor crumpled the message in his fist. “They willna have the brooch nor will I let them bleed us dry.”
“Better the clan’s wealth than Cameron’s blood,” someone muttered from the back of the hall. “He is the eldest and should be laird.”
She watched Connor’s shoulders tense at the words. The weight of leadership sat heavy on him. It was in every line of his body. Part of her wanted to go to him, to share what she knew about negotiation tactics and finding leverage. But how could she explain that she’d learned it all in business school and by watching action movies without raising suspicions?
As she watched him rake his hands through his envy-inducing, thick sun-kissed hair in frustration, she knew she had to try. His brother’s life depended on it. And maybe she could help without revealing exactly how she knew what she knew.
Once the hall had mostly cleared out, she approached him. He still sat at the high table, legs stretched out in front of him, staring at the crumpled message as if it might suddenly reveal better news.
“You know,” she said casually, settling onto the bench next to him, but keeping a careful distance, “I once watched two shepherds argue over grazing rights near my home.”
The lie felt awkward on her tongue, but she pressed on. “The clever one didn’t focus on the land at all. He offered something his neighbor needed more.”
Connor’s blue eyes lifted to meet hers. “And what has that to do with this?”
Kate caught the scent of him as he turned. Leather, pine, and something distinctly male that made her pulse quicken. She forced herself to focus. “Maybe the MacDonalds are asking for the brooch and the cattle because they think that’s what will hurt you most.” She shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant while her heart raced. “What if you offered something else? Something they need but can’t easily get?”
“Such as?”
What would a Highland clan value besides livestock? Kate thought quickly. “Grain for the coming winter? Extra weapons?” She paused, then added carefully, “Or perhaps information about their rivals?”
Connor’s expression sharpened. “Continue, lass.”
“Well, from what I’ve heard people saying, the MacDonalds have been feuding with several clans.”
Thank goodness she’d been paying attention to the gossip in the castle.
“Maybe they’d rather have intelligence about their enemies than a few hundred cattle they’d have to feed through the winter. Or the brooch.”
She shrugged. “You could give them a fake brooch. Unless they know exactly what it looks like...” she trailed off.
A slow smile spread across Connor’s face. “Aye, and I happen to know the MacKinnons are planning to expand their territory in the fall.”
“Information like that might be worth more than cattle.” She could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he considered the possibility.
He looked at her with new appreciation, a laugh rumbling in his chest. “Are ye certain you’re not Scottish, lass? The brooch is a fine idea indeed. They’ve never laid eyes on it. Might work well in our favor.”
Connor leaned forward, eyes intense. “Tell me, where did you really learn to think like this?”
Kate’s stomach dropped. “My father let me listen in on his business dealings.”
“You’re different from any woman I’ve ever known.” He didn’t sound angry, just curious. Then he laughed. “It would explain why ye are shite at womanly tasks.”
A snort escaped. “Maybe you just haven’t known many women,” she deflected, earning another surprised laugh from him.
“Touché.” He sat back, watching her with that penetrating gaze that made her feel like he could see right through her carefully constructed story. “Will you help me draft a response to the MacDonalds?”
“Me?” Kate squeaked. “Shouldn’t you ask your advisors?”
“My advisors would have me gather the clan and raid MacDonald lands.” Connor’s mouth twisted wryly. “I think I prefer your approach.”
And that was how she found herself spending the afternoon helping a Highland chief compose a counter-offer. She kept her suggestions subtle, phrasing them as questions rather than direct advice. “What if you mentioned the MacKinnon information first? Make them really think about what they might be missing? Then grudgingly say you would give them the brooch?”
“Aye, they will think they are weakening us by taking possession of the brooch.” Connor nodded, adding a few lines to the message. His handwriting was surprisingly elegant.
“And here, we’ll remind them winter is coming. Cattle need feeding, but information...” He smiled grimly. “Information can keep a clan safe.”
“Exactly! That’s a perfect value proposition,” Kate said enthusiastically, then froze when Connor looked at her curiously. “I mean, it’s a good... trade... suggestion.”
He frowned slightly but continued writing.
Kate found herself relaxing as they worked, almost forgetting when and where she was. This felt familiar. The back-and-forth of negotiation, the strategic planning. Only the scratching of the quill pen and the occasional blast of cold air through the hall reminded her she wasn’t in her office back in Atlanta.
From across the room, she caught Angus, one of the older clan members, watching them with narrowed eyes. His gaze was calculating as it moved between her and Connor. She looked away quickly, pretending not to notice.
“There.” He sat back, looking satisfied. “What do you think?”
She read over the message carefully. It was perfectly crafted, suggesting the trade of information while hinting at other possibilities, neither accepting nor rejecting the original demands. It left the door open for further negotiation while making it clear the MacLeods weren’t desperate. “It’s perfect,” she said honestly.
“Thanks to ye.” He rolled up the message and sealed it. “Though I still don’t understand how you know so much about negotiation.”
Her chest tightened. “I’m observant,” she said lightly. “And I listen more than I talk.”
“Aye, that you do.” He studied her for a long moment. “Whatever your secrets, I’m glad you’re here.”
The warmth in his voice made her breath catch. She stood quickly, needing to put some distance between them before she did something stupid like tell him the truth. That she was a time traveler. “I should go, I told Moira I’d help her clean the stillroom.”
“Kate.” His voice stopped her halfway to the door. “Thank ye.”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and fled to Moira’s stillroom where she proceeded to nearly ruin the healer’s carefully dried herbs. She’d found what she thought were weeds mixed in with the medicinal plants and had tossed them into the fire. Moira’s exasperated sighs when she discovered Kate had burned her prized feverfew couldn’t dampen her spirits. She’d helped, or at least tried to help. She’d made a difference, even if it was learning what not to do.
That night, lying in her narrow bed, she smiled up at the darkness. For the first time since arriving in the past, she felt truly useful. The fact that Connor’s blue eyes and rare smile kept appearing in her thoughts was just an unfortunate side effect of spending the day with him. Nothing more.
She rolled over, punching her lumpy pillow into submission. She was here to help save Cameron and then figure out how to get home. Not to notice how Connor’s whole face transformed when he smiled, or how his presence filled a room, or how his voice got deeper when he was thinking hard about something... Not to mention the accent... and the muscles, and that perfect face.
“Oh, stop it,” she muttered into her pillow. “This is not a fairy tale. You are not falling for a Highland chief.”
But as she drifted off to sleep, she couldn’t quite convince herself she was telling the truth.