Chapter 9 #2
Every coin mattered, and every decision he made affected lives. He never took that for granted.
This is the life I chose. Me clan, me land… they are all that matters to me.
Nothing beyond it.
Certainly not a woman with bright eyes and a laugh that had somehow found its way into every corner of his keep.
He mounted again, trying to forget her.
By midday, he had almost succeeded.
Then, late in the afternoon, he returned to the keep and heard the commotion from the great hall even before he neared it.
The instant Gordon stepped through the great doors, he knew something had gone terribly wrong.
Or terribly right.
The hall was louder than he had ever known it. Voices rose over one another. Servants hurried between the tables carrying baskets and steaming pots. Someone was singing near the kitchen passage, badly enough to make three children laugh but well enough to keep the servants moving in time.
Beth stood in the center of the commotion with a wooden spoon in one hand and an expression Gordon had never seen upon her face before.
It was delight.
His brows drew together.
A basket nearly collided with him.
“Mind yerself, lad,” Beth snapped at the servant carrying it.
Then she saw Gordon and brightened up again. “Me Laird!”
The hall quieted by degrees as Beth announced his presence and marched toward him, her face flushed with triumph.
“Miss Ailis has organized meals for every person repairin’ the patrol walls,” she announced. “And she did it without exceedin’ the budget.”
Gordon stared at her, blinking as he tried to make sense of her words.
Beth lowered her voice, as if she were about to reveal a secret. “I swear the lass is magic. I daenae ken how she did it, but this is the happiest the clan has ever been.”
Gordon’s eyes moved past her and found Ailis immediately. That familiar tingle that she invoked in him returned.
She stood near the great table with her sleeves rolled to her elbows. Her light brown hair had escaped its pins, soft curls framing her face. A smear of flour marked one cheek. Another dusted the sleeve of her gown.
Her cheeks carried that impossible pink flush that made her look warmer, softer, brighter against the dark stone of the hall. She was laughing again, and the sound danced across the hall to him, tickling his ears.
A cook passed her a bowl, and she accepted it with both hands before turning to instruct a younger maid. Then she glanced up and saw him. Her smile thinned a little. It didn’t completely disappear, but there was a cautiousness to it now.
She looked alive, like she had lived here all her life and knew his people. The worst thing was, his men seemed happy she was there.
And Gordon… Gordon wanted to walk toward her.
The thought came with such force that he nearly stopped breathing.
Nay.
He forced himself to stay back, but Ailis moved and walked toward him anyway.
“Me Laird,” she said brightly, her nearness bringing that sweet scent of flowers to him.
Her eyes shone, and her lips widened into a smile that made him forget himself. Gordon looked at her mouth before realizing it.
That was a mistake.
The memory of the kiss struck instantly. He recalled his hand at her waist and that breathless little sound as her mouth opened beneath his.
Gordon’s jaw tightened so hard it hurt.
“Did I do well?” she asked, her voice light, almost teasing.
He forced himself to look into her eyes and not at her mouth.
Ye did too well.
That was the answer he could not give. It lingered on the tip of his tongue. Instead, he asked, “Ye’re enjoyin’ yer position then?”
“Aye.” Her smile widened. “Immensely.”
Goodness, she is bonnie.
Gordon fought the awareness as it came, and he tore his gaze from her smile. He glanced around the hall instead, trying to focus.
A servant girl was laughing while she kneaded bread. Two of the older men were arguing cheerfully over how much meat would be needed for the evening meal. Beth looked almost smug. Even Malcolm had appeared near the doorway, wearing the knowing expression Gordon was beginning to despise.
This was not what he had intended.
Ailis had been meant to make trouble, not grow accustomed to his people. He expected her to complain about the work. To sulk. To find the household beneath her. To discover that life was too hard, too plain, too demanding for her.
Instead, she is here, as if she has always belonged.
And it unsettled him that he noticed.
He stared at the tiny flour mark near her jaw and the loose curl against her cheek again. Heat recoiled through him like a volcano and sent every inch of him firing up with the need to draw closer to her.
Gordon drew one slow breath to steady himself.
He noticed the slight lift of her chin when she wanted to appear fearless and the dimple that appeared beside her mouth when she was particularly pleased with herself.
Then there was that mouth. Her lips full and plush, begging to be kissed again.
He had to get away from her.
“Thank ye, Me Laird,” she said, sweetly now, “for this opportunity.”
The words were innocent, but the look in her eyes was not. Gordon knew that look. It was a taunting one of mischief.
His chest tightened. “Ye’re…” The word left him before he could stop it. Ailis waited, and Gordon looked at her before he swallowed and added, “Welcome.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Was that difficult?” she asked.
“Was what difficult?”
“Being gracious,” she said with a chuckle.
Saints.
Gordon looked away before his face betrayed him. He could not let her see what she was doing to him.
I cannae let anyone see.
This was precisely why she needed to leave.
He could not afford to forget what Ailis really was.
A distraction… and she shouldnae be here.
I need to find a way to make sure she leaves on her own before I run out of time.