He struck a dramatic pose. “Me, exaggerate? Ye must be thinkin’ of someone else.”
Charlie actually giggled, and it was . . . delightful. It took a tremendous amount of willpower for Kade not to sweep her up and kiss her until she melted into him. Even the presence of his annoying grandfather barely stopped him.
“I agree with you about her playing,” Kade said. “It was grand.”
She gave him a shy smile. “Thank you. It was your violin, really. Playing such a fine instrument was very inspiring.”
“Perhaps I should leave ye two musicians alone,” said Angus, suggestively waggling his eyebrows. “Ye could make beautiful music together, I have nae doubt.”
Charlie immediately blushed, while Kade had to repress the impulse to scowl at his irritatingly obvious grandfather.
“I . . . I really should be going,” she said. “I’m sure you need to work.”
Kade held up a hand. “No, please stay. I thought to search the room again, in case we missed anything last night.”
Angus nodded. “Right, lad, let’s get on it. The sooner ye find that bloody brooch, the sooner ye and Miss Charlie can get back to makin’ beautiful music.”
“You told my grandfather about my brooch?” Charlie asked in a surprisingly squeaky voice.
Kade froze.
Dammit.
“Well, yes,” he admitted. “Just now at breakfast. Ainsley and Royal were there, too. I’m sorry, Charlie. I should have asked your permission before I did so.”
Clearly, hewasan arrogant prat, too used to working alone.
She gazed at him, wide-eyed and flushed. “What, exactly, did you tell them?”
Kade frowned, slightly perplexed. “Simply that you’d hidden the brooch yourself—”
“Completely understandable,” Angus broke in. “Especially with booby Campbell bein’ such a pest. Well done for ye, lassie.”
“But that someone had taken it from your hiding place,” Kade finished.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “And that’s all?”
Kade nodded.
When she breathed out a sigh of relief, he suddenly understood. It was their romantic interlude she was worried about, not that the others now knew she was the original thief. Kade didn’t know whether to be amused or annoyed by that.
“Ye needn’t worry that we’ll grass on ye,” Angus said, patting her shoulder. “We’re loyal to the bone, and we’ll do everything to help.”
“No one will say a word, Charlie,” said Kade. “But I do apologize for not consulting you first. It was your secret to tell, not mine.”
She gave him a hesitant smile. “Thank you, but it’s fine. And I’m certainly not one to be casting stones, since I stole the blasted thing in the first place.”
“Kade will get it back,” Angus assured her. “The rest of us will help as best we can.”
“But you’ll all be leaving in a few days, won’t you?” she asked.
“I’ll stay as long as you need me,” Kade replied.
He hoped she would need him for a very long time.
“That’s so kind of you,” she said, sounding rather shy.
Angus rubbed his hands together. “Tell me where to start, lassie. We’ll turn the room upside down if we have to.”
