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“So then. ” Shading his eyes, he scanned the horizon. “Any sight of the missing mutton?”
The branch creaked again, and she squeaked. Lips pursed, she gave a quick shake of her head. So much for her display of passion, bravery, and spontaneity.
“You’re stuck, aren
’t you?”
She shrugged as well as one could whilst dangling from a tree, but realized it was no good hiding her current situation. She was clearly as stuck as a thief on the gallows. “Mayhap. ”
He strolled around the trunk. “Mayhap I think you are. ” He returned to his original spot, and crossing his hands at his chest, asked, “When were you intending on asking for help?”
“I’m not—”
There was a horrible, shuddering groan as the branch listed dangerously lower. Aidan leaped to beneath where she hung. “Jump to me, luvvie. I think this sheep hunt is at an end. ”
She shook her head, avoiding his gaze. Surely she’d squash him. Or break his bones. Or land with her skirts up over her head. No, she would find her way out of this. Without him to bear witness. “I’m fine here. Please get on about your work. ”
He laughed outright. “Get on about my work? What if I propose this is my work? A farmer’s daughter in possession of an unbroken neck strikes me as the linchpin of a smoothly running enterprise. ”
“No, truly, I can manage. ”
There was the sound of splintering wood. She reached to a neighboring branch and held firm just as the other finally cracked. Aidan jumped out of its path as the bough slammed through layers of green, coming to rest at a sharp angle, its tip digging into the ground.
She dangled there, arms wide, feet hanging limply beneath her. She could let go, but she’d follow the same path, slamming through sharp branches on her way to the ground.
“Come now, Elspeth. ” His tone was somber now, standing beneath her, beckoning with open arms. “Drop down to me. ”
She gave a tight shake to her head.
“Dammit, girl. If you herded as other farmers do, you wouldn’t find yourself caught up a tree. ” He disappeared from her view, but she heard him rustling at her back.
His hands grasped her waist from behind, and she choked. Chagrin screwed her face, her eyes shut tight. He must be at eye level with her thighs, or God forfend, her bottom.
“Come, then. ” His voice was tight, and she wondered if he was affected too. “I’ve got you. Just let go. ”
Aidan’s voice was gentle, and it gave her the courage to look back, dragging her eyes from the strong hands at her waist, along a chiseled arm, to the man standing below her. He stood on a thick branch jutting off the base of the trunk.
She was fooling herself to think she heard something in his voice. Why would a man like him be affected by her meager bottom? A dashing rogue like Aidan would desire someone more exotic. And more curvaceous, surely.
She’d heard the stories from Cormac’s wife, Marjorie. How wealthy plantation wives engaged in scandalous liaisons with their fieldworkers. One look at Aidan’s rippling muscles and Elspeth knew: he’d have been irresistible to each and every one of them. He’d be accustomed to grand ladies, flamboyant and worldly, who’d be the pinnacle of fashion.
Her eyes went to her ugly old skirts, and she grimaced.
“Are you afraid I’ll muss you?” he asked, his voice gone steely.
Was he angry? “What? No, of course not. I …”
His fingers curled more tightly into her waist. “Or perhaps it’s that the dirty farmhand isn’t good enough even to help. ”
“Oh, no. ” She shook her head frantically. “You misunderstand. ”
“Do I? It appears you’d rather fall and break your neck than let me—”
Elspeth let go.
Chapter 10
She dropped, and he caught her hard about the waist, steadying himself at once, his legs braced wide on the thick branch beneath him. They were in an awkward position, both facing forward. He gave her a quick toss and a spin, and Elspeth found herself cradled in his arms.
