“Aye,” Braden agreed. “It would have been a miserable night otherwise.”
To Maggie, it already was.
When they finished eating, Braden gathered up their platters and cups. “I’ll return these to Seamus.”
Maggie narrowed her eyes on him, knowing the lie he was spilling. Did he honestly think she was too stupid to know what he had planned?
“What?” Braden asked innocently as he caught her glare.
Averting her gaze, she said nothing as he shook his head at her and walked off. If he were that dense, then she truly had nothing to say to him.
Still, she fumed. Did he honestly think she didn’t know what he was going to do? He wouldn’t give those dishes to Seamus, it was Tara he was aiming for.
Damn him!
“Why don’t you hit him and get it over with?” Sin asked as soon as they were alone.
Maggie looked up to see him reclining on his own bale of hay. “I beg your pardon?”
Sin tugged his boots off and stretched his legs out. “If looks could kill, Braden would be smeared all over yon wall.”
“That’s right,” she said churlishly, “side with your brother. After all, ‘tis the right of your gender to strut around after anything in a skirt.”
In a royal tiff, Maggie ignored Sin as she pulled her sleeping plaid from her pack. She struggled to make a pallet and as she worked, her pain over Braden built until tears gathered in her eyes and fell down her cheeks.
Angrily, she wiped them away.
“Maggie,” Sin said with a tenderness in his voice that she wouldn’t have thought him capable of. “Why don’t you tell Braden how you feel?”
“Why?” Her voice broke on a sob. “So he can laugh? Or worse, I could have him for a night or two, but then so could any woman. Don’t you understand?”
Tossing his boots aside, Sin laughed bitterly. “You ask a man who has never known love or kindness whether or not he understands your need to feel special? Of course I do. But while you condemn Braden for what he might do, let me ask you this. Have you ever really known him?”
Maggie sniffed and looked at him as if he were daft. “Of course. I’ve known him all my life.”
Sin snorted. “No, you haven’t. You may have seen him all your life, but you’ve never known the real him. If you had, you would know just how foolish your fears are.”
“What do you mean?”
Sin’s gaze intensified. “If you truly knew Braden, then you would know Braden would sooner gut himself than hurt someone he loves.”
“What has that to do?—”
“Think about it, Maggie.”
She did, but at the moment, she felt completely stupid, for she had no idea what he was talking about.
“As the youngest of five headstrong boys, Braden learned to negotiate peace between us. If you hit one of us, we’ll hit back instantly, without thought. If you raise a fist or sword to Braden, what does he do?”
Maggie didn’t hesitate with her answer. “He tries to talk you out of using it.”
“Aye, but is he a coward?”
“Nay,” she snapped defensively. “I’ve never known him to shirk from a fight.”
“That’s right. And do you know why he’s like that?”
She shook her head.
