“Miranda?”
Her eyes fluttered open and she stared up at him looking confused.
No doubt, she had never done anything like this before. Perhaps she was wondering whether anyone could genuinely like her, for this was the damage her weasel of a husband had done to her heart, and Bram was not certain he could repair the broken pieces.
He would try with all his might, however.
“Why did you kiss me like that?”
Bram arched an eyebrow. “How else was I supposed to kiss ye?” Then he realized he might have bruised her lips, for the kiss had not been tame. Each of them had poured too much of their feelings into that one kiss. “Was I too rough on ye?”
She laughed. “No, you needn’t worry that you were.”
But she put a hand to her lips, which had the plump, soft look of having been avidly kissed.
He groaned. “Iwastoo rough.”
“Honestly, Solway, stop talking. It was a wonderful kiss,” she whispered. “Full of desire and completely inappropriate, just as it ought to have been.”
He smiled, feeling foolishly proud of himself.
Gad.The way his heart was beating, one would think he’d never kissed a lass before.
Miranda eased away from him when the bell above the shop’s doorway tinkled to announce more patrons had walked in. However, she nibbled her lip, obviously wishing to say something more.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I am just trying to understand exactly what just happened between us. Please be honest with me.”
“I will, lass. I give ye my word.”
She nodded and released a soft breath. “It felt as though you put so much of your heart into our kiss. Or is it just that you know how to kiss a lady and make her feel special?”
“I have no idea how my kisses are received by others. In truth, I never gave it any consideration other than to do a respectable job for my own pride. Nor did I ever bother to ask about how my kisses were received afterward, because none of those ladies were ever going to be honest with me. Nor did they matter to me. But it is different with ye, Miranda. I know I’ll always get the truth from ye. Perhaps this is why I wanted to put myself forward for ye. Aye, my entire heart was in our kiss because I care so much for ye.”
He gave her cheek a light caress. “I think ye care for me, too. Dinna bother to deny it, for ye are terrible at hiding yer feelings. Look, ye’ve taken my hand again.”
“Oh, I…” She stared down at their clasped hands and then hastily slipped hers out of his grasp. “How did you know I wanted your kiss?”
“Ihopedye did. Then ye left me a few clues.”
She frowned lightly. “Such as?”
“Simple, lass. Ye did no’ dissuade me when I told ye I would kiss ye. All ye had to do was tell me that ye did no’ want me to do it. It would have left me frustrated, but I would have respected yer wishes and let the matter drop. Instead, ye glanced around worried what others might think if they saw us.”
Her eyes shone like emeralds as they widened. “I’m sure that isn’t true.”
“Fine, go ahead and deny it to yerself. But I give ye fair warning, I am going to kiss ye again and do it proper next time. And by proper I do no’ mean polite. I’m going to kiss ye long and hard. A hot, ravishing kiss. Ye’re going to know ye’ve been claimed by me. Our kiss is going to be naughty and ye’re going to feel the heat of it in some very improper places—I’d tell ye exactly where on yer body, but ye’d slap me. What do ye say to that?”
She tipped her chin into the air and pinched her luscious lips to a razor thinness.
And kept them pinched for what felt like an eternity. Was she going to slap him?
She cleared her throat. “All right.”
Sweet manna from heaven.Had she just agreed?
He stared at her a long moment, uncertain whether he’d understood her correctly. “All right, ye’ll kiss me?”
