The door opened sharply, and Eloise stepped back into the room without a word.
James entered after her, closing the door behind him with deliberate force.
She stood near the hearth, her posture stiff, her chin lifted in defiance. “Well?” she said. “What is so important that ye must threaten me to hear it?”
He exhaled slowly, trying to steady himself. “I came to tell ye I will be gone for three days,” he said.
Surprise flickered across her face before she masked it. “Gone?” she asked. “Where?”
He met her gaze evenly. “Duty calls,” he said.
Her eyes narrowed at once. “Aye,” she said slowly. “Does it now?”
He felt the shift, the accusation beneath her tone. “Say what ye mean,” he said.
She crossed her arms. “If ye are leavin’ to be with her, ye need naught lie about it,” she said. “We are nae a true engaged couple.”
His temper flared, sharp and immediate. He stepped toward her, his presence filling the space between them. “What ye saw in that corridor was nothin’ but a woman losin’ control of herself,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “I did nothin’ to encourage it.”
Eloise held her ground, though her pulse quickened. “If ye say so, me Laird,” she replied coolly. “’Tis nae concern of mine.”
“It should be,” he snapped.
She shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “Once the four weeks are done, I shall leave…as promised.”
The words struck harder than he expected, stirring something he did not wish to examine.
“Ye are a stubborn lass,” he said, frustration bleeding through.
Eloise let out a sharp breath. “And ye are an insufferable, overbearin’ brute that plays with the hearts of women,” she shot back.
His eyes flashed. He stepped closer still, his voice dropping. “Ye would do well to remember where ye are,” he said.
“Aye,” she said, her voice quieter but no less fierce. “In a castle where I traded one vile Laird for another that's one of betrayal.”
The words hit their mark. For a moment, neither of them moved, the air thick with tension. James’s mouth clenched, his hands curling into fists at his sides.
“Ye ken nothin’ of what I am,” he said tightly.
Eloise lifted her chin. “Then perhaps ye should stop givin’ me reason to think I do,” she replied.
Silence fell between them, sharp and brittle.
Then, with a sharp turn, James strode to the door and wrenched it open.
“Three days,” he said without looking back. “Try nae to cause trouble in me absence.”
“I make nay promises,” she returned.
He did not respond.
The door slammed behind him as he left, his anger carrying him down the corridor and out into the cold morning air.
Moments later, he was mounted and riding hard from the castle, the distance doing little to quiet the storm brewing within him.
She thinks I play with women. That I am Mairead's secret lover. I can never be the man she expects me to be.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
