Page 10 of A Highlander's Bride

Beth shrugged. “I’m sure ye had a good time. I already told ye I am allergic to flowers.”

He waved at the server and asked for a refill of his ale. “Yer mam seems to think yer allergy to flowers is something new.”

Her annoyance grew. Whatever was between her and her mam was none of his business. “Aye. It started just a few weeks ago.” She continued to sip her ale and did her best to ignore him. After a few minutes she said, “Why are ye here?” She knew her mam would faint dead away if she heard the way she was speaking to the laird.

“I am here because my cousin, Gregory spotted ye heading toward the village and as my guest and with yer parents concerned about yer whereabouts I set out to bring ye safely home.”

Beth sighed and ran her fingertip in a circle in a small puddle of ale. “I have a great deal of freedom at my home. The only reason they were concerned by my absence was because they wanted to make sure I was spending enough time with ye.”

His brows rose. “And that doesn’t please ye?”

Aye, the man was over-confident. Most likely he assumed she and Lady Alice would be fighting each other for his attentions, falling all over his handsome self to win his affections. Beth shrugged. “This whole thing was not my idea.”

“Mine neither.” He grinned at her surprise as he downed the mug of ale.

That didn’t make much sense to her. “But ye are looking for a wife.”

He shook his head, the wavy hairs that had escaped the leather tieholding the rest of his hair back hitting his strong cheeks, catching her attention, which annoyed her. “Nay, I dinna want one right now. The king decided to step in and control my life.”

She scowled. “Mine as well.”

He didn’t want this? “At the Munro clan my da the laird is in charge. No one tells him what to do.”

Ignoring her question, he waved at the server to refill his mug. “Do ye want more ale?”

“Aye.”

He studied her. A little too carefully, she thought.

“Will ye be able to ride the horse back?” The twinkle in his eyes annoyed her.

She drew herself up and stared at him. “Aye. I can ride a horse after drinking several ales, and also when I am tired on a long journey. I can shoot an arrow dead on, and climb a tree to avoid a boar after drinking half a bottle of whisky, too.”

His eyes grew wide. “It appears ye’re trying to shock me.”

She didn’t answer but smiled. Let the arrogant oaf wonder.

He smiled back at her. “So ye are invincible?”

She laughed, and after a few moments of silence said, “Aye, I am invincible, and if we are talking here like friends over a mug of ale, let me tell ye I have no desire to marry. Not ye, not anyone. I like my life the way it is.” She leaned forward and looked directly at him. “So, as yer friend, I suggest ye cast yer eyes in Lady Alice’s direction.”

He studied her for a minute, then said, “Nay. As lovely as Lady Alice is, I would ne’er consider her for a wife.”

Rather than panic, she asked, “Why no’? She’s pretty and quiet and her mam sure seems to expect ye to ask for her hand.”

As she spoke, she tried not to notice his full lips and wavy red hair where it lay against the tanned skin on his forehead. His deep blue eyes staring at her caused flutters in her stomach as if a group of butterflies had arrived.

The laird’s muscular body practically overflowed the chair and she found herself wondering how those large hands hugging the mug would feel running over her skin.

Not wanting to continue her thoughts along that line, she was grateful when he broke the tension, and said, “Because Lady Alice would ne’er be the right wife for me.”

“Because?” She somehow knew there was an answer to that question and was just as sure she didn’t want to hear it.

“And,” he continued, as if she hadn’t interrupted, “the only woman I would consider for a wife is ye.” He grinned at her expression and lifted his mug of ale and finished the contents. “Are ye ready to return to the keep?”

Chapter Four

Beth’s mouth driedup and her heart began to pound. “I have no intention of marrying.”