Her eyes softened slightly, only for a moment. “Then perhaps ye should decide what it is ye want from me, me Laird.”
The words left her mouth before she could think better of them.
Aaron’s expression shifted, something sharper settling beneath the calm.
The fields suddenly felt very quiet. The distant voices of the workers seemed very far away now. The breeze stirred the grass around them, but Edith barely noticed it.
Aaron’s gaze lingered on her a moment too long, and she swallowed, unable to move.
Perhaps I have gone too far.
His eyes darkened, and his jaw tightened in that familiar way that had plagued her thoughts for the past two days.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Heaven help me.
Aaron leaned closer, though not enough to draw attention.
“Ye are right,” he whispered, and heat immediately rushed into her cheeks. “I will be the one to decide that.”
Edith’s breath caught.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. Aaron simply watched her, and she found herself unable to look away.
The silence stretched between them, and she knew with certainty that neither of them had forgotten about the kiss on the stair landing or anything that had followed it.
I’ll be damned.
“We should head back,” Aaron said eventually.
She nodded, unable to respond with anything more than a simple word.“Aye.”
She rose from the ground without his help, brushing small blades of grass from her skirt.
“Thank ye, me Laird,” she said as they walked toward their horses. “It has been a pleasant morning.”
Aaron nodded.
They rode back to Hallow Castle in the same silence in which they had ridden out, but the air was more charged than it had been earlier in the day.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The following morning, Edith’s energy was through the roof.
She had not slept any better than she did most nights. She had dreamed of Aaron and even woken up with a slight headache. But it was finally time for her second lesson, and somehow the thought of learning made everything better.
For the first time in days, she found herself smiling for no reason.
Her steps were hurried as she walked down the corridor, almost skipping to the healer’s chamber.
“Me Lady,” Violet called out from a few paces behind her, panting. “Do ye realize the lesson willnae start until ye get there?”
“It doesnae matter,” Edith replied, unable to hide the smile tugging at her lips. “I simply wish to make the most of the day.”
Violet groaned slightly. She paused for a moment to catch her breath, and then resumed walking, quickening her steps to catch up with Edith.
Edith paused then. She turned to look at the maid, amusement flickering in her eyes as she took her in.
