Page 23 of Reckless Desire

Chapter Seven

The mantle clock struck three. Two hours of staring at the ceiling, and Kenna still didn’t understand what had happened. What in the world had gotten into Lord Newhall? First, he’d kissed her, then he’d told Lord Wilshire to get his hands off her. Oh, lest she forget, he also insulted her. Earlier, she’d thought that he’d kissed her because he wanted her, despite not liking her. But a man who simply wanted to bed a woman didn’t challenge another man for her attention.

He could have any woman he wanted, so why bother with her? Why was Lord Wilshire chasing her, as well? Men were men, that was why. They would bed anything remotely pretty. She wasn’t vain, but neither was she stupid. She was a novelty, and being a pretty girl from the country, she was thought to be naïve. But to fight over her? That didn’t make sense. Logically, Lord Newhall should have simply waited until she was alone and talk to her.

Kenna released a breath and closed her eyes. The ticking of the clock filled the room. She didn’t have to leave Skye for Inverness just to have men try to bed her. She’d seen plenty of that on Skye. For the first time, she wondered if she’d been wrong to refuse David Cunningham’s offer of marriage. David was a good man. She simply hadn’t been able to reconcile herself to life as a squire’s wife. Yet, what was her life now?

Really, wasn’t she looking at this all wrong? How long would her aunt insist that she stay in Inverness? All Kenna had to do was refuse any offers of marriage. She gave a drowsy snort. She wasn’t going to get any offers of marriage. No fine gentleman wanted a girl born on the wrong side of the blanket, a Flower of Scotland or not.

Kenna woke to the chime of the clock. When the clock fell silent after the eighth chime, she rose and dressed, but stayed in her room another two hours in hopes that Lady Chastity and Sir Stirling would have left the house by the time she went down to breakfast. However, as feared, she entered the breakfast room to find Sir Stirling and Lady Chastity seated at the breakfast table. Despite the feast arrayed before them, only partially drunk coffee sat before each of them. They would never say so, but she knew they’d already breakfasted and now waited for her. Last night, Sir Stirling had sent her home in his carriage immediately after the fight, and she’d gone directly to bed. Now came her moment of reckoning.

Lady Chastity smiled at her. “Good morning, Kenna.”

Sir Stirling glanced up from the paper he was reading. “You look well this morning, Miss Ramsay.”

“Good morning,” Kenna murmured and sat at her usual place across from Lady Chastity.

“You are something of a celebrity today,” he said.

Kenna paused in reaching for the coffee pot sitting in the middle of the table. “What do you mean?” She lifted the pot and began to fill her cup.

“You were mentioned in the paper.”

She looked up sharply. “Why?”

“It seems you are at the center of a love triangle.”

“A love triangle?” Understanding struck. “Not Lord Newhall and Lord Wilshire?”

He nodded. That same strange smile she’d seem the day before played at the corners of his mouth.

“It— The whole thing is ridiculous. There is no love triangle. There is no love, at all.”

“You know how gossip is,” Lady Chastity said. “It seldom resembles the truth.”

“Still, they did duel over you,” Sir Stirling said.

Kenna blinked. “Duel? On my honor, I did not encourage them. I don’t understand what happened. I was talking to Lord Wilshire when Lord Newhall arrived and became very angry.”

“You did tell me that Lord Wilshire tried to steal a kiss,” Sir Stirling said.

Her face warmed. “Well, he didn’t exactly kiss me. He asked if he could kiss me.”

“Did you give him permission?” Lady Chastity asked.

Chastity had asked the question with her usual calm, but Kenna couldn’t help but believe she wasn’t happy. No one liked being at the center of a scandal. Even the country folk on Skye avoided scandal.

Kenna shook her head. “I did not give him permission.”

“I wonder what angered Lord Newhall,” Lady Chastity mused.

“We were in a public parlor,” Kenna said. “I did what you said, ma’am, and didn’t go anywhere alone with a gentleman.”

“You were alone in our alcove with Lord Newhall,” Sir Stirling said.

Had there been a hint of amusement in his voice?

“And he did try to kiss you,” Sir Stirling said.