Page 38 of The Highlander’s Unexpected Wife

This was the first bit of good luck to befall her. Erin’s pulse picked up speed. Surely, if he came home to find her in his bed, a willing woman, while Alison had run away, he would want her? What if he didn’t? Her reputation would be completely in shreds. No man of worth would want her and her father—

She shivered.

“You are cold, my lady,” the man said. “Please, let me take you home.”

Erin looked at him. “Home?” She gave a mocking laugh.

She couldn’t discern his eyes, but his voice softened when he said, “It isn’t as bad as all that, is it, my lady?”

“You cannot know.” Suddenly, she wished mightily for her cousin and friend Alison, but that was not to be. She would never cease loving Alison, but she could not forgive her.

“Come,” he said, and stepped aside.

She shook her head. “Thank you, but no.” Erin turned and started back toward home.

He stepped in her path. “My lady, I must insist.”

Erin snapped her head up. “Kindly step aside, sir.”

He sighed and, in the next instant, scooped her into his arms. She screamed and punched his jaw. He grunted, then stepped into the carriage and dropped her onto the seat. She lunged for the open door, but he seized her arm and yanked her onto his lap as he reached for the door.

“I beg your pardon.” She jumped off his hard thighs and scooted into the corner of the carriage.

“Welbourne,” he called to the driver, then pulled the door closed.

The carriage jerked into motion and started down the street.

Erin glared. “Have you lost your mind? This is kidnapping.”

“I beg to differ, my lady. I am simply doing as your future husband asks by delivering you safely back to his home.”

“I do not live at Welbourne, you fool,” she snapped.

“My lady, you do now.”

Erin blew out a frustrated breath. “Good Lord, you have mistaken me for Alison. I am her cousin, Erin Lennox.”

He lifted a brow. “Forgive me for saying so, my lady, but Miss Lennox is not the one known for galivanting out alone at night.”

Erin stared. “Have you any idea what my father will do once he learns that you have taken me against my will?”

“As he is in his grave, there is nothing he can do to me—or you, for that matter. However, if he were still with us, I wager he would not be pleased to learn his daughter was walking the streets at nearly one in the morning.”

Fear stabbed. She grasped the handle as the carriage made a left turn. Once her father discovered her gone, he would blame her for any repercussions. Since her failed attempts to trap Lord Weston, his temper had grown increasingly dangerous. Now—

“Lady Alison?”

Erin jarred and the man’s face came back into focus.

“Are you ill?”

She noted the hard angles of his face and the small scar in the cleft of his chin. How could she have missed how handsome he was? Who was the man? Clearly, he knew Lord Weston, but he didn’t know Alison. Cousins they might be, but they shared little in the way of family resemblance.

She had no idea why Alison had run away, but Erin need not throw away her reputation by awaiting him in his bed. Instead, when Lord Weston and Alison returned, there would be no harm if they found Erin waiting in the parlor. If he returned alone, however… Her heart beat faster. Was there truly a chance of salvaging her father’s plan for her marriage? Her father would be so pleased if she managed to pull it off.

The carriage bounced as the wheels hit a rut.

She gave the gentleman a haughty look. “Pray tell, who are you, sir?”