Page 13 of Defy the Highlander

Brody folded his big arms across his chest and leaned against the door jamb. “More than ye know,” he said, rubbing the hair on his face. “I havena shaved in a very long time. It’s quite possible that my beard has become a nest for rodents.”

Lilia laughed softly, flashing straight and white teeth. “How cruel ye are tae destroy their home.”

“It was yer idea that I should bathe.”

“Are ye complaining?”

His eyes lingered on her, glittering. “Nay.”

As he looked at her, Lilia felt something she’d never felt before – a charge, like a bolt of lightning coursing through her body. The longer she looked at the man, the stronger the feeling became.

“Now ye might be able tae secure a position somewhere,” she said, trying to ignore that trembling feeling. “Ye said ye could shoe horses or build something. Now that ye dunna smell like piss, someone might give ye a job.”

He looked out into the yard. “What about here?”

“What do ye mean?”

“I’m good for many things,” he said. “Surely there’s something I can do around here?”

She looked at him in surprise because that idea had never crossed her mind. “Ye want tae stay here?”

“Why not? Ye’re here.”

There was something in his tone as he said it. Coupled with that glimmer in his dark eyes, Lilia was feeling quite… giddy. Men didn’t flirt with her; she was strong and independent, and perhaps never gave them the chance.

Therefore, this was quite new to her.

Truth be told, she didn’t know how to flirt. She was terrible when it came to the games that men and women played. She so wanted to respond in a way that would suggest she found him a wee bit attractive, too.

But she had no idea where to begin.

“I… I’m not here by choice,” she finally said. “I’m here because I must be here.”

“Is it such a terrible place, then?”

She shook her head. “Nay,” she said honestly. “Laird Currie is a good man. He’s very old and hard of hearing, and mayhap a bit mad because he keeps a family of pet rats, but he’s very kind. And Lady Currie…”

“That is the lady ye serve, is it?”

“Aye,” she said. “Lady Currie is young and pretty and full of life.”

He cocked his head curiously. “Laird Currie is very old and his wife is very young?”

Lilia nodded her head, thinking of the sad marriage of Laird and Lady Currie. “She is his second wife,” she said. “He wants a son very badly, enough that he married a young English woman after his wife died. But if she bears a son, it will not be his.”

“Why would you say that?”

Lilia leaned back against the wall. Perhaps she was about to say things that she shouldn’t, but Brody seemed easy to talk to. God knew, she didn’t have many people to talk to in this prison of a place. Standing in close proximity to a man who made her feel strange and wonderful things had her tongue loosening.

“Because Lady Currie wants nothing tae do with her husband,” she said quietly. “Can ye imagine marrying someone and not even being friendly with him?”

Brody shook his head. “Nay,” he said honestly. “My parents were affectionate tae one another. That is the example set for me. I always hoped I would know the same, someday.”

“Ye’ve never been married?”

He shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “Ye?”

She grinned. “Do ye think I’d bring a stranger back tae my home if I was?”