Page 16 of Defy the Highlander

“Aye.”

“That is because she finds company with anyone else but him, and particularly at the Ludus Caledonia.” She watched surprise spread across Brody’s face. “Lady Currie is a rich woman who can pay for the company of any man she likes. She pays a good deal of money for the company of the winners of the fights at The Cal.”

Brody frowned. “It sounds like a brothel.”

“Nay,” Lilia assured him quickly. “It’s not that, but The Cal is a place of many functions. Visitors gamble on the fights and sometimes the winners are offered positions with armies. I’ve seen men in the lists bid for their services. They also teach men tae fight and I’ve heard the winners can make a lot of money. But there are women who go there, too, and they’re not allowed tae gamble. But they are allowed tae watch and pay for the company of the winners. Lady Currie isna the only one.”

He eyed her. “And she makes ye go with her?”

“Aye.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. He simply looked at her as thoughts rolled around his head. That was clear from the way his eyes were glimmering; there was a good deal going on behind them.

“Does she make ye…” He paused before continuing. “Do ye find company with them, too?”

Lilia’s mouth opened in outrage. Suddenly, she was pushing past him, into the stable, and Brody charged after her. She had barely made it into the dim, musty structure when he grabbed her by the arm, stopping her. Furious, Lilia yanked her arm from his grasp.

“Dunna grab me,” she snapped. “And how dare ye ask such a question!”

Brody put up both hands in a soothing gesture. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just… I dunna know why I did.”

Lilia wasn’t eased in the least. She jabbed a finger at him. “Ye know I’m not married, yet ye ask me if I keep… keep company with men like Lady Currie does? What kind of woman do ye think I am? I should slap the snot right out of ye!”

“Go ahead and slap me if it’ll make ye feel better.”

Whack!

Lilia did just that. It wasn’t a hard slap, but it surprised Brody. He looked at her in astonishment even though he’d told her to do it.

He was fairly certain he deserved it.

“I dunna know why I should answer ye, but I will,” Lilia said. “Of course I dunna keep company with them. Lady Currie only wants me tae keep her company for the journey tae and from The Cal, and if she thought I was interested in the men there, she wouldna take me. She’s a jealous one, she is.”

“She should be,” Brody said quietly, afraid she might slap him again if she didn’t like what he said. “Yer beauty surely outshines her.”

“How do ye know if ye havena even see her?”

“I dunna have tae see her tae know ye’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever had the privilege tae look upon.”

That gentle flattery cooled Lilia’s anger rapidly, like blowing out a candle. Her eyes, so recently filled with fury, now looked upon him in astonishment. Astonishment turned to pleasure, but it was tempered with doubt.

“Ye say that because I gave ye a place tae stay,” she said quietly. “Ye dunna have tae flatter me, Brody. I helped ye because ye needed it, not because I wanted ye tae praise me.”

They were standing near a stall, a half-wall that she was backed up against. Brody took a step in her direction, moving closer to her.

“Is that what ye think?” he asked softly. “That I’m flattering ye because ye helped me?”

The fact that he was moving closer didn’t escape her. “I dunna mind,” she said, taking a discreet step back for every bold step he took forward. “I dunna hear much flattery. It was nice.”

“Nice?” he repeated. By this time, she’d backed up into the wall of the stall and he was so close he could feel the heat from her body. “It wasna simply meant tae be nice, my angel. It was the truth.”

Oh, but there was a storm churning inside of Lilia and the lightning she’d come to associate with Brody was flying in all directions. His close proximity had started a firestorm and she was struggling to stay on an even keel.

Gazing up at him, she could feel his hot breath in her face as his right arm went up, casually bracing himself against the support beam of the stall over her head as he looked down upon her. The closer he loomed, the more the lightning sparked.

“I… I dunna hear it often.”

“From the men around here?”