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When Kade headed down the stairs, Kathleen started after him.
“Don’t you want to see the view?” Grant asked.
She frowned. “But we’re not chaperoned, either.”
“Areyougoing to try to kiss me?”
“Of course not!” she indignantly said.
“Then I think we’re fine. Besides, the carriage will take at least a half hour to organize. And the view truly is spectacular.”
When she hesitated, he tilted an eyebrow. “Do you really want to face Jeannie right now?”
“Well, no.” Her sister would probably rip a strip off her.
“Smart lass. I’ll go first so I can help you through the trapdoor. Be careful on the steps.”
“I promise not to go arse over teakettle.”
He snorted and climbed up to the door, thus affording Kathleen an excellent view of his muscled legs and equally muscled, well, arse—not to be delicate about it.
She started up, pausing halfway as he squeezed through the small trapdoor. His shoulders filled the opening. For a moment, from his annoyed muttering, it seemed he might get stuck.
His finally squeezed through, hoisting himself up and out of sight. Quickly, his head appeared, and he reached down a long arm to help her through the door. He lifted her off the top step with effortless strength and carefully deposited her on the narrow parapet that ringed the top of the tower. His big hands circled her waist, holding her steady as she regained her footing.
She did feel a bit wobbly, although she suspected that had more to do with his presence than from the dizzying height of the tower.
“I trust heights don’t bother you,” he said in a slightly gruff tone.
Kathleen placed both hands on the stone parapet, regaining her mental balance. “Not in the slightest. You may release me now, Mr. Kendrick. I am perfectly steady.”
When he edged over to the side, leaving a few feet between them, she repressed the impulse to be disappointed.
Silly girl.
“What do you think?” he asked.
She’d been so busy trying to ignore her fluttering heartbeat that she’d not yet taken in the view. Now, she uttered a gasp of delight.
“I had no idea how lovely it would be. One doesn’t really get the sense of it on the drive up.”
He leaned his forearms on the parapet, letting his gaze scan the landscape stretched out before them. “I’d forgotten how spectacular it is, especially on a clear day.”
The castle stood on a high hill, surrounded by sloping meadows full of purple heather and wild cranberry bogs. Beyond them ran the woods through which they had traveled, their leaves a dappled texture of various greens laced with vibrant autumn colors. Near the ring wall on one side of the castle, a small lake glittered under the late afternoon sunshine.
Mugdock might not belong in a fairy tale, but the setting certainly did.
She gazed down at the lake. “Are those swans?”
“Yes, whooper swans. The Grahams are quite proud of them. Been here for generations.”
“That was the final romantic touch this vista needed, I must say.”
He shaded his eyes to smile down at her. In the dazzling sunlight, his hair seemed gilded with fire.
“When Graeme intended to charm a young lady, he would bring her up here.”
Kathleen couldn’t resist. “And what about you? Did you employ similar methods?”
