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Lachlan stands there, his eyes large and his mouth agape. He swerves his head to the left and throws a hand up to block his view of us. "For Christ's sake, Rory. Put some trousers on."
I leap backward and yank my trousers up, hastily zipping them. The button hangs open, but I don't bother with that, not when my brother has just seen my wife half-naked on the granite island. Emery lies there with her shirt gaping and one breast mounded up to expose everything except the nipple. And Lachlan saw that. I swallow a growl and lift her into a sitting position, then struggle to button her shirt. My fingers can't manage the task.
Emery shoos my hands away. "Cool down, baby. I'll take care of my own clothes."
Lachlan chuckles. "Is he a sweetie-pie baby?"
I shoot him a dark look.
While my wife tucks her breast back into her bra and buttons her shirt, I stalk across the kitchen to glare at my brother, though I doubt my expression seems menacing enough to cow him. "Donnae be looking at my wife."
"I wouldn't have minded a good look at her." Lachlan lowers his hand, smirking at me. "Unfortunately, all I saw was you. Didn't need such an unobstructed view of your erse."
My face feels hot, which is ridiculous. "Then maybe ye shouldnae be walking into our home like it belongs to ye. Havenae ye heard of knocking?"
Lachlan gives a careless shrug. "Mrs. Darroch let me in. She said Emery was in the kitchen and you were in the office."
I squint at him. "What do you want with my wife?"
"Calm down, man." Lachlan raises his hands, palms out. "Emery told Erica I could pick up the book she's borrowing today. Didn't mean to storm your castle while you were under your good wife's skirts. Isn't this a Wednesday, one of those days when medieval husbands couldn't bed their ladies?"
My shoulders bunch so tightly it almost hurts. I'm not angry with Lachlan. I'm silently chastising myself for even thinking about shagging my wife in the kitchen in broad daylight. Of course someone walked in on us. That's my curse.
Emery hops off the counter, with her clothes now set right, and trots up to lay a hand on my upper arm. I throw her a sideways glance, and the tender look on her face melts away some of my anxiety. She slips her other hand into mine, though I can't seem to relax my fingers.
"Are you planning to pummel your brother?" she asks, her tone as sweet as her smile. "Go ahead, if it'll make you feel better. But honestly, Rory, I don't think it's the most logical response. Lachlan got a gander at your bare ass, not mine."
"He saw you—on the—with your—"
Now I can't piece together a complete sentence. What a ruddy eejit I am.
Emery squeezes my hand. "It was an accident. I'm not embarrassed, and you shouldn't be either. Tell Lachlan you forgive him and let it go."
The breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding floods out of me. My shoulders deflate, and my entire body follows suit while I fold my hand around hers. Only Emery knows how to melt the cold ball that's been lodged in my gut since the day she married me.
I grudgingly tell Lachlan, "Sorry. I may have…overreacted."
My brother's brows hike up, and he gives my wife an appreciative nod. "You are a miracle worker, Emery. Getting Rory to admit he was wrong is one of the signs of the apocalypse."
I huff. "Didn't say I was wrong."
"Haven't heard forgiveness yet." Lachlan is smirking again, hoping to get me up to high doh one more time. My brothers both enjoy prodding me until I bark at them. They think it's entertaining.
I growl, then mutter, "I forgive you. Just donnae do it again."
He raises one hand. "I solemnly swear never to breach Rory's castle again without permission."
I look at Emery. "Happy?"
"Yes." She boosts herself onto her tiptoes and kisses my cheek. "Thank you, Rory baby."
Her eyes flare wide at the instant she realizes what she said, but it's too late.
Lachlan bursts out laughing, the uproarious noise reverberating through the kitchen.
"Rory baby?" he says between guffaws. "Wait till I tell Aidan about that one. He'll love it more than 'sweetie-pie.' "
I feel my lips stretch into a tight line as I bore my gaze into Emery. "You promised never to speak that phrase in front of anyone but me."
