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“You are more of a woman than I counted on.” He smiled. “In more ways than one.”
She grinned wide, and her annoyance faded. “Aye, that I am. Now stop attempting to misdirect me, and tell me what goes on.”
Magnus knew it was useless to argue with her. She would see to having her way one way or the other, and the thought filled him with a sense of peace. He loved a strong and courageous woman, whom he was proud of and would love until his dying day and beyond.
“Kilkern’s men have been seen near the keep.”
Brigid was busy kneading dough for her bread when Thomas entered her cottage. His somber expression warned her that there was a problem, and her hands stopped.
“Are Reena and Magnus all right?”
Thomas walked over to her and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “They are fine and should return to the keep before nightfall.”
“Then what is wrong?” she asked, nervous to hear his answer.
“Kilkern’s men are near the keep.”
She immediately wrapped her arms around him as far as she could get them and buried her head in his massive chest.
“Do not worry, no one will touch you. You are safe with me.”
She drew a deep breath and stepped away from him, though he was reluctant to let her go. “I cannot understand why Kilkern does this to me.”
“It is simple. You are beautiful and he wants you.”
Brigid’s eyes filled with tears. “He will use me and discard me at his whim.”
Thomas’s face turned red with anger. “I will not let him. He will not hurt the woman I love.”
Brigid was stunned silent, as was Thomas, who turned a deeper shade of red after realizing he’d blurted out what he had kept hidden in his heart since the first moment he’d met her.
“Oh, Thomas,” she said and wept.
Her tears alarmed him. “It is all right, Brigid, you need not love me in return. I am not foolish enough to think a woman as beautiful as you could love a man as ugly as me.”
Brigid wiped at her tears. “You most certainly are not ugly.”
Thomas took a step away from her and stretched his arms out from his sides. “Look at me, Brigid, I am ugly.”
Brigid walked up to him and ran a flour-covered finger down his nose and over his cheeks, leaving a powdered trail. “You are a handsome man with a huge heart.”
He blushed and could not look at her. “My heart belongs only to you.”
She sighed and cupped his big face in her hands, forcing him to meet her eyes. “I would take care of your heart, Thomas.”
It took a moment for him to comprehend her words—or perhaps it was that he did not believe his own ears. “You like me?”
“I more than like you, Thomas.”
“But you do not—”
“I still heal from the loss of my husband and feel guilty that I should care for another man.”
Thomas placed his hands on her slim waist. “I know you will always love your husband John and rightfully so. If you but love me half as much as you loved him, I would be a happy man.”
“And if I love you more?”
His breath quickened and he thought for a moment he could not breathe. “I would be honored.”
