Page 14 of Wedded to the Devilish Highlander
“I never had any intention to harm ye,” he said softly.
She noticed how evenly his chest rose and fell against her shoulders. He was calm. Not crazed.
“Fine,” she said firmly.
She had no choice but to trust him, so she relaxed in his arms as he walked them over to the hearth. Eileen let him adjust his grip easily so he could lower her into one of the warm armchairs.
“McFair owes me a favor now,” Archer said as he pulled another chair closer to hers and fell into it. Their eyes remained locked in a stalemate. “Nae bad for a day’s work.”
She stiffened. The last thing she wanted to do on this journey was to make her other brother indebted to the MacLennans.
“I could—” Her eyes flicked to the small leather pouch on the floor where they had just stood.
I dinnae have much, but I…
“I could return it. Name yer price.”
“I dinnae need yer coin.”
“Then I can return the favor when?—”
Archer leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs as if he had anticipated her very thoughts.
“When I become Lady O’Gunn, I could speak in yer favor… to Lachlan.”
His gaze darkened instantly, and the air between them shifted. “As ifanyonecould reason with that lunatic.”
Eileen stiffened slightly, unsettled by the way his presence filled the room even as he sat down. She wasn’t afraid, though. Not exactly. But her pulse hammered, and her stomach fluttered faster than it had any right to.
“Ye think ye ken him better than me?” she snapped.
“Have ye ever met the man?”
“Well…”
Archer smiled humorlessly. “I ken well enough, lass,” he said, scooting to the edge of his chair to close the distance between them.
Her eyes dipped first, taking in the slow rise and fall of his chest and the pulse fluttering just at the base of his throat.
“Ye willnae be marryin’ him, Eileen Kilmartin.”
They were close again. Too close.
She tried to break the tension with a jab. “It seems to me that ye just want to be the hero. So, go on then. Rescue me.”
He reached out and grabbed her chin. His touch was gentle but unyielding, forcing her gaze to meet his once more.
“Rescue ye?”
“Aye, be the hero.” She rolled her eyes.
As if he doesnae ken what he’s doin’.
“I’m nae a hero,” he countered, his chiseled features growing menacingly dark.
The silence that clung to the space between them was a burden.
“Arenae ye, though?” she said through gritted teeth, a sneer that he didn’t miss tugging at her lips.
