Page 35 of Wedded to the Devilish Highlander
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Eileen paced the length of her chamber, her fingers curled tightly around the edge of her shawl. Her eyes flicked to Archer’s gift, lying on her vanity, untouched since she set it down there the night before.
She should be focused. She should be planning.
Reid was still missing, and the moment she let that truth sink in, it felt like a stone dropped in her gut. And yet all she could think about was Archer.
His voice, his maddening smirk, the way he’d stood so close to her, his arms braced on either side of her as if she belonged between them. The memories seared themselves into her brain, wicked and warm.
What is wrong with me?
She huffed and tossed her shawl aside. This wasn’t helping. She needed a distraction.
She called out, her voice slightly sharp but lilted with inquisition.
The servants’ door creaked open a few moments later, and Piper peeked in with a wary expression. “Aye?”
“Would ye walk with me? I need some air.”
Piper blinked. “So long as we stay close to the keep. The weather’s turnin’.”
Eileen rolled her eyes. “Ye sound like Archer.”
“Only because he’s right to worry. Yer safety is nay small matter.”
Eileen grabbed her cloak anyway, already striding past her maid. “Then ye better keep up.”
They walked side by side through the outer gardens first, the hedges brown and brittle, petals dropping in surrender to the cold. Piper kept glancing at her out of the corner of her eye, obviously skeptical.
“Well?” Eileen finally snapped. “Spit it out.”
“So, ye are… betrothed?” Piper asked.
“Aye, it’s an arrangement.”
“It’s just… Do ye really think he’ll change once he weds ye?”
Eileen sighed. She wanted to tell Piper the truth, but the more people who knew it was all fake, the more chinks in the armor there were.
“That’s nae for me to want,” she replied. “I would give strength to both our clans.”
“Aye, but what about ye?” Piper asked. “I ken there’s more to a union than the two people involved, especially when one of them is a laird, but I’ve kenned many women who regretted marriage when their men went off lookin’ for other lassies after the weddin’ day.”
“There’s often rumors about many people,” Eileen told her.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s often fire, and the Laird’s fire is enough to choke any chimney.”
“Och, stop talkin’ about him like that. I’ve made me peace with what I’m doin’, and ye must, too.”
“As long as ye ken what ye’re doin’,” Piper murmured. “Dressin’ as a lad to sneak away from home, goin’ into taverns in disguise, sneakin’ out of yer room when ye think I dinnae notice, and bein’ in the castle when a guard is killed. Danger seems to cling toye like the snow on the mountains in the Highlands. Do ye ken what ye’re gettin’ yerself into?”
Eileen bit her lip and looked away. “I can handle him.”
Piper snorted. “That’s nae the part that worries me.”
“Then what does?”
“I’ve seen the way ye look at him. I’m worried that ye dinnaewantto handle him at all.”
