Page 36 of Ruined By the Ruthless Highlander
The lass kens how to protect herself.
A smile tugged at the corners of his lips before he remembered himself.
He snorted, shaking his head as he walked toward her.
She’s truly impossible.
“Ye’re still here,” he said.
She frowned, folding her arms across her chest. “Where else would I be?” she replied in a sharp tone.
His jaw tightened.
Fair enough.
He took a few steps closer, watching as the wind threw loose strands of hair against her cheek. His hands ached to reach out and brush them from her face. Instead, he hooked his thumbs into his belt and moved even closer to where she stood.
“Ye should go back to England, Mairi,” he said quietly. “This place will break ye. Ghosts and all…”
He’d half expected her to back up. Instead, she took a step closer, raising her chin to look at him.
“You assume far too much about me,” she almost hissed.
His jaw clenched, and his lips pressed into a hard line. “Aye.” The word sounded like a curse. “And ye assume Highlanders bow to English papers.”
Marian paused. She held his gaze for a moment, then she huffed, as if she’d finally figured something out.
“You intend to frighten me away,” she said coolly.
He nodded. “Aye.”
She swallowed and took a step closer to him, so that there were only a few feet left between them.
“Well then,” she replied, dropping her voice until it was barely above a whisper, “you are doing a remarkably poor job of it, my Laird.”
The space between them crackled with tension, neither of them backing down.
Lachlan laughed, low and humorless.
“Ye’ve been here for three days,Sassenach,” he growled, leaning down so his face was closer to hers. “And ye’re already terrified.”
“Yes!” she spat.
His face hardened, her vehemence catching him off guard.
“I have already seen that the great terror of Glen Carrick has been reduced to stealing biscuits and bullying guests. What more do you have?”
Lachlan felt a stir in his chest. It was the same stir he’d felt when they stood alone in the corridor, when her blue eyes stared into his, when her waist fit perfectly in his arm.
Heat coiled low in his belly as he watched her simmer. The way her chest heaved with each breath, the stubborn tilt of her chin… This was the most passionate he’d ever seen her. Angry, yet breathtakingly beautiful.
“Careful, Mairi,” he whispered, his eyes narrowing.
“Or what?” she whispered back. “You will… glare at me again?”
His gaze dropped to her lips, just for a second.
That was all it took.
