Page 21 of Auctioned to the Cruel Highlander
Isobel nodded. “Would ye like me to come with ye? I can just?—”
“Nay,” Ava interrupted, raising her hand.
Isobel frowned. “Ava, ’tis the least I can do before?—”
“Nay, ’tis nae about that,” Ava insisted, her voice sharp. “I will need to talk to him alone at some point, one way or the other. I might as well start getting used to it by now.”
Isobel nodded. “I see. That is wise.”
“Plus, he may nae have enough time to look through the rules before agreeing, since he is training with his men,” Ava pointed out.
Rory and Isobel both nodded at the same time, almost as if what she had just said was the most sensible thing in the world. As if she had gotten the entire situation under control and nothing else could go wrong.
Ava, on the other hand, exhaled and turned around, her eyes landing on the training grounds. And this time, when she started walking, it was with purpose.
CHAPTER 6
Ava heardthe grunts of men before she reached them. She could hear the sound of steel striking steel in a clean, hard rhythm.
The men moved across the yard sharply, their boots biting dust, their blades flashing in the sun. The whole place smelled of sweat, leather, and churned earth. It should have made her turn back. Instead, it only sharpened the beat of her pulse.
If she was going to do this, it would be now or never.
Her eyes swept across the crowd for a brief minute, looking through the horde of sweaty and shirtless bodies.
Then she saw him.
Ciaran stood near the center of the yard, his hand gripping a sharp sword. His shirt clung tight to his glistening skin, outlining the broadness of his chest and the ridges of his abdomen.
Ava swallowed hard and tried to keep her eyes on his face.
His face.
His face, for the love of God.
He was not shouting. That was the one thing Ava had noticed. He did not need to. A word from him, or only the lift of a hand, and the men would shift where he wanted them. They obeyed like they knew exactly what he was and did not wish to disappoint him. His authority sat on him almost as naturally as his shadow.
It was quite irritating. And worse, deeply compelling.
Ava slowed her pace for one breath, hating the fact that her body noticed every single detail about him. It was the last thing a woman uninterested in a marriage with him would do.
A woman uninterested in marriage would not notice the breadth of his shoulders or the controlled strength in the way he moved. She wouldn’t notice how sharp his jaw looked from a distance and how his hair fell over his forehead and almost covered his eyes.
The reason why she had come snapped her back to the present almost immediately.
Get it together, Ava.
She crossed the yard before hesitation could grow teeth. A few men looked at her, but they looked away just as quickly. Ciaran turned when she was still several steps away, and the sight of his attention settling fully on her stirred her nerves again, but she crushed them at once.
“Me Laird,” she greeted.
His gaze moved over her face, reading more than she liked. “Me Lady.”
“I would have a private word.”
Something like surprise touched his expression, though it vanished quickly. “Would ye now?”
“Aye.”
