Page 23 of Auctioned to the Cruel Highlander
The vehemence of it struck her harder than the words themselves. It came too quickly, too cleanly, and for the first time, she heard the sharpness beneath his cold practicality.
Good.
“I didnae say ye must.”
His jaw ticked. “Ye didnae?”
“Aye, I said I willnae give meself to a man I daenae even like. Ye seem…”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Seem what?”
She exhaled. “Tolerable.”
He nodded, like he had nothing else to say regarding that point. “We may enjoy one another’s company well enough without emotion,” he said. “And still live as I intend.”
Ava caught the opening at once. “Afterwe have an heir.”
He went still, and she watched the meaning sink in.
“Aye…” he trailed off.
There. The first real pause.
So ye arenae as sharp as ye think, Ciaran Nairn.
Ava stepped closer, not enough to crowd him, but enough to make it plain that she saw the contradiction and meant to hold him in it.
“Then until that heir is born, ye will spend time with me. Ye will make someeffortat companionship, and this marriage will be what it is: a marriage.”
For a moment, he only looked at her. The sounds of the yard carried faintly behind them.
Ava held his gaze and finished it cleanly. “Until then, ye’ll spend time with me. Or else ye willnae touch me. Yer choice, me Laird.”
He did not answer at once, and that alone told her enough.
The look on his face told her that he had not expected this. When she told him she had terms, he had probably thought they were simple things, not terms shaped to fit around his own words and trap him inside them.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low. “Ye bargain boldly.”
Ava lifted her chin. “Ye chose me boldly, did ye nae?”
An unreadable emotion passed over his face, but he did not object, and that was enough.
Ye want to play this game, Ciaran Nairn?Then we are going to play to yer heart’s content.
CHAPTER 7
For the firsttime in a long time, Ciaran felt cornered.
Ava had stood up to him and made her opinions known. Even when she turned around and walked away, all he could think of was her newfound confidence.
Where in God’s name had she gotten that from?How was she able to turn from the woman who would do anything to escape him to the woman who knew exactly what she wanted and how she wanted it?
The thought made him uneasy. Too uneasy, in fact, to look the other way. So he decided to do the one thing he was still capable of—he would not seek her more than was required before the wedding.
The matter was already settled. The vows would be spoken within days. Her conditions remained troublesome, and to begin indulging them before she was even his wife would onlyencourage the very thing he had no wish to foster. So it would be better to let the week pass in order and silence.
At least, that was what he told himself. It sounded sufficiently practical when arranged properly in his mind. He needed to find a way to preserve structure. Marriage would come soon enough. There was no need to begin its more troublesome obligations early.
