Page 49 of The Laird's Secret Bairn

“See? A natural talent.”

“Ye go first, Skye!”

Kenna smiled. “Aye, I think we all want to hear Skye go first.”

Oh, she was truly enjoying this.

Skye did not take her teasing personally, but for someone who abhorred singing as much as she did, she wished it were directed towards anyone but her. She and singing did not mix!

“Very well.”

She straightened, cleared her throat for good measure, and launched into the first verse of an old ballad her nursemaid had taught her, one she’d never managed to hold a proper tune for in her life.

Her voice cracked spectacularly on the high note, and Lily’s giggles turned into full, helpless laughter, one hand pressed over her mouth.

“That was terrible!” Lily exclaimed, going as far as to cover her ears in mock distress.

Kenna was barely containing her own laughter. “Aye, I have heard better, but trust me when I say I am nae much better, Skye.”

It did help ease Skye’s embarrassment a little.

“I willnae deny it.” Skye bowed with as much dignity as she could muster. “Yer turn, sweetling. Show me how it’s properly done. I have a feeling ye can sing better than all of us combined.”

Lily sang next, sweet and off-key in an entirely different, more forgivable way, before turning expectantly to the kitten, who responded to her coaxing with nothing but a bored blink and a long yawn.

“Blossom refuses to participate.”

Lily lifted the kitten, giving her a pout. The kitten meowed in protest, but that was the only sound she made. She remained stubborn, refusing to let out a peep no matter how much Lily tried to get her to sing just a few notes.

“Then she forfeits,” Skye declared. “Which leaves only our final contestant.”

The goat, unprompted, let out another long bleat, this one somehow even more indignant than the last, and Lily clapped her hands together in delight.

Skye resisted the urge to wince at the sound. It seemed like the goat was a better singer than she and Lily combined. This was not how she saw the competition ending.

“The goat wins! The goat wins every time!”

“It does seem terribly unfair to the rest of us,” she agreed, laughing despite herself. “But I suppose we cannae argue with talent like that. Some are born gifted.”

The goat bleated in response, almost as if agreeing that its talent could not be brushed aside.

Skye felt the rest of her humiliation fade away. Lily was laughing, twirling around and having the time of her life. If this was what it took to get her laughing, then so be it. Skye was willing to take a little humiliation. It was worth it.

She caught sight of Dougal then, leaning against the back door that led to the gardens, arms crossed, watching them both with an expression she hadn’t seen on him before. It was soft and unguarded, but it was gone as soon as she’d noticed it, replaced by the careful stillness he wore like armor.

Stephen appeared a moment later, sketching an exaggerated bow before launching into a verse so deliberately terrible that Lily nearly fell over laughing, clutching Skye’s sleeve to keep her balance.

Skye laughed along with her, though she couldn’t help noticing the way Dougal’s jaw had tightened at the sight of Stephen making such a fool of himself for Lily’s amusement, his arms flexing.

She noticed the jealousy setting in again. He had told her he didn’t want her laughing because of another man, even if that man was Stephen. She felt desire coil low in her belly.

What would Dougal do to teach her a lesson? A part of her wanted to find out.

When the game finally wound down and Lily ran off to show the goat to the servants, Dougal pushed off the door and walked over to Skye. He caught her arm as she made to turn away.

“Ye didnae listen to me the first time,” he grunted, so close she could feel his hot breath on her face.

“I daenae recall that being a rule I agreed to,” she shot back. “Ye told me the rules, but I never agreed to any of them, did I?”