Page 78 of The Scot’s Secret

“Nay!”

After Alex’s hasty departure last night, she’d been left much too angry to sleep. How could he simply walk away without a word in parting? Later, after she’d calmed down a bit, confusion had replaced anger. He desired her. Wanted to protect her. Said that he’d give his own life to keep her safe, and she believed him.

And yet he still wouldn’t make love to her.

Strangely, her assertion that she would never marry had seemed to upset him. But he had always seemed the sort of man to evade marriage—didn’t he feel the same way? Or had he changed his mind? It mattered not. Even if he would sacrifice himself for her, she could not allow it—but she still did not want to die an old maid, unfamiliar with the ways of love.

“You’re thinking of it.”

“I’ve thought of little else,” she admitted.

“I don’t understand,” Emma said. “What is preventing it? He clearly desires you.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Actually, it’s quite simple.” The two women sprang to their feet upon hearing the deep voice.

Alex! How long had he been standing there?

“Alex, what are you—”

Emma stood, grabbed Cook’s basket, and started to walk away.

“Nay, Lady Emma, you don’t have to leave,” Clara insisted.

Emma scrunched her lips to the side as if in thought. “Mayhap you’re right. I could stay. In fact, this should be interesting.”

She promptly sat back down.

Alex, who had clearly come directly from training, his tunic tinged with dirt and even a smattering of blood, turned to her.

“While I would enjoy nothing more than to provide you with an afternoon of entertainment, I do believe your initial instincts were correct, Lady Emma. Mayhap you should leave.”

Her new friend stood once again and marched right up to Alex. She stood so close Clara thought for a moment she might hit him.

“And you are sorely mistaken if you think to find another woman such as this one.”

With that, Emma Waryn winked at her and promptly walked back to the castle.

Clara stared after her for a moment, unsure of how to feel. Then she met Alex’s eyes, and both of them burst into spontaneous laughter.

“She thinks highly of me,” Alex said, teasing.

“I tend to agree with her,” Clara said.

As Alex made his way toward her, Clara shifted on the flat rock.

“Even after last eve?” he asked.

He reached out a hand.

She took it.

“Despite my better judgment, aye.”

He didn’t let go of her hand when she stood. Instead, he wound his fingers through hers. They fit nicely between her own, and the contact sent a wave of warmth through her.

Alex led her away from the castle and toward the shore.