Page 10 of The Laird's Masked Desire
Her body betrayed her in small, treacherous ways: the warmth curling low in her stomach, the sudden awareness of where she ended and he began, or the way her breath shortened as if her lungs had forgotten their proper rhythm.
She clenched her jaw, furious at her own disobedient senses.
“Ye speak like a lady,” he said, still too close.
“And ye speak like a gentleman,” Margaret replied. “Yet here we are.”
The silence between them pulsed.
“Answer me,” he demanded. “Which are ye?”
Margaret lifted her chin, every inch of her refusing to bend. “I willnae.”
For a deadly heartbeat, she thought he might press harder, that he might demand obedience as so many men before him had done. Instead, his grip eased, though he did not step away.
“Very well,” he acquiesced. “Keep yer secrets.”
His hand shifted, no longer restraining but reaching instead into the fold of his cloak. Margaret watched the movement warily. When he opened his palm, recognition struck like a spark. Her bracelet lay there, the delicate gold unmistakable even in the low light. Her breath caught despite herself.
“Ye dropped this,” he said. “In the corridor. I followed ye tae return it.”
“Ye…” She stopped, considering his words and their implied meaning. “Ye followed me.”
“I did,” he admitted unperturbed. “It seemed wiser than letting it be found by someone… less discreet.”
She took the bracelet, and her fingers brushed his skin despite her intent to avoid it. The contact sent an unwelcome shiver up her arm. She closed her hand around the gold as though it might anchor her.
“Thank ye,” she said stiffly. “And now that yer errand is complete, ye may forget everything ye have seen.”
His mouth curved, and he seemed faintly amused. That only seemed to make him even more attractive.
Damn it!
“That is nae how forgetting works.”
Margaret huffed a breath. “Then consider it a request.”
“A request?” he echoed. “From a woman who refuses tae answer a simple question?”
“From a woman,” she returned, “who has naething tae gain from yer attention and everything tae lose from yer interference.”
He seemed to ponder her words. “Ye are very certain of yerself.”
“I have tae be,” she explained, but only made that explanation even more convoluted. “Especially taenight.”
That was when footsteps echoed at the far end of the corridor. A few voices were laughing. Margaret stiffened.
“People are coming,” she said under her breath. “If ye intend tae ruin us both, now would be the moment.”
“I dinnae,” he replied, much to her surprise.
“Then stay silent,” she urged sharply. “Please. Say naething of what ye saw tae anyone.”
“And what would ye offer me in return?” he asked mildly.
Margaret shot him a look. “Is me gratitude insufficient?”
“Entirely.”
