Page 31 of A Scot on Duchess Square
Could he read her mind? Was she that obvious?
It wasn’t desire on her part, merely curiosity.
She tried not to think of his mouth on hers.
Why shouldn’t she let him? After all, she hadn’t been with a man in fifteen years, and was it not time she took advantage of being a widow of independent means and doing whatever she pleased?
With Solway.
Oddly, she did feel safe with him despite these dangerous and unsettling feelings he seemed to be awakening within her.
She thought of his mouth on other parts of her body.
Gad!
She had stupidly swallowed some tea at the same moment her thoughts had strayed in that most improper direction, and now she was coughing and dribbling tea down her chin.
“Och, Miranda,” Solway said, grabbing her table linen and dabbing gently at the liquid on her chin, “dinna torment yerself. Must I assure ye again that ye’ll always be safe with me?”
It appeared so. She needed lots of assurances because his appeal was too potent for her.
She wanted him so badly. Not only to kiss him, but to leap into bed with him.
How could she trust him? She needed to know he would never break her heart.
He gave her lips a light dab before setting the linen aside. As he did so, his fingers grazed her lips and made them tingle.
He’d done it on purpose.
She frowned at him.
He shook his head and sighed. “Miranda, I am no’ yer enemy.”
He was wrong. He held the power to mortally wound her.
Gwenys and Douglas had been at the long table refilling their plates and thankfully had missed her fit of coughing and the reason behind it.
“These scones are delicious,” Gwenys remarked, resuming her seat beside Miranda and trying to maintain a cheerful outlook. “We ought to request some be packed in a hamper for our ride to London.”
“I’ll see to it,” Douglas said, and was about to rise, but Solway held him back.
“I’ve done it already, lad,” he said. “I thought the ladies might enjoy them.”
“Our cook at Lanark Castle does them better,” Douglas remarked. “Ye’ll be the judge, Gwenys, when ye return to us in July. Mairie will be well pleased if ye compliment her on her scones. She will adopt ye as one of her own if ye compliment her on her apple pie.”
It was still early, and most of the inn’s patrons were not yet awake as they made ready to depart Edinburgh and the Lampton Inn.
Miranda allowed Gwenys a moment alone with Douglas, but still kept the pair within sight. After all, these two were falling in love and about to be parted. Douglas, even if he were a completegentleman, would find it hard to keep his hands off her beautiful niece. Miranda was determined to remain vigilant, like a mother bear protecting her cub.
“The bags are loaded onto my carriage,” Solway remarked, drawing her attention away from the cooing lovebirds. “How are ye feeling?”
“Eager to arrive home.”
“Aye, ye’ve made that readily apparent. But ye must promise to tell me if the carriage ride is too hard on yer ribs. Ye need to be sensible about this.”
She turned away. “Gwenys, time to go.”
“I’ll be right there, Aunt Miranda.” Gwenys gave Douglas a final hug and hurried to the impressive black steel conveyance bearing Solway’s ducal seal. The carriage was large and sturdy, and had been polished to such a shine, it gleamed with a blinding brightness to rival the sun.
