Page 61 of The Laird's Secret Bairn

She resisted the urge to duck her head. “I’m all right, Lily. It’s just the heat of the sun. Why daenae we go inside?”

The little girl giggled and took her hand. “I daenae think it’s the sun, though. Ye look the way Grandmaither looks when she talks about Grandda,” she said matter-of-factly, swinging their joined hands as they walked. “All soft and silly.”

“I daenae look silly.”

“Ye do. Yer cheeks are as red as Blossom’s ribbon.” She peered up at her, far too knowing for a girl of seven. “Were ye looking at Da?”

The more Lily pointed out her blush, the darker it became. Skye couldn’t very well look away from her, or else the girl might think she had done something wrong.

“I was looking at nothing in particular.”

“That’s what grown-ups say when it means aye,” Lily announced solemnly, echoing words Skye had once spoken to her. “Da does it too, ye ken. Looks at ye and then pretends he wasnae.”

Skye’s steps faltered slightly. “Does he now?”

“All the time.” Lily beamed up at her, delighted with her own cleverness. “Perhaps the two of ye should just say it plainly. Grandmaither says grown-ups make everything so complicated.”

Kenna had said as much to Skye.

She had many things she wanted to say to Dougal, but she wasn’t sure how to say them. It was easier to look from afar, becoming lost in her own thoughts.

“Yer grandmaither,” Skye said, “is far too wise for her own good.”

Lily only laughed, tugging her toward the doors, and Skye let herself be pulled along, grateful the girl couldn’t see just how right she was.

Skye had managed to control her blush until dinner. She was the first to arrive after Dougal.

“Lily seemed to enjoy herself today.”

She bit back a sigh of relief. Lily was a safe topic. She didn’t have to dig deep when speaking about her.

“She is,” she said with a soft smile. “Allowing her out in the gardens didnae cause any harm now, did it?”

Dougal sighed. “Do ye enjoy pushing me, Skye?”

Her heart leaped into her throat. “I…”

“I think ye want to be punished again,” he murmured, backing her up against the wall.

A delicious shiver ran down her spine. She wanted to see what he would do. Wanted?—

“Da!” Lily called out.

They sprang apart just as she entered, her hand loosely wrapped around Kenna’s.

“Skye, ye’re blushing again!”

Dougal covered a chuckle with a cough. “Aye, why are ye blushing, Skye? Do ye have a fever?”

“I think we need to find a healer, Da!”

“I think so too, Lily.”

Kenna sighed. “Let’s keep the teasing to a minimum, aye? Poor Lily here is starving.”

Lily nodded. “Aye, I am! I havenae eaten since I stole some sweets from the kitchens!”

“Aye, let’s eat.”