Page 141 of The Laird's Masked Passion
“Ye ordered it moved.”
“I ordered two servants tae move it.”
“They were needed below.”
“So ye decided the laird should carry furniture?”
“Aye.”
The guard’s mouth twitched. Elspeth pointed toward the wall beneath the narrow window. “There.”
The men set it down. Colin straightened carefully, favoring his healing shoulder. Elspeth noticed.
“Ye shouldnae lift with that arm.”
“I didnae,” he assured her.
“Ye did.”
“I used the other.”
She sighed. “Both arms are attached tae the same unreasonable man.”
The guard coughed and escaped before Colin could answer. Colin looked around the chamber. Fresh linen covered the bed. A fire warmed the air, and beeswax candles stood ready upon the table. The scent of rosemary and clean wool had replaced the old dampness.
“Ye did this?”
She smiled. “The servants did most of it.”
“But ye arranged it.”
Elspeth adjusted the vase again. “Someone had tae.”
Colin watched her too closely. She disliked when he did that. It made her feel as though her thoughts had been written upon her face in a hand he alone could read.
“I heard what ye said,” he told her.
“Tae whom?”
“Skye.”
Elspeth’s shoulders stiffened. “Listening at doors is a poor habit in a laird.”
“The door was open.”
“Then the household has failed me grievously.”
Colin crossed the room. “Ye arenae useless.”
She continued staring at the flowers. “I didnae say I was.”
“Ye said ye were trying nae tae be.”
“That is different.”
“Nay.”
His hand closed lightly around her wrist, turning her toward him. Elspeth expected command in his face. She found something quieter.
