Page 9 of How to Woo a Highlander

He had won the argument, but somehow he was no less distressed than she was. Indeed, he was sure he felt worse than she did. Grimacing with anger, he snatched a cup of wine from the tray of a passing servant and downed it in one go.

Bloody English lass! Me mood is ruined.

He spent the rest of the evening deeply disturbed, his conscience bothering him for how he treated her, even though he felt she deserved it. She did not meet his gaze for the rest of the feast, as though she were pointedly ignoring him.

This made him severely uncomfortable, and he could barely take his eyes off her all through the night. When the feast was over, and he retired to bed, all he could think of was her. Her bright eyes, which seemed like they could set his soul aflame, her fiery hair that he longed to run his hands through, and the creamy mounds of cleavage that her dress exposed…

He groaned at the direction of his thoughts, pressing a palm to his head in exasperation.

Lain wasnae wrong when he talked about bringing a woman to bed. It has been a while.

It had been almost a year since he had last been with a woman. It was usually at the bottom of his priorities as he was so busy with other things, and he was not the type to be flirtatious and outgoing. He was sure it was because he had put it off for so long that he was reacting to the English woman the way he was.

With his attraction to her sufficiently rationalized, he went to sleep a lot easier.

Chapter Five

Jane sat with a book in her hand. Although her eyes fixed on the pages, her mind was not on the contents. She was thinking of Alastair Bain. After their argument, she had walked away to find some air because she worried she might slap him.

A wench?! Me?!

She knew that she had called him a few choice names since they had met, but it was only because of the way he continued to address her rudely for no reason. She had done nothing to deserve his behavior, and his hatred for her was unfounded.

A frown creased her features, and she gripped the book tighter, absently flipping the page. She refused to look at him for the rest of the night, even though she felt the weight of his gaze. He was looking at her, and it made her skin tingle even though she was angry.

A blush stained her cheeks as she remembered how he had stared at her chest during their argument. It had only been a moment, but his heated gaze had felt like caresses on her skin. She squeezed her eyes shut as her face became hotter.

Shame on you, Jane, having such thoughts about a miscreant like that. He called you a wench for God's sake. Where is your dignity?

She chided herself harshly, shaking her head to try to clear her thoughts. She’d told Mary everything that had happened the next morning after the feast, and the governess had suggested that she steer clear of both Alastair and Suisan so as not to run into any trouble before she became the Lady. According to Mary, when she did become the lady, she could throw them out of the castle. However, the last thing she wanted was to become William’s wife and be insensitive to his people.

In her three days at the castle, she had learned that Lain lived there as did Alastair and even the annoying woman, Suisan. Lain had quickly become her friend and was the one who explained the living situation and the relationships of everyone in the castle. He was living in the castle because his father was the former adviser to the Laird and was William's friend. Alastair's case was almost the same, as he lived in the castle as best friend to the Laird as well but worked as William's right-hand man.

The woman, Suisan, lived in the castle because she had nowhere else to go. William's father had taken her in when she was a child because she was an orphan. Now, even though she was an adult, she still lived in the castle. A house was to be built for her to live and have her own life and family. However, things were too busy in the clan at the moment, and Suisan had never bothered anyone before.

Breakfast every morning was the only time she saw Alastair. As much as she did not want to admit it, she wished she could see more of him, even though she still felt insulted by how he had treated her. He was always brooding at the table, and though she avoided his gaze, she knew he was always looking at her.

At the table, she talked mostly with Lain, since William was always so occupied discussing essential things with Alastair. Her relationship with William was not too bad; he always greeted her and made small talk for the first five minutes of breakfast before he got lost in his conversation with Alastair. He took the time to ask if she had slept well and if she was settling in nicely, but these were only superficial conversations.

According to Lain, it was always that way, and he and Suisan had become used to talking to each other. When the conversation included everyone, it was usually because Lain butted into William and Alastair's conversation or demanded that there be no work discussions at the table that day.

Times for the clan had been slightly difficult for a while, so Lain had not been disturbing his friends, and simply talked more to Suisan. According to him, it was because they had grown much closer over the past few months that Suisan felt threatened by Jane.

He said it with mock sorrow, as though poor Suisan had fallen in love with him, and Jane laughed. However, Suisan withdrew from the conversation at the table altogether and looked like all she wanted was for Jane to disappear. Jane knew that it was more than jealousy.

It was clear that Suisan hated her for being English, just as Alastair did. Realizing that she had not read even a sentence of her book, Jane let out an exasperated sigh and dropped it onto the floor before lying on the bed.

What do I have to do to make them accept me as a person? When I marry William, this will be my home. How can I live comfortably, not knowing how many people hate me?

That kind of life was not one she wanted to live. If she had to hide her betrothal to William to protect herself now from hate, how would it be when she married him? She sighed. She had just come to terms with marrying William, but problems continued to show.

The fact that she was attracted to his best friend was also a problem, but it was much easier to handle since Alastair hated and avoided her. As long as she continued to skirt around him, it would be fine.

A knock on her door startled her, and she shot into a sitting position. Who could it be? If it were Mary, she would knock once before entering. On the second knock, she got to her feet and rushed to the door.

She opened it, and to her surprise, William stood there with his hands held behind his back. He gave her a sweet smile even as she blinked wide-eyed back at him.

"Laird William," she curtsied quickly in greeting, "I was not expecting you," she said, touching a hand to her hair which she had thrown into a messy bun atop her head with tendrils hanging everywhere. If Mary could see her, she would probably weep with disappointment.