To Kiss a Highland Rose (Kiss the Wallflower #6) - Tamara Gill Page 0,3

with Maria, and the next, he had her in a shadowed corner with his hands in places they ought not to be.

"Do not remind me of my past mistakes."

"So, I should not remind you then that she's here and heading your way?" Rawden sipped his drink, laughter in his eyes.

Sebastian whirled about, panic seizing him. Maria was here! He took in the guests, only to see no one at all. Rawden laughed, doubling over, and Sebastian had the ultimate urge to kick him up the ass. "You think that is amusing. You're a bastard."

Rawden wiped at his eyes, laughing still and causing a bit of a spectacle of them. "I'm sorry, my friend. I could not help myself."

"Hmm," Sebastian said, sipping his drink and glancing yet again across the sea of heads to ensure Lady Clifford was not, in fact, in Scotland and could not get him in her clasp yet again.

"Lady Elizabeth is handsome, I will give her that. Do not be too hard on the chit. She probably does not know her brother won the estate in a game of cards."

"I never intended to be hard on her, but marrying her would certainly be cheaper than suing Mackintosh, and would be more pleasant for everyone. Why make war when you can make love with a woman like her?" He caught her moving through the guests, talking with another lady. Lady Elizabeth was tall, curved in all the right places, and with a bosom that would fit in his hands quite nicely. A well-developed lady, not some gangly, giggling debutante with no padding on her bones. Much more satisfying on one's palate.

Her laugh when it carried to him was carefree and without caution, bountiful and heartfelt. He liked the sound of it, and seducing her, marrying her, could make his few weeks in Scotland much more pleasant. Her brother may not like his sister's turn of events. Sebastian and Laird Mackintosh had already had terse words through correspondence over his acquiring of Halligale, but then, if his sister was in love, married even, what could Laird Mackintosh do about it?

Nothing.

"I'm glad to hear it," Rawden said, downing his drink. "Now, where are we off to next? Edinburgh is much like London. There is more than one ball a night to attend."

Sebastian laughed and started toward the house's foyer, all for experiencing what this ancient city had to offer that London did not. "Yes, of course, we have invitations for two other events this evening." And many more ladies to meet and flatter before he settled down to court Lady Elizabeth. With any luck, none of them would have emerald eyes and hair that blazed with a fire as bright as the sun itself.

Chapter 2

“You’re killing the flowers, my dear. Please, move away before the roses become headless along with leafless.” Julia stated, walking past, before slumping onto the settee and throwing her an amused glance.

Elizabeth sighed, glancing down at the roses she had been arranging. Her friend was right, the floral arrangement was well on the way to being atrocious. “We’re for the Fishers’ ball this evening, are we not?” she asked, sitting opposite Julia and giving up on her arrangement. The maids would do a better job in any case, she had no touch for decoration.

“We certainly are.” Julia crossed her legs and met her gaze. “Are you still attending this evening? Or are you asking me about the ball as a means of telling me you’ve changed your mind?”

“Oh no, I’ll be attending. I ran into Miss Wilson in the milliners this morning and she was all aflutter over Lord Hastings and his friend Lord Bridgman, who have arrived in Edinburgh for the Season it would seem. When I told Mrs. Wilson I had met Lord Hastings at the ball the other evening, she was beyond excitable and exclaiming that I must introduce his lordship to Emily. I do believe poor Emily was quite embarrassed by the whole conversation.”

“I saw you talking with Lord Hastings the other evening. What did you think of the gentleman? His lordship and his friend, Rawden his name is rumored to be, are both too handsome for their own good.”

Heat stole up Elizabeth’s cheeks thinking of Lord Hastings’ last words to her. That he wished to see her often. “He was very polite and kind. His downfall is that he’s English, but since I have had an English sister-in-law these past few years, I have become used to their ways and I