Hit Me With Your Best Scot (Wild Wicked Highlanders #3) - Suzanne Enoch Page 0,68
row of red roses surrounding the wooden structure. “It was like I was reading a story in a book, and I didnae like where the plot was headed, but I couldnae stop it. It had already been written, ye ken. I was too late.”
She stood. “I see.”
“What does that mean? ‘I see’?”
“It means in my view the story wasn’t already written, and instead of being the hero, you waited until the villain left the room and then swooped in, and then declared yourself. You kiss very well, sir. As if you’ve had a great deal of practice. If you truly want me, and I’m not just that convenient ‘some Englishwoman’ your mother said you must wed, then you’re going to have to woo me. And not by pretending it’s on someone else’s behalf.”
He started to snap a reply, but by God she was correct. That was exactly what he’d done, whether he’d intended it or not. He’s slipped in sideways without ever having to make a declaration until it was perfectly safe to do so. And his mother was inside the house right now, trying to make his claim official, to bind her to him when he’d done nothing to earn her respect, much less her affection.
“Wait here a moment,” he stated, and started for the house.
“What? I will n—”
“Just for a minute, lass. Dunnae leave.”
Cursing under his breath, he strode back inside, up the hallway, and to the closed door of his mother’s office. Without bothering to knock, he shoved it open.
“Stop what ye’re about,” he ordered.
Mrs. Baxter had her forefinger jammed at a piece of paper on the desk, with his mother making a conciliatory gesture and Mr. Baxter red-faced. “Niall, I’m in the middle of something,” Francesca said tightly.
“No,” Mrs. Baxter countered, turning in her seat to face him. “You are a disgrace. I will not sign my daughter over to you simply because you saved her from embarrassment last night. That is not—”
“I dunnae want ye to sign anything. There’s nae agreement.”
Lady Aldriss blinked. “You’ve changed your mind?”
“Nae. I havenae. But Amelia-Rose has already been forced once into a match she didnae want. I’ll nae see her forced into this one just because it saves me the trouble of winning her.” He pinned her mother with a glare. “I will win her, Mrs. Baxter. Nae agreement, nae piece of paper but a marriage certificate, signed by her and by me and by whichever priest marries us.”
“I highly doubt that, Mr. MacTaggert,” her mother returned. “Amelia-Rose is a troublesome girl, but she will not be swayed by your good looks or absurdly quaint accent. She knows her duty to this family.”
“I reckon we’ll find that out.” He wanted to add that her parents had been the ones signing her over in exchange for the loftiest title they could find, but they would eventually become his in-laws. A healthy dislike would be better than outright hatred.
With a last glance and nod at his mother, Niall left the room. Time to begin again. And this time, he’d be wooing the lass for himself.
Chapter Ten
Amelia-Rose watched Niall stomp off back inside Oswell House. Fine. The MacTaggerts stomped off a great deal.
No, that wasn’t fair. Niall had rescued her last night. His swift appearance had been the only thing that saved her from complete scandal and ruin. And however underhanded his so-called courtship had been, that kiss last night had been more than a moment of mutual attraction. She thought she’d behaved her worst, unable to make a calm reasoned reply when she was clearly being baited, and yet he’d once again been impressed by her spleen, as he called it.
Aside from that, his kiss had absolutely made her toes curl. Better he leave before she accidentally blurted out that she’d half—more than half—wished he’d been pursuing her for himself.
She looked around the garden at Oswell House. It was pretty and well kept, the gazebo freshly painted, with no half-wilted roses and their dropping petals in sight. Lady Aldriss, Francesca Oswell-MacTaggert, had had a father and a grandfather who despite being viscounts had eagerly invested in trade, in this case the tobacco coming in from the Caribbean and the new United States. In addition Lady Aldriss owned part of at least one shipping company, with her father deciding to be sure his untraditional investments went to his only child rather than to whomever she might marry. Now that had been foresight.
“Ye stayed,” Niall said, returning from the house.