Return of the Scot (Scots of Honor #1) - Eliza Knight Page 0,47

stop her.

“What…” she gasped, and then Lorne was there, climbing into the carriage with her and shutting the door. The small enclosure of her carriage shrank in size with him there, looming out of the darkness, a sinful angel coming to corrupt her some more. “Get out of my carriage.” Her voice sounded as shocked as she felt.

“Marry me.”

Had he said what she thought he said? “Pardon?”

“Marry me, Jaime Andrewson.”

“Ye’re mad. Or drunk. Get out of my carriage before someone sees ye.” She tried to look around him to the front of the house.

“It will no’ matter if they see me if ye agree to be my wife. We’ll put all the questions and rumors to rest.”

And she’d be able to kiss him whenever she wanted… Still, this was a terrible idea. A really bad idea. The man had been betrothed to her sister, and that had ended very badly on both sides. All of society thought he’d fathered her sister’s bastard and abandoned her—not only because Shanna had said it, but because he’d never discredited her either. If Jaime agreed to marry him, goodness, she’d likely lose more than half her clientele. They would think her unreliable, disrespectful.

Not to mention what Shanna would think. Despite having lied about their situation, she had to have wanted to get even with the duke for something, right? Nay, Jaime could not marry him. Absolutely not. Marrying him was the very last thing on earth she should ever do. Even if kissing him had been glorious.

“Nay. I can no’. Now please, leave my carriage.”

His mouth turned down in disappointment, and she wanted so badly to tell him that she’d misspoken, that she would marry him, that her clients would understand, and so would Shanna, but that was nonsense and dangerous. Marrying him would be a betrayal to Shanna, to Gordie, to herself. Kissing him had been a step too far already. There was so much at risk for her to fall for a rogue’s charm..

“Perhaps ye should think on it for a night before ye answer,” he suggested, ever the stubborn duke used to getting what he wanted. Well, that wasn’t fair either, because she was certain he hadn’t wanted to be imprisoned for two years, nor have his family seat sold out from under him. Oh, but there she went again, going soft on him.

“I do no’ need to think about it. My answer is no.” She held her head high, hoping he would see that she, too, could be stubborn.

“Just as ye said no to coming to the ball.”

He had a point there. “I came for answers, which ye gave me.”

“Aye, I did. And now I’m giving ye something else—an offer of marriage.”

“Not interested.”

Lorne smiled. “Ah, aye, ye did mention ye were Jaime Hardheaded Andrewson. I’ll find ye tomorrow.” And then he was slipping out of her carriage and hurrying back into his house, leaving her speechless. Her mouth dry. Her body heavy.

She tapped the roof of the carriage, her gaze on the front of his house as he disappeared inside. The ride back to her flat was a blur. And when she stripped out of her clothes, took out the pins from her hair, all she could do was think of Lorne and the way he’d kissed her, the promise in the intensity of his stare, and his offer of marriage.

Marry me.

Even the splash of cold water on her face did nothing to dispel the desire he’d ignited or the questions lurching ceaselessly through her brain. It was not the proposal she’d dreamed of as a lass. Nothing romantic about it at all. He’d barged into her carriage and demanded she wed him. Taunted her with the fact that she’d already changed her mind once with him. Didn’t he understand what a bad idea it was for the two of them to wed? The number of complications it would bring about was immeasurable. And one tiny little kiss couldn’t erase all the headaches that would come with it.

Despite what Lorne had told Jaime, her sister’s story had never changed. She’d always painted Lorne in a devious light as the seducer who had ruined her and left her with a child and a tattered reputation.

If Jaime were to announce that she was marrying him, her sister would be devastated. Heartbroken. Maybe not because her excuses had been true, but because Jaime had gone behind her back and would be publicly rebuking her sister’s claims or casting them aside as their parents