on the back. “I’m glad to see ye so content, Ali. Lara is a good woman, and she’s obviously shown ye how to loosen up a bit.”
Instead of reacting to the ridiculous childhood nickname, his twin just smiled. That was practically a miracle. As recently at the beginning of the summer, Alistair had been overworked and underappreciated, without any time for fun or relaxation. He’d taken over most of the laird’s duties several years ago and had somehow forgotten it hadn’t meant he was actually the laird.
Yet.
Though it wouldn’t happen until Lara birthed a son, and only if she did it before Fiona. And Merewyn, Rocque’s wife.
Of course, since marrying Lara, Alistair had mellowed. She was best friends with the brothers’ younger sister, Nessa, and they’d known her for many years. Kiergan had been instrumental in pointing out Lara’s charms to his work-obsessed twin brother. Now he saw how happy she made Alistair and was rather proud of himself.
Especially since it means there’s less likelihood of having to become laird myself.
Of course, since Alistair had shared some of his duties with Kiergan, ‘twas impossible to deny Kiergan had some talent when it came to—
Nay. Nay, I’ll no’ be laird.
The thought came right on the heels of Da’s growl. “I’ll no’ tolerate ye changing the subject, lad.”
Kiergan plastered on an innocent expression and turned back to his father. “We’re speaking of yer future grandbairn, and I for one pray ‘tis a boy, so Alistair can become yer heir, and we can all get back to doing what we do best.”
“Fooking the scullery maids is no’ a life’s ambition, Kiergan,” his father warned.
But Kiergan merely grinned lazily. “Is it no’? Hm. But I’m so, so good at it.”
In fact, ‘twas one of the few things he was good at.
“If ye’d marry the MacKinnon lass, ye could be in the running—”
“Enough!” Kiergan rolled his eyes and planted his hands on his hips. “Just because ye promised Laird MacKinnon one of yer bastards, does no’ mean it has to be me. Ye ken my feelings on marriage!”
“Aye, I do, and I thought mayhap ye’d understand the clan’s honor is at stake, and—”
“Dinnae give me that crock of shite.” Kiergan rolled his eyes and shot his twin brother a look. “Ye learned it from him, did ye no’? I have to put up with both of ye giving me the guilty puppy dog eyes.”
“I dinnae have puppy dog eyes,” Da snapped, then sighed. “And ‘twas worth a try. If ye must ken, I was in contact with MacKinnon over the winter, and I made the man nae promises. I merely pointed out I had six eligible sons, since he was looking for one to marry his—extremely attractive, so I’ve heard—granddaughter.”
Alistair hummed. “So there’s been naught signed.” He shot a knowing look to his twin. “That means nae promises made, Kier. If Da had promised a son, ye’d be stuck, because ye’re the last one unmarried.”
“And I plan on staying that way!”
But there was a part of Kiergan, a part which looked around at his five brothers, who’d all found happiness with their wives, and wondered what he was missing. He’d always thought marriage would be boring—St. Columba knew his father’s marriage to Glynnis had been hell on earth. And God help him if he had to be resigned to fooking one woman for the rest of his life.
But…Alistair was happy. So were Malcolm and Rocque and Finn, and even Duncan, although ‘twas hard to tell what Dunc was feeling at any given moment, what with having a face apparently carved from granite.
“Look, laddie,” sighed their father, clapping Kiergan on his shoulder, “all I’m asking is that ye meet the lass. If her grandfather hadn’t fallen ill earlier this season, they would’ve been here sooner and had a pick of yer brothers. But they’re arriving today, and I promised we’d welcome them. Now that ye’re in charge of our correspondence, ye should’ve been the one to handle this, but ‘twas agreed upon months ago.”
Well, put like that, ‘twas hard to deny his father. All he had to do was meet the lass? He could do that.
Kiergan grinned. In fact, meeting lasses was one of the only things he really excelled at.
A whistle interrupted their conversation, and the three men looked up to see Rocque waving from atop the curtain wall.
When he had their attention, the big man hollered, “Get yer arses up here!”
Kiergan’s hand dropped to his sword, but his brother shook his head.
“Yer betrothed is