Scot to the Touch (The Hots for Scots #7) - Caroline Lee Page 0,26

ye mentioned a secret passage?”

This was an easier topic. Giving up on the stones, he stood, brushing his palms on his kilt. “Aye, the castle is riddled with them.”

“And…” She drew that glorious lower lip in between her teeth, then released it to ask, “Are they a secret from everyone?”

“Och, ye’re wondering how she might’ve found out about them on her first night in the castle?” He shrugged. “I only learned about them recently myself.”

She glanced down at the rocks, and he was startled to realize he didn’t like to see her acting so uncertain. This was how she’d appeared when she’d met Melba and the other Oliphants for the first time, waiting to be judged and hurt.

And he didn’t like that. Impulsively, he reached out and took her hand, reveling in the warmth which spread from their touch. “Yer sister says she dislikes me, but I have reason to think otherwise. Do ye ken why she professes to hate me?”

Katlyn was chewing on that plump lower lip in the way which made his cock twitch. But she just shook her head.

And for a moment, he felt as if his future divided. One path was the one everyone had expected him to take: marriage to Davina MacKinnon and a lifetime of mind-blowing sex and spitting hatred. But the other path…the other path was the one he was already on, the one which left him open to possibilities.

He didn’t want to marry Davina MacKinnon, no matter how much she’d stirred his blood last night. He wanted to learn why she wasn’t that woman all the time, why she claimed to hate him.

Mayhap once he learned that, he’d be certain of which path he wanted to follow.

“Are we friends, Kat?” he asked abruptly.

She obviously hadn’t expected his question, as her hand jerked in his, and her gaze turned hesitant as she nodded mutely.

“Good. I need yer help.”

When she took a deep breath, he very firmly did not allow his gaze to drop below her chin—a feat Kiergan decided earned him at least partial sainthood.

“How do ye need me?” she whispered.

And that question—so simple, so innocent—sent blood rushing straight to his cock.

Fook. This is no’ an easy choice.

“Help me figure out why yer sister claims no’ to like me, though I have reason to believe otherwise. If I can solve that mystery, I’ll have a better understanding of…of everything.”

“Ye want me to help ye skulk about, learning my sister’s secrets?”

It was the incredulous expression on her face which gave him pause. But then, it slowly faded into what he could only describe as a wicked grin.

“Aye?” he hedged.

“She’s hiding something,” Katlyn said with a firm nod, “and I think I’d verra much like to learn what ‘tis.”

As his smile grew, Kiergan squeezed her hand. “Partners?”

Her smile made his heart beat faster. “Partners.”

Chapter 6

Partners.

The memory of standing beside that beautiful stream and holding Kiergan’s hand as he made that vow, well, if Katlyn hadn’t already given herself to him, she would’ve been very tempted.

He’d held her hand, he’d treated her as if she were an equal. He’d called her lovely. He’d listened to her opinions and actually cared about them. And he’d invited her to become his partner.

To find out more about yer sister, dinnae forget.

Aye, ‘twas the one pebble in the pudding.

That, and the fact he was only chasing down the answer so he can marry Davina.

Aright, mayhap there were a few pebbles in the pudding.

Why, oh why, had she told him she was Davina the night she’d gone to his room? Well, as she recalled, he’d been the one to guess who she was—or wasn’t. So why hadn’t she corrected him when he’d called her by her sister’s name?

Ye ken the answer to that.

Because Davina was the pretty one. The one the men chased. The hope of Clan MacKinnon.

Katlyn had assumed Kiergan would much prefer to find Davina in his bed rather than her.

But after yesterday, she wasn’t so certain.

For the first time ever, a man had looked at her and not flinched. She hadn’t seen pity in his expression. He’d called her his friend.

That, more than anything, was enough to make her fall a little bit in love.

A little bit? Pah.

Aye, drummer or not, she was doomed.

“What has ye frowning down at that poor stocking, lassie?”

The old woman’s sharp question jerked Katlyn’s attention up from her darning. She blinked at Lady Agatha Oliphant, trying to find a way to answer which wouldn’t make it obvious how very aroused Kiergan made her.

“The