Page 19 of A Highlander's Bride

The humor in his eyes disappeared and he leaned in. “Are ye seeking the position, lass? ’Tis available, ye ken. But only to ye.”

She gulped and knew her cheeks were cherry red. To help eliminate the prickly feeling she’d had since he’d walked up, she shrugged. “Nay, but I think we have already discussed that.”

He pulled the chair across from her closer, sat down, and lowered his voice so only she could hear him. “Aye, but just so ye ken, I doona consider the discussion over.”

Why when he was near, did she have this loss of her senses? Her words got tangled up and she had a propensity to say things she should not allow out of her mouth.

However, she was still determined not to marry.

“Here ye both are. My Alice was looking for ye.” Lady Chisholm walked in to stand in front of them, her hands resting on her stomach, a downcast Lady Alice alongside her.

Beth hid her giggle as Daniel softly growled. “So nice to see ye and yer daughter, Lady Chisholm.”

“Lady Alice was looking forward to a walk in the garden, Laird.”She glanced at Beth. “’Tis sorry I am that Lady Beth is unavailable, so ’twill only be the two of ye.”

“One more walk in the garden and I will hang myself from the nearest tree,” the laird said under his breath.

*

Supper was finishedand Beth was feeling restless. All day sitting in a chair had strained her body as well as her brain. She normally had a very busy schedule when at home. However, most of the day she had been entertained watching Lady Chisholm chase The Mackenzie around the keep, dragging her daughter behind her.

He had been gone for the last couple of hours and had mentioned to her after he settled her back in her chair after the noon meal that he was going to spend time at the lists.

Now Mackenzie walked up to her with Lady Chisholm and Lady Alice following him like a mam duck with her ducklings lined up behind her.

“How good to see ye, My Laird.” She acted as though she hadn’t seen him in days. “And good evening, Lady Chisholm, Lady Alice. I hope ye had a pleasant day.”

“My daughter was just mentioning how nice it would be to take a tour of the castle. She hasn’t seen more than the keep in the time we’ve been here.”

Mackenzie offered the woman a strained smile and said, “I will definitely give Lady Alice a tour, however, I had just asked Lady Beth if she would like to play a game of chess.” He looked over at Lady Alice who was again examining her shoes. “Ye are more than welcome to join us.”

Instead of the young lady answering, Lady Chisholm frowned. “My Alice doesna ken how to play chess. It strains a women’s brain and is no’ something a lass should do.”

Her eyes narrowed in concentration. “If ye would play chess in yer lovely music room, my daughter can entertain ye with music.”

“Nay,” both Beth and Mackenzie said at the same time.

Beth did her best to smile at the woman who was as irritating as a bee buzzing around one’s face. “I am sorry, my lady, but I would find it verra distracting for such a focused game.”

Lady Chisholm sniffed and said, “Sounds as though ye aren’t that good of a player if some lovely music would distract ye.” When Beth offered no retort, the woman sighed. “Verra well, my daughter will be happy to observe ye.”

Beth glanced at Lady Alice, who looked as she always did, uninterested and withdrawn.

The four of them left the great hall, Mackenzie carrying her, Lady Chisholm grumbling all the way about how a young lady who was injured should be in her bed, not being shuffled around the keep like a bag of flour.

Once they were settled in the laird’s solar, Mackenzie and her facing each other over the chess board, he said, “Do ye play chess, lass? I ne’er asked if ye could.”

“Aye. I play a bit.” There was no reason to say it had been years since anyone beat her at the game. She decided to have a bit of fun with him because she was bored and could use the entertainment. ’Twas also a way to deflate that huge ego he strutted around with.

The game started out slowly, with Beth deliberately making poor choices. It was great fun figuring out how to appear incompetent while not making moves that would reveal her expertise to the man. She felt a flush of success when Mackenzie tried to play tutor and mentioned the things she was doing wrong, and how to improve on her bad moves. She nodded and continued to make mistakes, holding in her laughter.

After suffering through a few more games, Mackenzie said, “I think that’s enough for the night. Ye seem a bit tired.”

Now was the time to have her fun. “I think, with yer help tonight, I learned a lot. Can we play one more game?”

’Twas obvious he wasn’t interested, but being a gentleman and their host, he agreed.

Makenzie set the board back up.