Page 14 of Deception of a Highlander

Jane, however, picked at the food with a slight curl of her lip, a clear indication of how she felt about the fare.

“Ye like that?” Kieran asked Mariel, his face skeptical. Colin and Alec, she noticed, also watched her carefully.

She drank deeply from the mug of sweet ale to wash down a mouthful of food before speaking. “I’ve never had anything like this. It’s delicious.”

“Ye dinna meet many English who have an appreciation for fine haggis, do ye?” Colin asked Gaira as she brought Mariel a second helping.

“It’s true,” the woman agreed and tossed a flirtatious smile in Kieran’s direction.

Mariel looked down at the food on her plate. “Haggis?”

A small, rare smile quirked on Alec’s lips. He wasn’t bad looking when he wasn’t scowling. “Let’s just say ye wouldna find this on yer plate at court.”

Considering some of the things Mariel had been forced to eat to survive years ago, haggis was a delicacy—whatever it was.

With a small shrug, she said, “What do English nobles know about good food?” She grinned and slid another bite into her mouth.

Alec nodded appreciatively, and Kieran looked down at her with what could almost be described as pride. After the food was cleared away, a curvy brunette brought out several more tankards of ale, and Colin’s eyes lit up.

“A bonny lass bringing me the finest ale in Scotland. Does life no get any better than this?” he asked. His smile deepened, and the dimple appeared on his cheek.

The woman blushed, lingering longer than necessary under the pretense of clearing the empty trays from the table.

Jane’s sharp gaze stayed fixed on Mariel, weighing upon her with an uneasy feeling.

“You look tired, Jane,” Mariel said sweetly. “Why don’t you go lie down?”

Jane’s eyes narrowed and then dropped demurely to her lap. “I’m not as tired as I seem, my lady,” she murmured.

After almost two weeks of constant vigilance, Mariel had little patience. “I confess that it is I who is weary,” Mariel said. “I’d like for you to please go prepare the bed for me.”

With angry silence, the maid rose off the bench and made her way up the stairs. Mariel waited until Jane’s skirts disappeared up the final steps and heaved a sigh of relief.

The serving girl had given up the façade of cleaning and settled onto Jane’s seat beside Colin. She leaned close and whispered something that raised his eyebrows.

Mariel chuckled and nudged Kieran. “Should we leave him alone with his conquest?” she teased.

“It may be best,” he replied with a slow grin and drained his mug.

Alec, she realized, had slipped away as well.

“Do ye want me to show ye to yer room?” Kieran stood and nodded toward the stairs.

“Yes, please,” she said and rose from the hard bench.

Across the room, another barmaid slid into Alec’s lap. His hands caught her waist, and her face tilted toward his.

Kieran gave Mariel an apologetic smirk. “They’ve been on the road a while now. They needed a little distraction.”

“No need to explain,” she assured him. She knew all too well how men worked.

“Gaira,” Kieran called across the room to where the woman rummaged in a low cabinet. The woman’s head popped up with a smile. Mariel did not miss how Gaira stayed bent over with her ample bosom on full display.

“Can ye be a love and bring me an extra blanket when ye get a free moment?” he asked.

“Of course. I’ll be up in a minute.” Her eyes shifted to Mariel for a flash of a second before she turned back to what she had been doing.

A ball of ice hardened in Mariel’s stomach. Had he just propositioned Gaira in her presence?