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To her surprise, the boy was watching her and the book with his jaw open in that sweet way very young children do.

Then, as if he realized something was going on with his hand, Ualan jerked it out of Angus’s mouth with an unhappy grunt.

“Can ye do something else, please?” Angus said. “I managed three fingers.”

Rogene cleared her throat. Good grief. It was one thing to like babies. It was another to know how to be a mom and how to take care of them. It seemed Angus would be a better parent than she.

“Um,” she said again. Then she remembered babies liked singing. What could she sing? “Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,” she howled, and smiled as Ualan’s eyes widened. He stilled, mesmerized by her bad singing. Angus didn’t waste any time and put Ualan’s fingers back in his mouth, continuing his medieval manicure. “Brother John, Brother John…”

Angus grasped the other hand and worked quickly.

“Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing…” Rogene kept singing and gave a small giggle as Ualan’s pink lips spread in a broad smile.

“Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong,” she finished.

“Ba-ba-ba!” echoed Ualan, sporting four teeth as he grinned.

Seeing that Angus was still working on the boy’s fingers, Rogene started from the top. “Are you sleeping, are you sleeping…”

By the time Angus let go of his nephew’s hand, the boy grasped the rattle and was shaking it, staring at Rogene with a broad smile.

Angus spat the small nails on the floor and grinned. She finished singing and smiled back to him.

“Your sister-in-law is right,” she said. “You’re going to be a wonderful father.”

To Paul Mackenzie—the son he would have with another woman.

He inhaled sharply. “I surely want to be a better father than my da was for me. Though, it takes the right woman, too.”

Their eyes locked and heat ran between them.

She swallowed hard.

Quick steps approached.

“My lord! They’re here. The Ross clan. They’re in Dornie.”

Angus looked at the servant, and Rogene felt a stab of disappointment as the heat between them vanished.

“Thanks,” Angus said, and the servant left.

Rogene stood up, and he followed her. They were so close, she had to tilt her head up to look at him. She felt drawn to him as through some magnetic force.

He chuckled. “My bride arrived, but thanks to ye, the betrothal ring I was supposed to give her is lost.”

He eyed Rogene up and down, and she had a sense that he was undressing her with his gaze. Suddenly, she was acutely aware of the warmth of his body that she could feel standing one step away from him.

She swallowed. “It’s not like I made you lose it on purpose.”

Though, in truth, if the lost ring would make them postpone the wedding, it wouldn’t be the worst thing of all.

He shook his head once. “Aye. True enough.” Suddenly, he reached out and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “But something makes me wish it would never be found.”

Her lips parted, and she suppressed an urge to lean into his hand. His palm, so close to her face, emanated slow, warm electrical charges that went through her skin.

But before she melted into a puddle like a snowman under the sun, he withdrew his hand. He went to Ualan and picked him up, making her heart melt all over again.

“Enough. Now, come, I need to greet the Earl of Ross and his sister, and announce to everyone that a woman shall be writing our marriage contract.”