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Not that I want her to honestly adore me. She only needs to convey that effect.
She jabs a finger into my chest. "Don't ever do that to me again."
I arch one brow.
Smoothing her shirt, she rolls her shoulders back. "Unless, you know, I ask you to do it."
"Of course. Only when you beg me for it."
A fist bangs on the outer door.
Emery jumps.
I stiffen, my gaze nailed to the door.
"Rory!" Aidan shouts. "Are ye coming out to see us? Or should we let ourselves inside?"
I stomp to the door, rip it open, and confront my brother. "Aidan, what the bloody hell are you doing? We'll come out when we're ready."
"When you're ready," Aidan repeats with a sly smile. "Would that be before or after you have a quick poke in the vestibule?"
He enunciated "vestibule" with great care—because I've chastised him in the past for referring to this room as the entryway. He thinks I'm "rigid" about using the proper terms for the various parts of this building.
I make a sound that's somewhere between a growl and a huff. "I don't have a poke anywhere."
Emery raises her hand. "What's a poke?"
Aidan's lips spread into a mischievous grin. "It's a word for sex."
My wife steps up beside me, though my arm blocks her from getting too close to Aidan. I had set my hand on the doorjamb for that very purpose.
Emery tells him, "We weren't doing that."
"What a shame," Aidan says, still grinning. He thumps his fist into my shoulder. "I see why ye married her so fast. She's bonnie and braw."
"I'm what now?" Emery asks.
"Braw means fine, and bonnie means beautiful."
"Thank you for the compliment, then. I'm Emery, by the way, since my husband won't introduce us."
She ducks under my arm to squeeze in front of me and offers her hand to Aidan. He shakes it, his smile deepening when I squint and flatten my lips. Why do I care if Aidan smiles at Emery? I don't. But his self-satisfied expression annoys me.
Aidan turns sideways, motioning for us to go outside. "Everyone's waiting."
Naturally, a horde of MacTaggarts—men, women, and two bairns—observe us from the other side of the courtyard, near the garden. I grasp Emery's shoulders, anchoring her in place.
Aidan waggles his eyebrows. "Willnae let her out of the house, eh? From what Jamie said, Emery's not the sort to let you lock her indoors."
My wife glances at me over her shoulder. "I'm also not the sort to do whatever my husband says."
"Aye, Jamie said that too," Aidan informs us. "A strong-willed, feisty American. Just the sort of woman Rory needs, whether he knows it or not."
My wife hops up to give my brother a quick hug. "What a nice thing to say. Thank you, Aidan."
She drops back down, sideways to me.
I roll my eyes. "You can stop thanking my brother for being an erse."
