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Just as he was finally about to touch her fur, the cat hissed at him and raised her paw to push away his hand. Flynn’s eyes widened at the obvious rejection while Astrid burst out laughing. If he hadn’t heard Astrid’s melodic laughter right after, he would have been offended by Bannock’s clear rejection. But as he watched her laugh, he felt it was worth it all. Astrid looked even more beautiful laughing.
He could not believe that the two maids, who had seen Astrid themselves, would question her beauty when she was clearly the most beautiful woman in the entire castle. There was something effortlessly flawless about her.
“She hates ye, Flynn,” Astrid said once she had stopped laughing.
“I can make her love me,” he shot back, looking straight into Astrid’s eyes. He knew his words had seemed directed elsewhere, and he wondered if they really were.
Astrid suddenly got quiet and licked her lips as she awkwardly looked around, wondering what to say.
“I think we have yet to see that,” she finally said, a soft smile on her face.
“We have,” Flynn replied as an idea struck his mind. “Can I ask ye for something, Astrid?”
“Of course,” she replied almost immediately. “But before that, can I say something?”
“Please do.”
“I just wanted to say…” She stopped for a second before shaking her head and beginning again. “I wanted to thank ye for all that ye just did for me. Ye could have ignored it entirely or nae have said anything to the maids. The fact that ye care about me enough to stand up for me in such a manner is truly flattering.”
“Astrid,” Flynn said, moving closer, his finger caressing her cheek softly, “I will always stand up for ye in front of anyone that might say something unbecoming.”
She looked up into his eyes, giving in to his touch. “Anyone?”
“Anyone.”
“Even the King of Scotland?” Astrid joked, a glint in her eyes.
“Especially the King of Scotland,” Flynn joked back.
“Thank ye,” she said earnestly, and Flynn could sense the honesty in her words. “Now, ye were saying something.”
“Will ye have dinner with me?” he finally asked after waiting for a few seconds. He did not know if she would agree, but he knew it was worth a shot. He wished to spend time with her while no one else was around them.
Astrid looked confused for a second. “We have dinner together every day.”
“I mean, just ye and I,” Flynn clarified, wondering if she would even agree. “A few hours for simply us, where nay one will disturb us, and we will set aside all our differences, hatred, and problems for one another and simply have a good time.”
“Why would ye want that?” she asked.
“Why not? I wish to spend some time with ye,” he said honestly. “I think we are both capable enough to put aside our differences for a few hours and stop hating each other so we can just sit together and have a conversation. Can we nae do that, Astrid?”
“We can,” she agreed, and Flynn felt relief flood through his chest. He knew it wouldn’t have meant anything even if Astrid had denied his offer, but her simple agreement made his day starkly better.
“Tonight?”
“Yes, Me Laird. Tonight it is.”
CHAPTER9
Astrid staredat her reflection in the looking glass, wondering if Flynn would find her as beautiful as she looked right now. She was dressed elaborately in a red, silk gown. When he had asked her to have dinner with him earlier today, she didn’t know if agreeing was the best option. The two of them were always at odds with one another whenever caught alone, and she believed it was wise if they stayed apart.
Although, a part of her still wished to agree, and she simply could not say no to him. She looked at her blonde waves framing her small face and the red silk hugging her figure perfectly. Whenever she wore red back home, everyone told her that it was her color, and she looked particularly beautiful in it. Although, she had never been able to see the appeal for herself.
Despite that, she couldn’t wish for anything else but for Flynn to find her beautiful too. Astrid did not know why she wished for a man such as Flynn, the Laird of the clan who had kidnapped her brother and her father’s sworn enemy, to find her beautiful. She wanted nothing more than to somehow justify this feeling in her mind, but she couldn’t come up with a good enough reason.
“Bannock?” Astrid called out to her cat to tell the furry creature that she was going out of the chamber for dinner, but Bannock was nowhere in sight. “Bannock?”
She shook her head, knowing perfectly well that her cat had gotten used to her new surroundings and was always busy exploring the castle rather than staying inside Astrid’s bedchamber. The cat had also gotten close to Billy and Daphne’s children and could often be seen with them. Astrid had initially been worried about how Bannock would adjust to the new castle, but she couldn’t deny that her cat was fitting in far better than she was.
