“Oh, aye,” Delia replied. “Once I only picked up my plate just in time before Will crashed onto the table where Roderick had tossed him.”
Ailean clapped. “Then I definitely want to stay.”
Blair looked at Elle. She gripped the table with one of her hands as she stared at her brother. What was she thinking? Stone be damned. Blair would have a conversation with Elle tonight, just the two of them.
Elle paced about her room in her nightrail, ignoring the twinging in her ankle. It had been a busy day and the bed in her guest room looked divine but her thoughts were too restless to sleep.
She worried about Ailean. He’d never been apart from her and while she completely agreed he was safer here, they relied on one another.
Which led to her next fear. She trusted Blair with her life, with Ailean’s as well, but he deserved better than her. He was a laird, brother to an earl. She, on the other hand, was as poor as she could be, ruined, with a prior fiancé who had burned Blair’s house to the ground. She was not the woman he should marry.
If she cared for him, which she did, he’d be better off without her.
Sighing, she walked toward the patio doors. Blair had said he wanted to speak with her but the whole evening had passed and he hadn’t said a word. Despite the crispness to the air, Elle decided she’d like a moment on the balcony to clear her head.
Just as her hand reached for the knob a face appeared in the door.
She held in her scream when she recognized Blair’s face.
Throwing open the door, she stomped her foot, which was silly, because it hurt like anything. “You frightened me.”
In response he gave her a wicked grin and stepped through the door. It brought him right next to her. “Once upon time I made habit of climbing trellises to greet ladies.”
She blinked in surprise. “Did ye?” Tilting her head up, she assessed him. “Was the purpose to frighten women?”
His eyes darkened as he grasped her waist. “No, love, the women I visited knew I was coming because they’d invited me.”
She sucked in a breath, suddenly aware of what he was referencing. “Yer a rake.”
“I was. Then I lost my parents and, soon after, met Cordelia.” He gently pulled her closer. “I’m not proud of the man I was but I want ye to ken what I was like before. We can’t move forward if ye don’t.”
Elle swallowed. Stone had mentioned courting. Did he think Blair was courting her? Blair had denied it and she understood why. Disappointment lanced through her heart. He could marry nobility. “What are we moving toward?”
“I need ye tae trust me. What we’re trying tae do, remove a hard man’s foothold in the community, we have to support each other.” Blair squeezed her, his forehead dropping to hers. “I ken I said ye can stay with Ailean. And, if ye want tae, ye can. But if ye leave with me, I’ll need yer help and yer trust.”
“I trust you,” she whispered.
Ever so gently he raised his forehead so that he might angle his lips to hers. Then, so gently, she almost didn’t feel it, he to
uched his mouth to hers. She drew in a breath and his scent filled her as he pressed closer.
A tingling, deep inside, spread outward until her body hummed with an aching excitement. The hard press of his body against hers filled her with heat and as he kissed her again, she grabbed his biceps, wanting to feel more of his muscles.
She’d wondered if being close to a man would frighten her but Blair had the opposite effect. He made her feel safe, warm, and soft.
The kiss lasted long enough to make her forget everything else before he lifted his head. “I’ve told ye all my secrets.” He touched her cheek with his fingers tips. “Are ye gonna tell me any of yers?”
She cocked her head to one side, still pressed against him. Elle didn’t want to talk but she would most certainly like to kiss him again. “Ye told me ye were a rake much like I told ye I was engaged to Malcolm. I don’t ken any of the details. What would ye do when ye climbed into these ladies’ rooms? Just kiss them?”
His eyebrows went up but a low groan rumbled in his chest. “Elle, don’t tempt a man beyond what he can stand.”
“If yer trying to scare me, it isn’t working. Which is surprising, but I’m not afraid of ye.” She told the truth there and she looked deep into his eyes so that he knew it was true.
“Why would ye be scared of any man?” Blair cupped her face in his hand as she tried to look away.
There was nothing to do but give him some part of her story. “Malcolm tried to kiss me once. It was nothing like what we just did. It was hard and cruel and though I was afraid of him, I pulled away.” She took a deep breath, willing her voice to keep working.
“Why were you afraid of him? What did he do when you pulled away?” Blair’s arms tightened.