“Ye’re a laird?” she gasped. This was much, much worse than she’d expected. "Ye lied to me?”
He was frowning, his hands still extended in front of him as if he were holding a ghostly vision of Leanna. “I didnae lie. I just didnae tell ye I was a laird.”
“Ye lied about yer name!”
Although being a laird seemed somehow worse.
“But ye kenned ‘twas a lie,” he pointed out, unreasonably calm. “Nae one—except possibly yer father—believed my name was actually Smith-Bruce-Stewart-Campbell.”
“Smith-Bruce-Campbell-Stewart,” she corrected absent-mindedly, still in shock. “Ye’re a laird.”
“Of the McClure clan.” His lips twitched. “No’ the Smith-Bruce-Stewart-Campbells.”
Her fingers tightened around the grip of the bow. “Ye’re laughing again, are ye no’? This is serious. Ye’re a laird! I thought ye a simple man, a hunter.”
“Hunter,” he corrected. “There’s a capital letter—”
“I ken what I said!” Why was he being so unreasonably calm about all this? Leanna stepped back again, beginning to fear she’d forgotten how to move any other way. “But ye’re no’ a simple man, are ye? What else have ye lied about?”
Oh St. Melissa, help me! I’ve fallen in love with a laird?
The man—the laird—she loved was frowning now. Well at least she was getting some response out of him!
“What does it matter if I’m a laird? I thought ‘twas my name ye objected to the most. What lass doesnae want to be a lady?”
“This lass,” she snapped out. “I cannae believe ye lied to me!”
He huffed and plopped his hands on his hips. “Well, ye lied to me as well.”
She gasped. “I never!”
“Aye, ye did. Ye never told me about yer father’s plans to make the man ye marry the next laird.”
Rolling her eyes, Leanna tried to ease the ache in her arms by lifting them a bit. “Only if I have a son. And besides, that wasnae a lie, because I dinnae believe Da would do something so foolish. Grant leadership of our clan to some man based on his ability to beget—” She suddenly blushed. “Ye ken.”
His eyes lightened slightly. “I do ken, and I’m verra interested in making certain ye ken all ye wish to ken about such things, sweet Leanna.” He shook his head. “But no’ yet. No’ til we’re married, which requires ye to agree to marry me, and I’ll forgive ye for no’ telling me the truth of yer father’s plans.”
“Ye’ll forgive—” she gasped, and then decided he was teasing her. “I didnae lie to ye. I just assumed we didnae have to live under my father’s rules! I just wasnae going to tell ye.”
His brows drew in. “No’ tell me I might become a laird?”
“Aye! Because I wasnae going to let us become laird and lady, do ye no’ understand? Even if we had a son, I had nae interest in becoming Lady Oliphant!” Her shoulders lifted in agitation, and her elbow started to hurt, so she bent it, pulling the string. “And if I dinnae want to become Lady Oliphant, I dinnae want to become Lady— What did ye say yer name was?”
“McClure,” he answered drying. “Lass, why do ye no’ want to be a lady? I’m a laird, and I want ye for my wife. I’ve chosen ye to be a lady. My lady.”
“Then un-choose me!” She scoffed. “Nay! Dinnae do that. I want to marry ye.” Before he could do more than smile at that confession, she shook her head. “But I dinnae want ye to be a laird.”
“I dinnae understand why, lass.”
Was the man daft?
Nay. Da was daft; Kenneth was just…stubborn?
“Because,” she repeated, stomping her foot, “I dinnae want to be a Lady. Kenneth, I’m wild and willful, and I dinnae want to spend my days sewing and burping bairns and overseeing menus and—and—and sewing!” It was the worst fate she could think of. “I’m no’ good enough to be a lady. I just want to be me!”
During her rant, his expression had softened, and she swore, when she uttered those pitiful words, his eyes had widened.
He lifted his arms and took a step toward her. “Leanna, lass…”
“Nay!” She jerked her arms up to hold him off. “Dinnae Leanna, lass me! I cannae—”
Her breath caught on a sob, and she reflexively lifted her hands toward her face.
Unfortunately, she was still holding the bow.
Fortunately, she wasn’t a particularly strong or gifted archer.
Which is why, when the arrow loosed from the bow, it didn’t kill him outright.