She shook her head. “I’d like to. You told me once that I’d make a good Scottish bride. I think I’d like it there.”
“I think ye would too,” he whispered.
But his heart said more. It softly murmured that he was going to take her there and make love to her in a field of heather. “Do ye ride?”
Her breath caught. “It’s my favorite.”
Of course it was. “We’ll go. We’ll ride for hours and take a picnic and ye—”
She drew her brows together, his face spasming with pain. “Now you’re being cruel.”
Was he? He lik
ely was. What he was less certain of was who he was hurting most. Because his aunt had been right about him all along. He was selfish and not half the man Ewan had been. He stood then just as Sin crossed the room.
“That was lovely,” he gushed smiling. “Play another. I’ll turn the pages for you this time.”
Callum puffed out his chest. Whatever the consequences, his mind had been made up. Diana would stay at his side no matter the consequence. He’d find another husband for Fiona. Sin was not getting on this bench.
Diana knew male posturing when she observed it. She’d once had a pair of hounds that had behaved the same way. They had circled and growled, sniffed and nipped, a bone between them.
Diana was no man’s bone.
She stood, stepping in front of Callum. “Thank you, Lord Sinclair. I may play again in a bit. Right now, I’d love to spend time with all of you. It’s not often I have such interesting dinner company.”
Callum rumbled behind her, the sound echoing deep in his throat.
She tried not to grin but one corner of her lip pulled up. He’d hurt her yesterday with his rejection and while she didn’t want him to really suffer, it satisfied her to know he hurt a little too.
“Wonderful idea,” Sinclair said as he held out his elbow.
She reached out her fingers just as a hand came to her back. “I agree,” Callum said, his large fingers spread across the small of her back, filling her with heat. “There’s a settee near the window that is perfect for two.”
Callum swung her around, leaving Sinclair to trail behind. “Or three,” the other man added, not giving up.
Dogs…bone, she thought with a sigh. “Really, shouldn’t we join His Grace?”
“No,” both men said at once. She started in surprise looking back at Sinclair then at Callum. Callum cracked his knuckles while Sin clenched his teeth.
Diana, for her part, attempted to catch Minnie’s eye but she, Daring, Bad, and Vice had their heads bent together in deep discussion.
She craned her neck, trying to attract Minnie’s attention but it was for naught. Minnie never looked up.
They reached the settee and Callum nearly spun her around, like a man might on the dance floor so that she sat with a hip against the arm of the couch, then he took the seat next to her, only leaving room for Sinclair on his other side. But the man walked around, leaning his leg against the arm of the couch and brushing Diana’s shoulder.
“Tell me, Lady Diana, will you participate in the upcoming season? It will begin soon.” Lord Sinclair asked, attempting to speak around Callum’s large frame.
Callum leaned closer, his hip pressing into hers. She was starting to feel imprisoned. “Of course. My sister, Emily, has married the Earl of Effington and my sister, Cordelia, the Marquess of Malicorn. My parents will be anxious for me to come out.”
Callum looked down at her. “You haven’t had a season?”
She shook her head. “No. Emily hadn’t wed until recently, so this will be my first.”
“Your sisters both made excellent matches.” Sin leaned out so that he might look at her, his chest nearly touching his knees.
Her head cocked to the side and Callum bent close to her ear and muttered, “He’s already counting yer dowry.”
She blinked, looking at her large, surly Scot.