The Highlander's English Bride (The Lairds Most Likely 6)

"Yes, the next door down leads to another dressing room which is where I asked Roberts to put your belongings. The door after that is your bedroom. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before."

At least she didn’t sound angry anymore. "You had other things to think about."

After bouncing around on top of her, he had more than enough to think about, too.

"No harm done."

He wasn’t so sure about that either, damn it.

"I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions," she said softly. Her eyes shone gold in the firelight and seemed to send him messages that he knew couldn’t be true. The nascent desire in her face was nothing but wishful thinking on his part.

She didn’t want him. She’d made that more than clear.

"I should go." He didn’t shift from where he stood. "You’re tired."

Her attention dropped to his bare chest, and she lick

ed her lips again. Was that admiration? Despite everything he knew, he started to get excited.

Careful, Hamish, remember who she is. Remember you made promises.

"Yes, you should." That murmur didn’t sound at all like forthright, opinionated Emily Baylor. Those great hazel eyes ate him up, like he was a pot of brandy custard and she had a very sweet tooth.

Again he told himself to go. But his feet didn’t heed his brain’s command. As he stepped toward her, the heavy brocade cover slipped. "Emily…"

A rapid knock at the door smashed through his confusion. Without waiting for an answer, Miss McCorquodale stood at the entrance to the room. "Miss Baylor… I mean, my lady, your father is having a bad spell. He’s calling for you."

The dazed look vanished from Emily’s eyes, and her head snapped around in the nurse’s direction. "I’ll come straightaway."

Miss McCorquodale sent Hamish a blushing glance. "I’m so sorry to burst in like this, Mr. Douglas."

He hauled the coverlet back into place. It must be obvious he was naked beneath his unconventional garb. He supposed now the staff would believe that he and Emily had consummated their marriage.

He wasn’t sure whether the interruption left him disappointed or relieved. Common sense insisted that if he’d followed up on Emily’s encouraging manner, she’d only slap him down again. Something addled in his mind whispered that she’d been edging around to the idea of saying yes just as the nurse barged in.

It hardly mattered now. The moment was lost.

Emily scrambled out of bed and flung a knitted shawl over her shoulders. "It’s all been too much for him."

Without a backward glance at Hamish, she followed Miss McCorquodale out into the hallway.

Chapter 11

"But I have to go to the Astronomical Society," Emily’s father said in a querulous voice from where he stood clinging to the mantelpiece with both hands. "They’re expecting me. I’m presenting my paper on the moons of Jupiter."

"No, Papa. It’s night time. You need to sleep." Emily kept her voice even, although her father had been saying the same thing for the last fifteen minutes. When she tried to catch his arm, he wrenched away hard enough to hurt her. The strength in his wasted body always surprised her.

The man who had spoken to her with such moving sincerity before her wedding was no longer in evidence. The abrupt changes that afflicted him were enough to break her heart.

"The wedding was too much for him," Miss McCorquodale said from his other side. "He got overexcited. And the recent disruption in the household has upset him."

"Who is this lady?" Papa fastened a hostile stare on the nurse, who looked as tired as Emily felt. "I don’t believe we’ve been introduced."

"I’m your attendant, Hilda McCorquodale." Her composure remained unruffled. "I’m here to put you to bed, Sir John."

"I don’t want to go to bed. I want to present my paper," he said fretfully. "I have some interesting observations on the Medici Moons. I told you all about them, Emily, my dear. Don’t you remember? Where are my notes?"

Ten years ago, his findings had been published in a well-received monograph. The paper had been one of the triumphs of his career. "Papa, it’s not time to leave. If you lie down for a moment, I’ll go and check that everything is ready."