Free The Highlander's Temptation by Eliza Knight Page A

pour for Aunt Fiona on his other side. The sneaky woman nodded and peeked a glance at Lorna, that scheming smile on her lips.
    Lorna plastered an irritated smile on her face, returning it to her aunt, so the woman wouldn’t continue with her machinations. But Fiona didn’t seem to care, she only beamed all the more as she said her thanks to Jamie, then told him how marvelous it was that he’d decided to join them.
    Picking up her goblet Lorna brought the wine to her lips, wishing she hadn’t spent so much time bating her aunt. Now she’d have to pay the price of her aunt’s interference and the embarrassment it was sure to cause her. Not to mention Jamie. The man hadn’t come here with intentions of sweeping her off her feet. ’Twas not a social call, but one of business, and he no doubt didn’t want to walk away from it with a wife.
    The only thing she could do from now on was ignore him. He had to have pride. He wouldn’t simply agree to her aunt’s plans if Lorna continued to brush him off.
    Throughout the first half of the meal, when he attempted to speak to her, Lorna responded only in grunts, nods and shakes of her head. But by the halfway mark, and possibly her second goblet of wine, she found herself actually responding. Meeting his gaze. And all the sensations she’d felt before rushed through her in tumultuous waves. The man had a smile that could melt the ice atop the Grampian Mountains.
    But every now and then, she caught sight of Aunt Fiona watching them, and then she’d clam up and ignore him. Stab at the roasted venison on her plate or shove an overlarge bite of bread into her mouth. Manners be damned. If she couldn’t keep herself to ignoring him, perhaps he’d be disappointed with her eating habits.
    Men liked women with a dainty appetite, and despite her petite figure, Lorna had anything but a dainty hunger for food. Not that it mattered, Jamie didn’t seem to notice in the least that she ate nearly as much as he did.
    After what felt like excruciating hours, the servants cleared away the platters and trenchers and pipers and fiddlers started to play the lively tunes that the Sutherlands enjoyed.
    Nearly a quarter of the clan was dancing in the center of the great hall after shoving one set of trestle tables on the left side up against the wall. Lorna’s foot started tapping and if it weren’t for the man sitting beside her, she’d have gotten up to dance already.
    Jamie leaned close to her, his voice low as he said, “Ye like to dance?”
    “Nay,” Lorna said adamantly.
    “Your foot suggest s otherwise.”
    She immediately stopped tapping her foot and flashed him a glance, but quickly looked away when she felt she could drown in his gaze. “Ye’re mistaken,” she whispered.
    Jamie chuckled, the sound making her also want to laugh, but she kept her lips firmly together.
    “Ye’ve been tapping your foot atop my toes in time with the music.”
    Lorna gritted her teeth. “Fine. I like to dance.”
    “Would ye care to dance with me?”
    Her heart skipped a beat. “Nay!” she said, probably too quickly.
    “Nay?” There was a hint of humor in his voice.
    She glanced beyond him to her aunt, then down at the empty space where her trencher had been. “Nay.”
    “Come now, I dinna bite.”
    Lorna gasped. “I would hope not.”
    “Then why do ye refuse? Ye like to dance and so do I.”
    “It would…” She trailed off, not wanting to tell him the true reason.
    Again he leaned close, his voice so low it sent a stroke of pleasure over her. “I promise one dance is not going to have your aunt insisting we rush to the altar.”
    Lorna flicked her eyes toward his, shocked that he’d guessed her hesitancy. Jamie’s eyes were merry and danced with pleasure. He held his hand over his heart.
    “I’ll nay let ye be compromised, my lady. I simply wish to dance with ye.”
    What could be the harm? Besides the entire clan planning a wedding that he obviously didn’t want—hadn’t he