Free The Highlander's Bargain by Barbara Longley Page B

showing it to the owner? He’s a collector, and I know he’d appreciate taking a look. He keeps a real one in his office.”
    “All right.” He blinked in puzzlement. Why would anyone want a claymore made of the flimsy plastic stuff? And why would he use another’s weapon when his had been made specifically for him, for his height, reach, grip and balance? “One o’clock then. I’ll await your arrival in front of Erin’s building.”
    “Great. Uh . . . speaking of Erin, is she there?”
    “Nay. She left earlier this morn.” Yesterday’s look of longing upon Mark’s face brought a frown to his. “Why do you ask?”
    “No reason. Just thought I’d say hello . . . maybe ask her out. Do you think she’d go out with me? Did she say anything about me yesterday?”
    Robley’s grip on the phone tightened, and a surge of possessiveness had him clenching his jaw. He had no right to her, leastwise no more than Mark. “I dinna ken. Naught was said on her part, but we dinna share such intimacies. We are newly acquainted.”
    “Sure, but you’re her cousin. Ask her if she’s interested in me, would you, bro?”
    He stifled the growl rising in his throat. “Mayhap. Until later, Mark. I must say farewell for now.”
    “OK. Later.”
    He set the phone back in its place and returned to the table. Somehow the fare before him had lost its appeal. Mark belonged to Erin’s time, while he did not. Did it matter? Should it matter? Aye, it should and it did. He had a responsibility to his clan, obligations, and expecting Erin to leave her life to join him in the past would be far too presumptuous. Still, what if they were meant to be together?
    Och, could he even take her back through time with him when he returned? He had but one crystal. Mayhap if they walked into the disturbance simultaneously ’twould work, but what if he lost her along the way? He’d clasp her hands in his, or better yet, hold her tight in his arms. He should have bargained for more than the two tokens. After all, one of the reasons for this journey was to find a lady of his own. Would fate be so cruel as to lead him to her, only to be thwarted when it came time to return? His gut wrenched. “Why did I no’ think to ask Giselle what my future held?”
    Shaking himself out of his reverie, he focused on more pressing matters. If he meant to train today, he’d need sustenance. He finished his porridge and rinsed the bowl before placing it and the spoon into the contraption that would wash them. Robley grabbed his mug of coffee and headed for the bathing room. A bath, shave and dressing in his new twenty-first-century garments would be his next adventure.
    Though he found the jeans somewhat constricting, he had not mistaken Erin’s appreciative glances. Her eyes had darkened, and she’d become breathless when she’d spied him in his jeans and T-shirt. Her reaction did much to encourage him. She had not looked upon Mark in the same way. In fact, she’d hardly cast her eyes in the other man’s direction at all.
    By the time he’d finished his ablutions, it was past eleven o’clock, and Robley prowled around Erin’s great room, picking up this item and that to turn over in his hands for inspection. She had entire shelves filled with books, flimsy by his standards, but books nonetheless. A treasure, to be sure. It took months for a monk to copy and bind a book in his time.
    He drew one from its place and glanced at the cover. His brow rose nearly to his hairline at the picture of a half-naked man wearing a broad-brimmed hat, jeans and boots. He thumbed through the thin pages. What manner of book did his lady read? Curious, he took the tome with him to the couch and settled himself to read.
    Scandalous! His pulse quickened, and he couldn’t prevent the erotic images from flooding his mind. He set the book down, but not before taking note of the page number. Why, the man and woman had scarce made each other’s acquaintance, and they were already