Free A Highland Folly by Jo Ann Ferguson Page A

enough to sample his lips.
    â€œWhat I consider necessary is fulfilling my obligations to my family,” Anice said.
    His smile vanished as he set himself on his feet. “An obligation you did not ask to have dumped on you.”
    â€œNo, but it is my duty now to oversee my family’s affairs.”
    â€œWhich leaves you no time for your own.”
    That too-familiar flame of embarrassment swept up her face. “You should not speak so.”
    â€œâ€™Tis your thoughts, not my words, that are leading this conversation in a most intriguing direction.” His finger brushed her cheek along the ribbons of her straw bonnet. “You must not let your own thoughts do me damage in your eyes.”
    Again, although it was the hardest thing she had ever done, she stepped back. “I need to return to Ardkinloch to do … to do …” She could not think of a lie when she could read such a fierce truth in his eyes. He wanted to kiss her, and she wished he would.
    But she knew how little privacy she truly had. As if she has spoken those words aloud, she heard a shout from farther down the hill. She pulled her gaze from Lucais’s and waved to her aunt, who was motioning for her to come to the manor house.
    â€œI must go,” Anice said, knowing her voice sounded as lame as her excuse. “Aunt Coira has even less patience than Neilli and Parlan.”
    â€œI shall not keep you here a moment longer than you wish to stay.”
    She nodded and started to turn, then faltered. Looking back, she saw his eyes were twinkling again. Lucais MacFarlane possessed her third stepfather’s gift of giving words more than one meaning. And he possessed her most recent stepfather’s ability to see past her façade to determine what she was hiding in her heart. A very dangerous combination, especially when she was not completely sure what she was keeping in the depths of her heart.
    Lucais ran his hand along the side of the rock that was jutting out of the hill. They must take care with this section. It would not be removed easily. At the same time, they must make sure the whole edge of the hill was not loosened. Nothing was simple here. He did have to be grateful that on this far side of the river from Killiebige, the explosions would not shake the village quite so badly.
    He kicked a rock and watched it sail into the air before splashing in the river. Spanning this stretch of water was going to be a challenge. The river’s course seldom remained the same from season to season. The bridge would need to be sturdy to withstand floods and droughts. Mayhap they should have determined a way to control the Abhainn an Uruisg before designing this bridge.
    Walking back to where he had left his horse, he looked at a pier that had been abandoned by the river. Now it was set in the midst of a muddy plain. A small barge edged across the current. When he saw a trio of sheep and two children perched in the middle of the barge, which was little more than a raft, he smiled in spite of himself. He recalled sneaking away from home to seek adventure on a distant shore. It had not mattered that it was simply a river’s breadth away. Then it had seemed like a grand voyage of exciting discovery.
    His smile broadened as he swung up into the saddle. This project was going to be a challenge, which was the only reason he had let the engineering company persuade him to come back to Scotland. If all went as he hoped, he would make this his swan song, a success that he could recall when he was burdened with obligations he never had expected—or wanted—to be his.
    When Lucais saw a slender form walking along the lane in front of him, he arched a brow. No matter where he went, it seemed that his path eventually crossed Anice Kinloch’s. He had no complaint with that save that each encounter whetted the craving to touch her. Her fiery red hair matched the potent passions in her eyes.
    But here on this side of