Highland Brides 04 - Lion Heart by Tanya Anne Crosby Page B

later!” she swore.
    Another chuckle.
    Sweet Mary, she tried to eradicate the image of his manhood from her memory, but it teased her, returning in glimpses to make her heart beat faster.
    “Next time, respect my privacy!” she said, without turning. “You scared the—”
    “Piss out o’ ye?”
    Elizabet gasped in outrage, turning to face him, her eyes wide with shock at his crudeness. “You have no manners at all!”
    “I never claimed to,” he answered, throwing her own words back at her. “I’m a Scots barbarian, remember? We people are uncouth.”
    Guilt pricked at her.
    “This all could have been avoided had you simply answered me,” he rebuked her.
    “I would have answered just as soon as I was finished—”
    “Pissing?”
    Elizabet tossed her hands upward. “Argh! I don’t have to listen to this!”
    He continued to rebuke her as she walked away, “For all I knew you could have been in danger and couldna call to me. I was merely trying to help.”
    “Well, I wasn’t in danger, as you can see!” Except of wetting her shoes! She wiggled her toes, horrified by the discovery that she had indeed wet her slippers.
    “Not this time.”
    The dampness on her feet renewed her ire.
    She heard him chuckle softly at her back. “I do not find this the least amusing, I assure you!” she said without turning.
    “What can I say?” he reasoned. “I’m a man. I’m easily amused.”
    Elizabet had no reply to that.
    How could he remain so blithe when she was in a fit of temper? If she had not witnessed firsthand his fury yesterday afternoon, she’d never have believed him capable of anger. It was that everlasting mirth in his eyes that made him appear so harmless. She didn’t have to look to know he was watching her.
    She started back in the direction from whence she’d come, contemplating her strange reaction to this man. Why did her heart beat so fast when he stared at her? And why was she so angry at him, despite the fact that he was only trying to help? So what if he’d kissed her, in truth. He’d left her alone last night when she’d asked him to, and she could hardly blame him for assuming she was willing when she’d blatantly invited him into her arms.
    He was a threat to her somehow; he left her feeling vulnerable. Because something about him made her yearn for more than the lonely life of a spinster.
    She decided it was best to ignore the feelings he evoked in her. She wanted her freedom. She didn’t need a man to tell her how and when to live her life.
    “You’re going the wrong way,” he declared, and the sound of his voice made her heart leap.
    Elizabet turned to look at him, growing flustered.
    He was doing it again—making her dizzy, muddling her mind with a simple glance. She was completely turned around. She studied the woods then turned again to meet his amused gaze.
    “Are you certain?”
    He nodded. “I know these woods well, Elizabet.”
    The intimate sound of her name upon his lips made her breath catch.
    Jesu, what did it matter if he spoke her name so gently it made her think of a lover’s whisper? Don’t think about him that way anymore, she commanded herself.
    But how could she help it in his presence?
    It was like closing one’s eyes to the daylight and pretending the sun didn’t shine though it beat down upon your head.
    She heard his footfalls stop, so she stopped too and turned to face him.
    His face was screwed as though in pain. She resisted the urge to run to him. It served him right if his arm hurt. Mayhap next time he would think twice before he leaped over bushes to catch her unawares. She set her hands upon her hips. “What’s wrong now?”
    “’Tis only that… well…” He shook his head. “Naught he said. “Naught at all.”
    Elizabet’s spun away from him and walked faster, keenly aware that he followed, cursing him softly beneath her breath.

Chapter Twelve

     
    B roc was having a difficult time bringing himself to tell her that the back of