Love Me Forever by Johanna Lindsey

to me, which all and sundry know I don’t agree with one little bit.Be quick, she’s right on my coattails.”
    He sounded huffy and expectant all in the same breath, and the expectancy won out. He didn’t give Megan a chance to answer either way, nor make the appropriate excuses to her companions. He stepped forward, gave Kimberly a generous smile, gave Lachlan no glance at all, and abruptly whisked Megan back into the ballroom.
    And the first thing Megan noticed was no dragon breathing down his back, which she immediately pointed out. “I don’t see Henrietta anywhere.”
    “No, you wouldn’t,” he replied as he patted her hand, grinned at her, then gathered her in his arms to finish the current dance in progress. “The Markses never come to these fancy affairs.”
    She was surprised for all of five seconds, then she was smiling up at him. “That was brilliant timing, if I do say so myself, allowing me to leave Kimberly and Lachlan alone out there.”
    “Yes, I know,” he said rather smugly.
    She raised a brow at him. “You mean you saw us go out to the balcony?”
    “My dear, I am always aware of where you are and what you’re doing.”
    To that she made a face. “I don’t know whether I should be extremely pleased about that, or wonder whether or not you trust me.”
    “Since I trust you implicitly, I suppose you will have to settle for being pleased.”
    She smiled again. “Yes, I suppose I will.”

14
    K imberly was still staring at the closed balcony door, still amazed at how quickly she had been left alone—with him—when she heard Lachlan’s deliberate cough, meant to draw her attention to him. She decided to ignore him, and turned about instead to overlook the square behind the Wigginses’ townhouse. Lights flickered down there, showing plainly a mist in the air, some lonely benches, a large statue of some forgotten war hero at the center…
    “It does you no good tae ignore me, lass. I am singularly unignorable.”
    “Oh, I don’t know,” Kimberly remarked, still without looking his way. “I’m actually very good at ignoring things that don’t interest me.”
    “Ouch,” Lachlan said, close enough that she realized he’d come quietly up behind her. “You wound me tae the quick, darlin’.”
    “I sincerely doubt that’s possible, but on the off chance that it is, well, I’m sure you’ll survive.”
    “On the off chance that you’re no’ lying, I’dexpire here on the spot.” He paused before adding with feigned surprise, “Och, now, I’m still here. Fancy that.”
    She almost laughed. It was very hard not to with the urge so strong. Silliness like that was what she needed in her life—but not from a man whose true interest lay elsewhere, and they both knew where.
    “You’ll have to excuse me, Mac—”
    “Did those stuffy English tell you how beautiful you look tonight, Kimber?”
    A warm glow filled her. She had been in the process of moving away from him, but that stopped her. And yes, she had been told already, by several men tonight, that they thought she was beautiful, but it just wasn’t the same as hearing Lachlan say it.
    His hand came to her arm, as if he still needed to physically detain her, when her feet had no thought of moving at the moment. She liked to think he simply wanted to touch her, albeit innocently.
    “Have I embarrassed you?” he asked softly.
    She wasn’t embarrassed, she was tongue-tied. She really didn’t know how to receive compliments gracefully, having had so few in her life, at least from men. So she shook her head briefly and kept her eyes lowered, but that only seemed to encourage him to further intimacy.
    “I’m thinking I like this shy side o’ you. ’Tis unexpected, but verra nice.”
    “I’m not—”
    “Och, now, dinna get defensive. ’Tis no’ a bad thing, a wee bit o’ shyness.”
    She didn’t want to argue with him tonight, butshe didn’t want him to get the wrong impression about her either. “I’m really