Kate Robbins - The Highland Chiefs Series by Bound to the Highlander Read Free Book Online

the MacIntosh in three days and she must prepare everyone. She could do neither if she did not pull herself together.
    How in heaven’s name had this impossible turn of events come about?
    She returned to the hall to find supper waiting. She picked at the warm bread and rabbit stew, but could not force herself to eat a morsel. Instead, she pushed the trencher away and sought refuge in her room to sort through the day’s events. One hand on her hip, she raised the other to her mouth and paced. Aileana longed for her uncle’s counsel.
    She stopped at the staircase leading to the tower. No one else ever used it so she could enjoy some much needed peace and quiet up there. As she contemplated the climb, she heard Gwen humming.
    The chamber was large enough for her wooden tub to remain in an inner dressing room. This pleased her since she had often felt a twinge of pity for the men who had to carry her uncle’s tub to and from his room. Gwen was there waiting with a bath drawn and a fire crackling. Aileana eyed the steaming rose scented water. Bath first, maybe then a climb to the tower.
    “Did you have a nice walk this morning?” Gwen asked.
    Heat rose to her cheeks as Gwen helped remove her clothing. “Yes, I did thank you, a very refreshing one at that.”
    Aileana had forgotten the walk with everything else which had happened since. She offered nothing else and hoped the subject would be dropped. Aileana slipped as she stepped over the tub’s edge and stumbled into it. Just thinking of the MacIntosh made her fluttery.
    “My dear Lady,” Gwen said, smiling. “I believe you returned from your walk more disturbed than refreshed. Did something happen?”
    “Of course not. I walked and I returned.” Why was Gwen concerned about her walk more than her meeting with Gawain?
    “You walked and you returned.” Gwen raised a single brow and crossed her arms. “Did you meet anyone on your walk?”
    Aileana blinked at her. Was the woman a seer as well as a healer? “I have nothing interesting to report on that count.”
    “No chance encounter?”
    “Chance encounter? Gwen, what makes you think that?”
    “You were blushing when you returned. I don’t think it was from over-exertion, at least not from walking.”
    Aileana gasped. Gwen thought she had a tryst with someone? How could she make such a leap? As a lady, Aileana was expected to bring all aspects of virginity to the marriage bed. Gwen, on the other hand, often boasted her experience would be welcomed by her future husband and thus had a fine list of conquests herself. Did the woman think of nothing else?
    “You’re mistaken, I have nothing of the sort to share with you,” Aileana said. She was still coming to grips with her first encounter with the MacIntosh and had other, more pressing, matters requiring her attention than his damned looks and how she’d reacted to him.
    “Do tell, who was he? The blacksmith’s son? Oooh, he’s ripe that one.” Gwen grinned from ear to ear.
    “It is you who enjoys such affairs, not I,” Aileana said, the corner of her mouth pulling a little.
    “Oh wait, I know, the new ferrier in the stable! I hear he’s very good with his hands and I don’t mean for shoeing horses either. No wonder you were flushed when you returned. Tell me, did he show you the new stallion?”
    Aileana gasped again. “You’re incorrigible! I did not have an encounter with any boy!”
    She picked up her washcloth and lathered soap onto it with vigor as she glanced at Gwen from the corner of her eye. Gwen’s eyes showed all the signs of teasing. Aileana sighed and faced her.
    “Well, if you must know, I did meet someone on my walk this morning. It was the MacIntosh. He caught me off guard and I almost fell. I didn’t know it was him until he arrived later with Uncle Iain’s letter. He was on his way to stake his claim for Uncle’s assets.”
    Gwen gasped. “He was coming here t o do what?”
    “Aye, I’m to be paired with the MacIntosh,