A Highlander Christmas by Sophie Renwick Cindy Miles Dawn Halliday Read Free Book Online Page A

dredged up the memory of the small, sheer rock bluff that she’d believed would shelter her from the storm.
    She stared at the outcropping and shook her head in disbelief. “I must have been mad to think I’d be safe here.”
    Logan stood a few steps away from her, carrying the shovel he’d found leaning on the outside wall of the cottage. “The cold addled your head.”
    She wrapped her arms around her body, and Logan turned to her. His expression was guarded. Shuttered. “But you’re safe now.”
    The realization struck her like a brick in the stomach. If it hadn’t been for him, she would have died in the snow. She hadn’t truly believed it until this moment. She blinked hard. “Thank you.”
    He shook his head, and a muscle pulsed in his jaw. “I lost your brooch.”
    “But you saved me.” She gave him a tremulous smile. “I suppose that’s more important.”
    She was human, after all. She’d never felt so vulnerable as she did at this moment, staring at the place she might have died if not for the stranger standing nearby.
    She studied Logan’s stiff, hardened features, tight lips, and dark eyes. He wasn’t a stranger anymore. He’d saved her life. He’d suffered war, capture, injury, grief, and imprisonment in the past few weeks, but he’d rescued her from certain death and made certain she recovered from her ordeal. All along he’d listened to her. He’d treated her with respect.
    She trusted him.
    As she stared at him, she realized she was shaking. It was a deep shiver that originated in her bones.
    Logan released a harsh breath, dropped the shovel, and in two long strides, he stood in front of her. Reaching out, he pulled her tightly against his warm, hard body.
    She couldn’t resist his touch anymore. She didn’t want to. His powerful embrace was so welcome, so comforting. She wanted to crawl right into his heat and stay there.
    Pressing his lips to the top of her head, he murmured, “You’re more important than anything, Maggie.”
    She stiffened in shock. His words sucked the breath from her, leaving her unable to speak.
    Abruptly, he pulled away, taking a step back. A light flush darkened his cheeks, and he cleared his throat. “We should search. Do you remember where you dropped it?”
    “No,” she murmured, suddenly unable to meet his eyes. “Do you remember where you saw it?”
    “I was distracted. I forgot it completely once I saw you,” he replied.
    “All right. You take the area near the rocks; I’ll look here.”
    Maggie knelt down and began to sift through snow until her fingers were red and numb with cold. She clomped back and forth in the too-l arge boots, combing the entire area before the bluff. Then she found a stick and dug. After an hour had passed, clouds muted the dull remains of sunlight, and the snow came down in thick flurries. She could hardly see beyond the ridge. Frustrated, she straightened and tramped over to Logan. “This is ridiculous.”
    He looked up from the deep groove he’d shoveled in the snow. He’d been working hard, and sweat beaded his brow despite the cold. “What do you mean?”
    “We’ll catch our deaths if we continue. It’s hopeless.” She clamped her jaw tight, but her lip trembled and a tear slipped from her eye. “Damn it.” Angrily, she brushed the moisture away with the back of her hand.
    “Ah, Maggie.”
    She’d never known how much that brooch meant to her, but losing it felt like she was losing her mother all over again. Emotion welled up within her, and then it overflowed. She buried her face in the woolen lapels of Logan’s jacket. He dropped the shovel and wrapped his arms around her, enclosing her body in a protective cocoon, and she clung to him and sobbed.
    Finally, exhaustion crept through her bones, and she brushed away the last of her tears. Darkness had chased away the last vestiges of daylight, and all was silent in the snowy gloom.
    Wrung dry, she looked up at him. “Take me back to the cottage, please,