Highland Temptation by Jennifer Haymore Read Free Book Online

pleased by that.
    “And they’re not hags, truly,” she told him.
    “Well, I suppose not,” he said reluctantly, and in his expression she saw the little boy he must have been. A scamp with big amber eyes and wild brown hair, scowling and stamping his foot and calling his cruel big sisters
hags.
    “But they look nothing like you,” he added.
    “What do they look like?”
    “Dark hair. Dark eyes. Tall.”
    “They look like you, then.”
    “Aye, I suppose. Mayhap a touch more feminine.”
    She arched a brow. “Just a touch? I doubt that.” Because from head to toe, Sir Colin was 100 percent masculine.
    As they drove out of London, they talked about their plan. They would be John Montgomery and his reticent wife, Emilia, a middle-class Scottish couple returning home to Edinburgh from a family visit to London. Emilia hoped she wouldn’t have to speak too much, because her aristocratic English accent would be obvious the moment she opened her mouth.
    Once she stopped having all those disturbing thoughts about Sir Colin, about his warmth and his handsomeness, and how they’d be each other’s sole source of company for Lord knew how long, she found it very easy to talk to him. Instinctively, she knew she didn’t have to bite her tongue with him as she did with her father, and society in general. Nothing she said to Sir Colin would go back to her father. She was for the first time truly safe, and it was so liberating.
    Until she remembered her position. Who she was, where she was going, and why. When that happened, they launched into a long silence, Emilia drawing bucolic scenes in her notebook and sparring with her inner demons until dusk descended.
    She often glanced at Sir Colin, wondering what he thought about. His expression was serious but otherwise emotionless, which she felt was deliberate. A mask he’d placed there for the benefit of others.
    It was almost nine o’clock at night when they finally stopped. Sir Colin had lit the lanterns on each side of the carriage hours before, but other than the soft golden glow they cast over the road, there was no light. Clouds had obscured the waxing moon and the stars, the road traffic grew sparse, and they could no longer see signs of life beyond the road, except for an occasional glimmer of light from a cottage or farmhouse.
    They stopped in the town of Caxton, first at the Crown Inn, which had no vacancy, then the George, which was also full. Finally they tried the Cross Keys Inn, a small, whitewashed rectangular structure. Sir Colin gave Emilia the horses while he went to see if a room was available. She waited on the quiet street, holding the reins and studying the homey-looking buildings lining the street.
    It had been a long time since she’d been out of London. Her father owned a house in Nottinghamshire, but they’d not visited it for several years. She had been locked up in a city teeming with people, close to others but rarely seeing them, alone and lonely but always surrounded. Here, though, it was peaceful. Serene. Being in this sleepy town reminded her of pleasant days spent as a child at Pinfield Manor, walking with her governess and her mother outside, playing with the village children; sledding and singing carols in winter; fishing in the warmer weather, lifting her skirts and kicking off her shoes and wading in the creek during summertime. That was back when she’d led a regular—albeit privileged—life. When had it all changed?
    It was easy to pinpoint. The moment her mother had died.
    Sir Colin emerged from the inn, opening the door and stepping into the light pouring out from inside. A boy followed him onto the dark street.
    “Brush them down well,” Sir Colin told the boy, who was scrawny and could be no more than eleven years of age. “They’ve worked hard today.”
    “Aye, sir.”
    With a shy smile, he took the reins from Emilia. “Good news,” Sir Colin said, “they’ve a room for us.” He helped her from the bench seat then