Tangled Hearts by Heather McCollum Read Free Book Online Page A

a chaperone unless we are married. Believe me, I’m not trying to trick you into wedding me.”
    He snorted. “Ye seem pretty good at tricking people into doing what ye want them to do. Jane’s giving ye dresses and I’m taking ye to court.”
    Her mouth dropped open to refute his quiet accusation but then snapped shut. To keep saying she wasn’t trying to make him wed her, when he wore that irritating smirk, would just make her sound defensive. She could almost hear Captain Bart’s wise advice. Change tactics. She tilted her head. “A woman must be resourceful.”
    “So ye admit to using yer womanly wiles to trick people into doing what ye want?”
    “You have all that…” she indicated his arms and torso, “that brawn. I’ve got cunning. I won’t apologize for using my weapons.” Was it just her imagination or had his arms suddenly flexed in his linen shirt to the point they looked like they might burst the seams?
    There was a long pause as his stance slowly relaxed. “So ye are trying to get me to wed ye?” he asked, though the grin at the corner of his mouth made her own lips curve upward.
    “If I were, you wouldn’t stand a chance.”
    “Perhaps ye should try me out before ye trick me into such binding oaths.” He came closer and lifted a thumb to her face. She kept her place but held her breath. Try him out? What exactly did that mean? Had she teased him too far?
    He was so close. Did she smell like soot and molding leaves? She tried to inhale without him knowing, but didn’t smell anything foul. He wiped her cheek. “Ye have some mud.”
    “I really need a bath.”
    “Do ye need help with that?” he teased with a roguish grin.
    “I’ve been bathing myself since I could walk.” She inhaled smoothly to appear calm. He smelled faintly of pine and fresh wind. He’d been at the same fire, although not in it like she had been. Why didn’t he smell of smoke?
    Something tapped on the adjoining wall as if someone next door banged the door of a clothing press against it. “What if they are spying on us? To see if we’re married? I can’t bathe with someone watching me,” she whispered.
    Ewan’s eyes dropped down the front of her body. She shivered as if her clothing had suddenly dissolved, leaving her only in skin. How had this conversation turned so fast? She’d been the one delivering the clever thrusts, but his large presence so close had disarmed her completely.
    “We’ll set up the screen,” he murmured and closed the small gap between them. She was too lost in his rumbling brogue to move. His hand slid around to her nape and Dory’s heart leapt into a frantic dance as the heat from his body flooded her senses. “Ye’re right lass, they could be watching. We need to play our parts.”
    Ewan’s gorgeous face lowered, his lips finding hers. Dory’s hands moved out to her sides. The kiss started tentative, gentle, but melted quickly into something warm, soft, engulfing. Dory lost track of where her hands were. The only thing she was conscious of was the giddy heat spreading through her body. Ewan caught her face tenderly, tilting her so that their lips fit even closer together. Her eyes closed and she surrendered to the whirlpool of sensations that had captured her, threatening to suck her completely under. As if frantic for escape from a watery grave, Dory gasped for air.
    Ewan pulled back and she nearly lost her balance. She opened her eyes to find his blue orbs staring back into her own. They seemed darker, serious and deep like the ocean she loved and respected. For a moment he just stared as if he, too, needed a moment for the world to right itself. He leaned forward near her ear and kissed the spot on her neck just below it.
    “As lovely as I imagined,” he whispered. “I will see ye later, wife,” he called out and headed toward the door. “Do take care with yer bath. I will be back to escort ye to supper.”
    With that he left the room.
    Dory stood stunned, and a tremble