Read Online One Hot Scot by Suzanne Enoch - Free Book Online Page B

Ross is here. I’ll send him with y…” Duncan trailed off. Father Ross was in the house .
    Maevis narrowed her eyes. “Duncan, what in St. Bridget’s name are ye thinking?”
    “Excuse me for a moment, Grandmama.”
    She grabbed his wrist as he stood. “Ye mean to marry her? Bellamy can make her a widow and still marry her.”
    “Aye,” he whispered back. “But he wouldnae get her dowry. That would go to me and mine. And that might just stop him.”
    “Just to save her from a beau she doesnae favor? Ye’re more cautious than that, lad.”
    He shook his arm free. “It’s more than that, and ye know it. I … I know I’m a cautious man. But when I see her, I want to beat my chest and roar.”
    “Duncan…”
    With a forced smile, he backed away. “She may say nae, and this will all be moot, seanmhair .” Ignoring the scowl she sent after him, Duncan made his way to the sofa. “I need a word with ye, Julia,” he said, holding out his right hand.
    She curled her fingers into his and stood. “Your sister, Keavy, was just telling me that she can shoot a musket. She’s volunteered to take a window in the attic and shoot any Fersens or Campbells who dare show their faces.”
    “Aye. She’s bloodthirsty,” he agreed, glancing at his eight-year-old sister. Still holding Julia’s hand, he led the way out of the room and down the hallway to the north-facing conservatory, the one with a view overlooking the mountains and the endless rolling Highlands. His favorite view. “What did ye think of them? My sisters, I mean?”
    “They’re delightful. And I think they liked me.”
    “As do I. They generally dunnae hang onto guests. Especially a Sasannach.” He took a moment to look out the window. She’d come here on a lark. Could she—would she—wish to remain?
    “What is it?” she asked, furrowing her brow.
    “I’ve an idea. If we spent the next six months as we intended, I’d call on ye in London, and I’d woo ye, and then I’d sink on one knee and ask ye to marry me.”
    Her eyes searched his. “I think you’ve already wooed me, Duncan. Unless you’ve decided this is too much of a risk. I can’t—I won’t—I won’t go with him, but I can flee here. If you give me a horse, then perhaps I—”
    “Do ye want to flee here? Because I dunnae want that.”
    “Well, I don’t want it, either. But I’m trying to figure out what you’re saying, and it’s rather aggravating.”
    Taking her other hand as well, he sank down on one knee. “What I’m saying is, if I already know that I’ll ask ye fer yer hand in six months, why cannae I ask fer it today? I’ve known ye fer a day, lass, and at the same time I feel like I’ve known ye forever.”
    Her face had grown pale, but her grip on his hands was hard and firm. “Duncan, you don’t have to do this to protect me.”
    “Nae. It has the added benefit of protecting ye, but it’s nae why I’m doing it.”
    “But Bellamy might murder you, just to get hold of me again. That won’t help anything, and it would … it would kill me if something happened to you.”
    “I happen to have a priest under my roof today. And a cartful of witnesses. If I’m yer husband, then yer dowry is mine, isnae?”
    She nodded, frowning. “Yes.”
    “And if he kills me, yer dowry goes to my heirs, doesnae? It would be oot of yer hands?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then it would go to our child, if we made one last night,” he murmured. “And if we didnae, my nearest male relation is Lord Glengask. He’d return the money to ye. I’ll write it all oot, just to make it clear that Bellamy has nothing to gain here.”
    Now her hands were shaking in his. He hoped that was a good sign, and it didn’t mean she was about to wallop him. Perhaps he was being mad, but once he had the thought, it made more sense than quite possibly anything he’d ever done before. All he needed was her agreement. If she wanted him.
    “You think I might be with child?” she whispered.
    “We