Read Online The Rogue: A Highland Guard Novella (The Highland Guard) by Monica Mccarty - Free Book Online Page B

his chest, but he didn’t seem to care. He only laughed.
    Blighter. She had told him that he didn’t need to impress her, but she hadn’t thought that she would care that he was seeing her looking so decidedly un glamorous. Not that she ever looked glamorous, but still!
    That brought up one more reason why she didn’t regret his offer to help. The view. It was spectacular. He was spectacular. Perhaps all those fawning admirers weren’t so silly. She’d seen men in their shirtsleeves before but few—any?—could compare with the king’s nephew. It was a warm day, and with the strenuous work, he got a little sweaty, and his shirt became a little damp and clingy, revealing the impressive bunches and bulges of muscle as he flexed. His chest was like a shield of steel—if there was fat anywhere she couldn’t see it—and his arms…
    Good gracious, his arms! They were sway-inducing, as she had discovered more than once. She felt a little light-headed every time he lifted something. Big and strong, they were the fodder of fantasies she didn’t even know she had. Worse, she could recall too easily how they felt wrapped around her, holding her up.
    Izzie knew she was in trouble. The amused indifference she’d felt toward her cousin’s soon-to-be betrothed wasn’t there anymore. It had started to change with that kiss, but had become far worse after today—first with Annie, and now seeing him like this.
    But he wasn’t for her—whether she could control her fluttering heart or not—nothing had changed about that. She needed to stay away from him if she didn’t want to cause herself a lot of misery.
    As soon as they were finished, she practically ran down to the large pond that was fed by the Leith River to wash as much of the muck off herself as she could. She would have to bathe, of course, but she could hardly go walking through town covered in shi—dung. She’d removed the stained apron and was kneeling on a large flat rock poised over the edge of the water trying to wash the worst off her face and hands when she sensed someone behind her.
    She tensed, knowing who it was before she turned.
    “Looks like we had the same idea,” he said with a smile. “When I came back from returning the cart and you were gone, I thought you might have left.”
    Was she imagining the relief in his voice? Had he been disappointed to think she’d left without saying good-bye? God, she was a fool.
    She plastered what she hoped was a careless smile on her face and said, “I thought I’d better wash the worst of it off before I returned to the abbey, or they might bar the door against me.”
    “Aye, even at camp where the stench is less than pleasant most of the time, I figured I’d better do the same.”
    He knelt beside her. The rock wasn’t that big and his side brushed hers, as he washed his hands with the harsh efficiency she’d noticed of most soldiers and started to scoop water in his hands to splash over his face, not caring that he was getting his shirt wet.
    It wasn’t fair, she thought to herself. Even after a day of hard labor in the garden, covered in dirt and dung, he was gorgeous. Maybe even more gorgeous than usual. There was something primitively appealing about this physical side of him—the raw masculinity of a hot, sweaty man.
    He didn’t look so perfect, and she realized she liked it. She liked him like this. Like a man who knew how to get dirty.
    Her body flushed. She shouldn’t think of that. It was dangerous. He was dangerous, and the intimacy of the situation certainly wasn’t helping. They were alone in a secluded section of the garden, washing side-by-side. It would be fine if he were her brother or—her flush intensified—her husband.
    It felt a little too natural, a little too perfect, and a little too much like they should be in a bedchamber. There was a sensual undercurrent in the air that made her heart flutter and her belly quiver. Did he feel it as well?
    She needed to do something to