“Aye, that I do.”
“But I didn’t?—”
“You did not.”
“But she has told no one, she doesn’t want her sister or your brother to know?—”
“They do not. Not to my knowledge.”
A warm wave of uneasiness swept over Shawna. He heard too much, knew too much! She backed against the wall, watching him, wondering what else he might know.
She never gave away the past, she assured herself. Never.
Not even in her dreams.
There were things she could not bear to remember.
“Ah, so, Laird Douglas, were it not for Sabrina Connor’s delicate secret, you might be slipping through her door?”
He frowned, staring at her peculiarly. “You don’t think that my nights are well spent?”
“We’ve both just agreed that Miss Connor is exceptional.”
“So we have.” He arched a brow. “Ah, my dear Lady MacGinnis? Could you be…jealous?”
“Certainly not. I seek some other poor damsel for you to plague.”
He came to her. She found herself backed all the way against the wall. He lifted her chin, meeting her eyes.
“Not jealous, eh?”
“Never. Although…”
“Aye?”
“It easily might have been,” she murmured softly. “Your brother’s sister-in-law is a very lovely young woman.”
“Very lovely indeed.”
“So then…who knows what might have been.”
“Had she not had a lover—and I not had you?”
“Are you so certain that you have me?”
“I am certain only of the past, my lady. Who knows what might have been had our lives been different. The lovely young Miss Connor has her past, and I have my own.”
“The past, Laird Douglas. What of the future?”
“What can one know of the future when we must first survive the present?”
He stared at her, the expression in his eyes demanding and provocative.
Yet then, even David was taken by surprise, for the door suddenly burst open when he was completely unprepared.
Totally exposed.
It was Skylar who had come upon them, anxious and upset—yet still with the presence of mind to close the door swiftly once she had entered.