He didn’t let her go. “Aye, I do.”
He held her gaze and willed her to soften. He had experienced it once before and the moment was imprinted on his memory like a carving into granite. That time, ten years ago, her jaw had loosened first. A slight softening that flowed up to her eyes. Her shoulders had rolled down as her hands had trembled with conflicting signals. She’d made neither a fist nor fully opened her hands, but had hovered somewhere halfway between. Her body, too, had leaned in and pulled back without any of her customary decisiveness.
Ten years ago, he’d been an idiot. He’d stolen the decision from her and had taken control of her. He’d used his size and his strength, and she’d never forgiven him his enthusiasm. It wasn’t just that he’d moved too fast. He had taken the decision away from her, and that was something that Mairi never forgave.
So here he was now, praying that the moment was returning to him. Her jaw softened as her eyes widened. Her body might have swayed, though it was hard to tell. She opened her mouth, probably to say something, but his mind conjured up erotic images in a rapid surge of hunger.
This time, he knew better than to take the invitation. Indecision was not consent, and so he held himself back. Though, naturally, one part of his anatomy strained forward anyway. And while his hands tightened around hers—please, please, say yes—panic burst across her expression.
Fear quickly chased away by fury had her eyes flashing and her jaw firming. She took a hard step back from him and nearly toppled a small table in her haste. And that, naturally, made her even angrier.
“I’m fine, Connall Aberbeag without your huge hands all over me. I’ll answer to my father and no one else!”
He’d hardly had his hands all over her, but he didn’t argue with her. He knew she was referring to that time a decade ago when he’d been a complete ass. Instead, he put his hands in his pocket, wishing he could alleviate some of the pressure down there, and looked at her with frustration.
“The English won’t know what to do with ye,” he said softly.
“Nevertheless, I mean to try,” she countered.
“Oh they’ll know,” inserted the countess. Connall jolted. He’d forgotten the woman was there. That’s how absorbed he got in Mairi’s presence. “They’ll insult you to your face, call you names that you can overhear, and cut you down in the hopes that some gentleman will look their way. But that’s just the women. The men will take your lack of refinement as an excuse. You’ll need to keep those fists handy, Miss MacAdaidh.”
Furious because he knew it was true, he rounded on the countess. “What good are you to her if you can’t keep the gossip away? If she’s here and paying you a pretty penny for her chance, you’re supposed to present her to respectable gentlemen and not vipers or cads.”
The countess stiffened where she sat. “You’ll mind your tongue, sirrah.”
“Sirrah? You’re the one being hired, not me.”
He saw the blow hit the lady. She was a countess, and if not a leading lady in society, at least one of its rarer flowers. And yet here she was, reduced to taking money to sponsor a girl into society. And then, showing that she and Mairi were well suited, the lady straightened up to her full height. It was only about three-quarters of his height, and yet she made him feel like a ten-year-old boy before her.
“I was asked by my daughter to sponsor a girl in need.” She turned to Mairi. “Are you in need of my help?”
Mairi’s response was immediate as she dipped into a graceful curtsey. “Yes, countess. Please.”
The lady turned to Connall. “Then what relationship do you have with her that makes this your business? Are you her father or brother? A cousin, perhaps, or her guardian?”
“I am not, my lady.” It was the God’s honest truth. “But I care for—”
She held up her hand to cut him off. “Then your interest in my relationship with Miss MacAdaidh is impertinent.”
He swallowed. She was right, much though that galled him. But he still had an ace up his sleeve. He smiled apologetically at the lady, then lifted his hands as if things were out of his hands. Which they weren’t…yet. “My understanding was that you had agreed to sponsor two ladies, yes? Miss MacAdaidh and my cousin Sadie. They were meant to travel here together, in private conveyance, with my escort.”
The countess frowned. “Yes, that was my understanding.”
“Well, as I am responsible for my cousin’s debts, I believe your arrangement is with me.”
“When you present this cousin, I will, of course, discuss such things with you.” She arched a brow at Mairi. “And if she is anything like Miss MacAdaidh, then I suggest you get her here immediately. There is much work to do, and they might as well learn their lessons together.”
Mairi snorted. “Unless you plan to make her wait another year.” She glanced at the Countess. “Sadie is younger than me by a few years.”
The lady shuddered. “That is still too old. She cannot wait.” That last had the force of a command.
Connall ground his teeth. “There are other considerations. I still have the shearing to do, and she’s still in mourning for her Ma who passed some months ago.”
Both women scoffed at him. “A man’s excuse,” said the countess.
“He likes his women dependent upon his good nature,” Mairi said. “He does not want us to marry.”
That was not true, and so he had said. But neither one listened.