Hero in the Highlands by Suzanne Enoch

Author:Suzanne Enoch
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Chapter Nine

“Ian!” Fiona called, hoping that the gamekeeper would be out shooting rabbits and not sleeping the morning away in his cottage. Aye, he was notoriously charming, and aye, the two of them had a bit of fun from time to time, but it hadn’t been anything to merit that deadly look in Gabriel’s eyes when she’d told him to stop undressing her. He’d done so, at once, but if he did suspect her connection to Ian, and if he thought her hesitation had been because of the gamekeeper … She shut her eyes for just a moment. Please let him be elsewhere. “Ian Maxwell!”

A moment later the door rattled and pulled open, and Ian’s shock of tousled red hair emerged into the sunlight. “Fiona, my lovely,” he drawled. “If ye wanted to see me, I told ye I’d—”

Before she could cut him off, Gabriel stepped into view, and Ian snapped his mouth shut. Immediately he straightened, tucking in his shirt as he stepped onto the packed dirt and oyster shells at the front of the small cottage. With a quick glare at her, he ran a hand through his hair and made a half bow. “Yer Grace.”

“You told Miss Blackstock you’d what?” Gabriel asked, his tone flat and hard. She sent the duke a glance, alarmed. Telling him about the sheep had made her feel like a traitor. Admitting her interest in him as a man had gone against every logical bone she possessed. He was not allowed to do any battling because of her.

“He told me he’d be by first thing tomorrow morning,” she cut in.

“Aye,” Ian seconded. “I didnae expect her to bring ye by to call on me is all I meant, Yer Grace. And why are ye here? Is someaught amiss?”

“My flocks of sheep are thinning,” the duke returned. “You, I assume, are a competent tracker. What have you noticed?”

At least Gabriel hadn’t named her as the one who’d given away the secret she’d asked everyone else to keep. Ian would likely ask her outright later, but when she considered it, it really wasn’t any of the gamekeeper’s affair how she worked to stop the thefts, as long as they did stop.

“Surely a duke has larger worries than where a few sheep have wandered off to.”

“I do not,” Gabriel stated, still brusque. “This property relies on sheep for a good portion of its income. Income that filters down to the salaries of my employees and the upkeep of their homes, and mine. Aside from that, I cannot abide thieves. So instead of telling me where my attention should lie, why don’t you answer my question?”

“Yer question?” Ian repeated, his fair skin darkening. Likely no one had spoken to the redheaded charmer in that tone for a very long time, if ever.

“Have you noticed anything?” the duke repeated, his tone saying he wouldn’t be doing so again.

“Nae. I’ve nae noticed anything aboot missing sheep,” Ian stated, starting to fold his arms across his chest and then evidently changing his mind.

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