Pride of Spirit (Men of the Squadron Book 6) by Andrea K. Stein

Author:Andrea K. Stein [Stein, Andrea K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Muirgen® Publishing, LLC
Published: 2022-05-23T16:00:00+00:00

Aileen’s mood had been skittish to say the least before Simon had arrived, but now that he’d met her family, she felt more in control of the situation. She would not tolerate abuse of this man of any sort from her brutish father or brothers.

When she gazed down the table to where her father had led Simon to sit between him and Lachlan, she was struck by the expression on the lieutenant’s face. He looked around at the men in her family while they peppered him with questions, almost as if he were able to see a bit better than he had before. He hadn’t shown a sign of tenseness anywhere from his hands to his arms to his shoulders. The tiny tell she suspected only she could see was the occasional clenching of his jaw which made the dimples on his cheeks deepen.

However, she realized how good he’d become at developing his other senses so that he could move easily through his world, even without full sight. He was a special man, but she needed to curb her admiration. She had no intention of ending up leg-shackled to the man just because he was paying her to read The Odyssey to him, and he’d submitted himself willingly for a drubbing by her family.

When Stuart suddenly stood and proposed a toast, Aileen’s heart shot up to her throat, robbing her of the ability to breathe for a few moments.

“Since Lieutenant Demarest is a true hero of our country, I propose that instead of bullying him to stop seeing our sister, why don’t we make it easier for him to listen to her reading without the whole town ruining the two of them with gossip.”

Her father and the rest of her brothers gawped with open mouths. Athena save her. What in the world was Stuart going to propose?

“I’ve taken the liberty to procure a chaperone who is above reproach to sit with Lieutenant Demarest and Aileen each week while she reads another episode to him from The Odyssey.”

“And who would that be?” Her father and Lachlan belligerently demanded an explanation nearly in unison.

Stuart slanted a sly smile her way. “Mrs. Frances Dunbar.” Aileen struggled to maintain a face devoid of expression. Mrs. Dunbar, according to the Saturday morning reading and gossip circle, was a widow of the highest esteem in Inverness. However, she hoped her father and Lachlan didn’t suspect the whole truth about the woman. The word was, she liked Highland whisky just a little too much.

However, that being said, she was the esteemed widow of an architect from Glasgow, and in the years since she’d returned to Inverness to live with her son, she’d developed a reputation for being a much sought-after matchmaker.

Aileen crossed the fingers of both hands and hid them behind her in the hopes neither her father nor her brothers were privy to the same gossip she was. Stuart, she assumed, was the woman’s supplier of her preferred drink, high-proof, illegal Highland whisky.

She uncrossed her fingers and helped herself to another slice of roast as the platter passed once more around the table.

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