A Hint of Heather by Rebecca Hagan Lee

Author:Rebecca Hagan Lee
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

“Are ye goin’ to stand there admirin’ yer husband all day or are ye goin’ to help us with the thatch?” Magda asked.

The question was followed by the knowing laughter of a dozen or so of her kinswomen. Jessalyn felt a blush flame in her cheeks. She glanced down at her feet, shoving her bundle of thatch over into Magda’s arms with a force that rocked her kinswoman back on her heels. “I’m not admiring him,” Jessalyn replied. “Because there’s nothing to admire.”

“Och, yes ye are,” Magda answered. “Not that I blame ye, Jessie, ’cause I feel the same way about Artie.” She nodded toward the opposite side of the bailey where Neil and Corporal Stanhope were re-thatching the roof of the cottage Magda and her husband planned to occupy.

Jessalyn followed Magda’s gaze and found herself transfixed by the view. She stood watching, barely daring to breathe as Neil balanced high above her on the exposed rough wooden beams of the cottage. The late afternoon sun glistened off his body and he shimmered in the afternoon sunlight like a god come down from the heavens. A gust of wind whistled through the glen and Jessalyn caught an enticing whiff of salty man and dried heather as he braced himself against the stiff breeze. Her heart began to pound. She swallowed hard, inhaling the scent of him. It made no sense. She had watched the men in the village thatch cottages all of her life and the sight of their labor had never made her feel breathless and achy or filled her with such a sense of longing and belonging until now.

Jessalyn exhaled slowly and chastised herself for her foolish behavior. She should have bitten off her tongue rather than let her pride goad her into promising him that she could do without his kisses. She didn’t want to do without his kisses. She wanted more of them—as many of them as he was willing to give. And she wanted them until she tasted her fill. Jessalyn fingered the silver key on the chain about her neck.

“I’m free most mornings if you change your mind. You know where to find me. The door will be locked. But I believe you have a key.”

She couldn’t get his words out of her mind. In the hours since he’d uttered them, she had heard them echoed in her brain a thousand times. The idea he’d planted had taken root. She definitely knew where to find him because she’d barely let him out of her sight. She found herself watching him all afternoon. Jessalyn sighed. She thought she was being clever and discreet, watching him when no one else was looking, but now she realized she had been fooling herself. Everyone knew. While she’d been watching her husband, everyone else had been watching her. And still she couldn’t seem to keep from looking at him.

She supposed Magda was right. There was much she could admire in him other than his extraordinary good looks and his money.

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