Page 46 of A Highland Bride Disciplined

“She’s a force,” Scarlett murmured, adjusting her sleeve with a faint smile.

“She’s the only force that our Tam fears.”

That got her attention. Scarlett turned sharply toward him, green eyes bright. “Fears?Tam? As in…actuallyafraid?”

Kian nodded. “Has been since we were lads. She caught him throwin’ rocks at chickens once. Made him clean every coop in the county with a toothbrush.”

Scarlett’s head fell back as a laugh burst from her lips, loud and bright and sudden. “A toothbrush!”

“Aye. Claimed she needed the bristles to judge his commitment.”

Kian watched the sound ripple through her. Her head tilted back, throat exposed, the line of her jaw elegant and pink from the sun. Her laughter was wild and real and warm, and God help him, it stirred something inside him so fierce he felt himself take an unconscious step closer.

“Ye’re serious,” she said, blinking away tears of mirth. “That great hulkin’ man is undone by Mrs. Morag Drummond and poultry-related crimes?”

“I’m amazed she let him back in the keep, truth be told.”

She giggled again, biting her lip now as if trying to hold it in, and Kian found himself smiling. Not just the curl of his mouth, but a pull deep in his chest. Pride. Pleasure. Need.

“Why are ye lookin’ at me like that?” she asked suddenly, her mirth dimming into guarded curiosity.

Kian shifted. “I like the sound of yer laugh.”

Her brows lifted, as if he’d just recited poetry in Latin.

“I daenae do it often enough, then,” she said softly.

“Nay,” Kian replied. “Ye daenae.”

Scarlett’s laughter faded into a bright smirk, her eyes dancing as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. Kian felt the sound of it echo in his chest long after it stopped. She was flushed from the sun, and for one breathless moment, he thought he might kiss her again, right there in the garden with half the staff probably watching through the hedges.

Instead, she turned slightly, gathering the folds of her skirt as if readying to walk away.

“I’ll review the nursemaid candidates,” she said lightly. “Just send them along.”

Kian stepped forward, folding his arms. “Scarlett.”

She turned her head but not her body, one brow lifting.

He frowned. “That’s it?”

“What else is there?” she asked, tone mild but guarded.

“Ye were just —” He gestured vaguely, at her face, her laugh, the way her eyes had looked at him moments ago like they might soften entirely if he so much as leaned in. “And now we’re back to ledgers and logistics?”

Scarlett’s smile flattened. “Yestarted it. And I’ve a child to mind, Laird. Ye made it clear just then that we daenae all get to dwell on kisses.”

His jaw ticked. “Is that what this is about?”

She turned to face him now, arms folded to match his. “Are ye tellin’ me it’s nae? Because ye’ve done a fine job pretendin’ it never happened. Avoidin’ me all day, and gettin’ right to it the moment ye saw me. What am I to think otherwise?”

Kian blinked. “What would ye like me to do? Etch it in the stone over the hearth?”

Scarlett flushed. “I’m askin’ why ye’ve decided to be all business. As if nothin’ changed. As if…” she broke off, biting the inside of her cheek.

“As if what?” he asked, low.

“As if it dinnae mean anythin’ to ye,” she snapped.