Page 47 of A Highland Bride Disciplined

Kian stepped in. “And if I said it did?”

She laughed, but it wasn’t the nice one from before. “Ye’d still be grumblin’ about nursemaids and tellin’ me to eat me meals like a livestock manager.”

He exhaled sharply through his nose. “Fine. Ye want less business? Here.” He spread his arms. “Ye’re runnin’ this keep well. Too well. Might’ve shamed me a little.”

Scarlett stared at him. “Did… did ye just compliment me?”

“Aye.”

She blinked. “Are ye feelin’ ill?”

He sighed. “Would ye stop —”

“Because that sounded like praise, but it came out like ye were admitin’ to havin’ a rash.”

Kian’s hands dropped to his hips. “Ye’re impossible.”

“I’mimpossible?” she laughed, stepping toward him now, hands slicing the air. “Ye’rethe one kissin’ me one night,lastnight in fact, and then actin’ like a stonemason the next!”

“I daenae kiss like a stonemason.”

“That’s nae what I said —”

“Well, I daenae, and ye ken it well!”

She threw up her hands. “Sweet saints, ye’re maddening!”

He scowled. “And ye’re exhausting!”

“Oh, go suck a thistle!”

“Gladly! At least a thistle wouldnae argue wit’ me for breathin’!”

They glared at each other in the quiet aftermath, breath coming fast, hearts pounding, the air between them stretched taut.

And yet, underneath it all, he was still looking at her mouth. Still thinking about that damned kiss. Still wanting more.

Her lips parted, then.

And just like that, she looked away again.

“God help me,” he muttered. “We cannae even have a civil conversation without turnin’ it into a swordfight.”

“Mayhap we’re just better at fightin’ than talkin’,” she offered dryly.

“Mayhap.”

She gave him a sidelong glance. “That’s a sad marriage, then.”

Kian looked at her for a long moment, something flickering behind his eyes.

“We’ve had worse starts,” he said quietly.

That stopped her.

She looked at him then, and damn him if she kept looking at him that way…

“And yet ye still act like nothin’s changed,” she said, her voice softer now, but no less cutting. “Ye come tell me what to do, and offer praise like it’s bein’ measured out in thimbles.”