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Jamison rolled his eyes at the question.

He knew that now, for certain, Havilland would run off and he could only imagine how she would avoid him the next time he saw her.

Nothing was worse than inane conversation.

In fact, he didn’t even let Havilland answer.

He yanked the tray of food out of Thad’s reach.

“Find yer own meal,” he growled. “And go away. The lady and I are having a conversation that doesna involve ye.”

Thad’s dark eyes narrowed, seeing that he was clearly being chased way. “If it pertains to the operation of Four Crosses, then I should hear it as well. We all should.”

“I told ye tae leave.”

“Not until I am ready.”

Jamison stood up swiftly, slapping the tabletop as he did and causing Thad to leap out of his seat at the sharp sound and abrupt movement.

The young knight was fearful that Jamison was about to reach out and throttle him so he scrambled to get away, tripping over his own feet in the process.

He fell to his knees as Havilland burst out laughing, her sweet laughter chiming through the warm, smoky air as Thad, embarrassed and insulted, tried to appear as if he hadn’t meant to slip.

His mouth was still full of bread as he backed away from the table.

“I am going now,” he said to Jamison, “but not because you ordered me, do you hear? I am not going because you told me to!”

Jamison remained on his feet, standing every inch of his considerable height, his dark blue eyes glaring at Thad until the knight made his way from the hall.

He meandered a bit as if to prove that Jamison couldn’t order him around, but the truth was that he was frightened of Jamison.

He’d seen what the man was capable of in battle and he had a temper that was not to be trifled with.

By the time he was gone and Jamison sat back down to face Havilland, he looked over to see that she was still laughing. He grinned.

“What’s so funny?” he demanded without force.

Havilland shook her head. “Is that how you command your men? By intimidation?”

He wriggled his eyebrows ironically. “It works,” he said, watching her as she continued to giggle.

He would have said anything just to keep her laughing because he adored the sight of her smile.

“It works with the de Lohr brothers, at least, because they are afraid I’m going tae tie them up and beat them with a stick.

But me preferred method of control is respect.

I’d rather have men obey me because they love me, not because they fear me. ”

Havilland had stopped giggling by the time he was done. “You and my father have the same philosophy,” she said, a glimmer of admiration in her eyes. “He always said a man’s respect is worth more than all of the gold in the world.”

“’Tis true. If ye dunna have a man’s respect, ye have nothing.”

Havilland continued to look at him, a far cry from the woman who was trying so hard to get away from him only minutes before. Now, she seemed very interested in speaking with him.

“I saw how you were with your men last night,” she said. “It is clear that you have their love and respect. That is difficult to earn which tells me that you have worked hard to attain it.”

He shrugged, oddly modest about it. “I have done what I felt was right,” he said. “I treat men fairly and honestly. That is more than some men do.”

She liked his answer. “Tobias told me that you are known as The Red Lion,” she said. “How did you get that name?”

He lifted his big shoulders. “From the color of me hair,” he said, watching her smile at the obvious. “And for the fact that in battle, I have been known tae roar. I do what is necessary tae win.”

More and more, Havilland realized she was coming to be enamored with him and had no way to stop it. Now, she wasn’t sure she wanted to. The interest in him that she had feared had turned into something much greater than she could control.

“You come from a great line of warriors?” she asked.

He nodded. “Me da is the Munro,” he said, seeing her curious response to that statement.

He grinned. “That means he is the chief o’ my clan.

I come from a long line of chiefs, of great warriors.

It is my destiny tae be as I am, tae be who I am.

Me mother was born a Sutherland, a very great clan, indeed.

I have greatness on both sides of me parentage. ”

Havilland was swept up in the conversation now. “Will you be chief someday?”

Jamison shook his head. “That honor will go to me brother, George,” he said.

“I am the second son, but I have lands and a place of me own. Me da gave me a small tower when I was knighted and I have lands that the tower governs. I also have twenty-five warriors that belong tae me, men who serve me da. When I return home, I will go tae me lands and take the men with me.”

Havilland didn’t much like the sound of him going home. “When are you returning home?”

The warmth from his expression faded. “I dunna know,” he said hesitantly.

“I… well, the truth is that I killed a man defending me brother and I’m sure the family of the man is out for me blood.

That’s why me da sent me back tae de Lohr recently, tae escape their wrath.

So I dunna know when I can go home, only I hope it is soon. ”

She sensed wistfulness in his tone. “You miss Scotland?”

He nodded. “I do,” he said. “I was away from home for a very long time and only returned last year. I miss the land, me family… I miss everything.”

Havilland sat a moment, digesting his words.

There was a great deal to ponder in what they were discussing.

“I can tell that you love the place of your birth,” she said.

“I have often wondered what that would be like. I told you that I was born in Wales but I am not Welsh, and that is true. I have always felt like a stranger in the land of my birth. I cannot say I would miss this place if I ever left it.”

“Have you ever left it?”

She shook her head. “Never,” she said. “I have been as far as Gloucester and that is all. I have never even been to London.”

His eyes took on a faint glimmer. “And I have been many places,” he said, “but there is nothing so wonderful as being home again. Ye wouldna know that because ye’ve never been away from home, but ye might miss it if ye had been away for a time.”

Havilland shrugged, looking to her lap. “I would like the opportunity to know that for myself.”

“Then ye have dreams of traveling, do ye?”

She lifted her shoulders, a weak gesture. “I have always wanted to go to Paris,” she said. “Do you recall I asked you about it? That the streets are paved in gold?”

He nodded. “I remember,” he said, thinking that he’d take her all over the world if she would only ask him.

He was coming to realized he would do almost anything she asked of him.

She was a rather defensive young woman but he could see that, below the surface, she was curious and bright and sweet.

He liked her sense of humor. Good Christ , he could have stared at that smile all day.

“If ye want tae travel, then I will make ye a promise– the next time I go tae Paris, I will ask yer father if ye can accompany me. It would be entirely proper, of course, but every young lass should travel and see London and Paris. Ye should meet people and see how the world lives.”

Havilland’s heart swelled at his words; to travel to London and Paris had always been her dream, but to travel with someone like Jamison Munro…

he was handsome and educated, kind and well-spoken…

he was everything a young woman would want.

But a man like Jamison would want a fine and elegant woman for a wife, not a female who had lived as a man most of her life.

There was no appeal in that. A backwoods, uneducated, scrub of a girl wouldn’t make anyone a good wife.

Knowing he made the offer simply to be polite and for no other reason, Havilland held disappointment in her heart for reasons she couldn’t begin to understand. For the first time in her life, she wished she was something that she was not–

A lady.

“You are kind,” she said, fighting off extreme melancholy.

“But I am certain that I am destined to stay at Four Crosses my entire life. I have never believed I would truly ever leave. But I know that some women travel with their husbands when they marry, at least I have heard of such things, so mayhap that is the best I can hope for.”

He lifted his shoulders casually. “Are ye the marrying kind, then?”

She grinned, embarrassed. “I suppose I must,” she said. “All women must, at some point.”

He could see a grand opportunity to push her a little, to see what, exactly, her thoughts were on marriage.

With talk of Tobias’ interest in her, and even Thad’s, he didn’t want her attention to turn to them.

He wanted to keep it. Was he, in fact, the marrying kind?

He didn’t even know. He’d never given it much thought. But perhaps with the right woman….

“Ye dunna want tae marry, then?” he asked, sounding concerned. “Even if I promised ye a grand trip tae Paris?”

Her head shot up, her eyes wide on him. “A trip to… you would promise me a trip to…?”

He flashed that smile, the one he used to send women’s hearts a-flutter. “Ye must marry sometime,” he said. “Me da expects many sons and who tae be a better mother tae me sons than a lady warrior. If I have tae bribe ye with a trip tae Paris, then I’ll do it.”

Havilland’s mouth popped open. “You cannot be serious!”

“Why not?”

She was even more astonished. “Because… because you cannot be,” she said, off-guard and fading fast. “It is most inappropriate to jest on such a serious subject. You do not know me and I do not know you, and this is not an appropriate conversation.”

“But why?”

“Because you jest about something quite serious!”