Page 17 of Taken By the Highland Villain
“Of course. I wouldnae want to delay ye.” The oily smile Nathan Cullen offered Valerie made Jude want to backhand him across the market. “I will be waiting here in a few days, my dear, to escort ye home when ye’ve finished yer work.”
“Och, ye dinnae need to?—”
Jude interrupted, anger and an odd sense of possessiveness coiling in his belly and coating his words as he glowered at the other man. “Ye’ll be leavin’ when I say ye’re done, lass, and nae before. And as for an escort, I expect to hear from yer friendaforehe enters my lands next time, nae after. Otherwise, I’m likely to take it as an attack.”
He had the satisfaction of seeing some of the color drain from Nathan’s face.
“Of course. I wouldnae dream of intruding any further.” His lips curved upward, contempt and cold malice slithering under the surface of a courteous smile. “However, I must correct ye on one matter, Laird MacFinn. Valerie Blackwood isnae my friend. Sheis my future wife, so it is only reasonable for me to wish to see her safe. Ye must understand.”
“I understand ye all too well.” Jude curled his lip, a little more menace coloring his expression as he glared at the man. “But ye’ve nothin’ to be concerned about here.”
Nathan’s smile faltered for a moment, then he nodded and turned away without another word.
Jude watched him go with a scowl.
That man’s goin’ to be trouble.
He turned back to Valerie, but she was already stepping away in pursuit of the cloth merchant, who had wisely made himself scarce at the beginning of the confrontation between the three of them.
Jude limped after her. “Wait.”
Valerie stopped, and he stumbled to a stop beside her. She refused to turn to face him, but he saw the tears shimmering in her brilliant green eyes. He hesitated a moment, then reached out and touched her shoulder.
He half-expected her to pull away, but she leaned into his touch instead.
Jude reached up with his other hand and gently wiped a tear from her face. “That man… was he the reason ye wanted to come work for me?”
“I wanted to help ye. That man…” Valerie paused, then shook her head and wiped the tears from her face with an impatient gesture. “Some people can be too demanding and insistent about what they want. That’s all I care to say on the matter.”
With that, she gently freed herself from his grasp and made her way to the merchant’s stall.
Jude followed after her, his mind full of questions, and a warmth he was reluctant to name filling his chest.
The merchant had nearly a full store of cloth, and Valerie browsed through it with a sense of pleasure, her hands trailing over soft linens, sturdy cottons, and double-woven wools with delight. He also had dozens of different colors, and whole bolts of undyed linen and wool that could be patterned and colored any way she liked.
So many choices—it was a welcome distraction from the exchange she’d just endured with Laird MacOlley, and the emotions it had evoked. There was the fear of realizing he’d found her once more, followed by the dull despair of feeling trapped. Then, there was the surge of relief she’d felt when Jude had come to her aid, followed by the twisting panic when she realized he might wind up injured because of her.
She appreciated that he wanted to protect her, but she refused to allow anyone, be they a stranger or kinfolk, to be wounded for her sake. Especially when she was already imposing on him for sanctuary from Laird MacOlley’s unwanted demands.
The conflicting feelings that tangled inside her head and her heart were difficult to sort out, and any excuse to set them aside was much appreciated.
Valerie quickly discarded the fabrics that were too bright for Jude’s taste, keeping her choices to browns, greens, a few darker reds or blues, and the occasional swatch of black. Of the last color, she mostly chose the softest fabrics she could find, intending for them to be the linings of the new trews, leggings, and kilts she planned to make.
The merchant had an array of threads as well, and Valerie gathered an assortment of those, choosing them to match the colors of the fabrics or as a pleasant contrast. There were some skeins dyed in the blue, red, and green of Clan MacFinn, and she purchased almost all of those.
She was browsing through the last of the piles when she happened upon a bolt of silk. It was dyed in variegated hues of green and blue, swirling like water rippling through a mossy stream bed. The silk had a delicate sheen she knew she could never match, and it felt soft and smooth as a week-old kitten’s fur.
It was beautiful, the sort of fabric she would use to make a dress for a proper lady. Or perhaps the sort of fabric she might have used to make a wedding dress for one of her sisters.
After a moment, she turned away. It was a gorgeous fabric, but she couldn’t imagine making anything for Jude with it, and she had no idea what else she might use it for.
To her surprise, Jude was a step behind her. Without a word, he reached past her into the pile and extracted the fabric she’d been looking at. He turned and carried it over to the merchant, still without looking at her. “Add this to whatever the lady purchases here.”
Valerie flushed. “I dinnae need?—”
“It is me ye’re makin’ purchases for, and I’ll decide if ye need or dinnae need something.” Jude shrugged his shoulders and strode past her, back out into the main street.
Valerie watched him go, warmth, amusement, and a sense of safety she hadn’t expected to feel loosening the cold knot that had filled her chest from the moment she’d heard Laird MacOlley’s voice at her back.