Page 52 of Wedded to the Heartless Highlander

“I feel like I should be offended,” she said, breaking the silence.

Hunter didn’t look up, though his lips twitched. “Offended by what?”

“That ye would ask me to join ye in yer study just to ignore me,” she teased, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her chair.

Hunter finally glanced up, his gray eyes sharp but amused. “I’m nae ignorin’ ye, lass. I’m multitaskin’.”

“Ah,” Erica murmured, her voice mockingly serious. “And here I thought ye invited me because ye actually wanted me company.”

“I did,” Hunter said, his sincerity catching her off guard. “But some matters cannae wait.”

Erica tilted her head to the side, intrigued now. “What matters?”

“Clan matters,” he said plainly as he tried and failed to mask his frustration.

“What about?” Erica prodded.

Hunter hesitated, his jaw tightening as he tapped a finger on the stack of papers. “The council has been… persistent.”

“Persistent about what?” Erica pressed, leaning forward.

Hunter gave her a long look, as though debating how much to say. “They’re always meddlin’ and remindin’ me of me duty to the clan.” A muscle in his jaw ticked, but he said nothing more.

“Duty to the clan? What duty?”

Judging from his reaction, Erica knew instantly that she had asked the question that he had been trying to avoid answering.

He took a deep breath before he said, “An heir.”

The words landed heavily between them, and for a moment, she could only blink at him. “An heir,” she repeated, her voice neutral.

“Aye.” He leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on her. “They’ve been relentless about it since the day I returned. They want assurance that the line will continue, and they see it as a guarantee for the clan’s stability.”

Erica’s stomach flipped, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. “And ye have just decided to tell me this now?”

Hunter frowned. “It’s nae exactly an easy subject to broach, wife.”

“Nay, but it’s important,” Erica shot back, raising an eyebrow. “Do ye nae think I should have kenned?”

Hunter arched an eyebrow in return. “And what would ye have done with the information, lass? Run straight to me chambers and make yerself ready for me?”

Heat rushed to her cheeks. “That’s nae the point!”

He laughed. “So, ye would have?”

She felt as if her skin melted into a puddle on the floor.

Would I have?

“So, what is the point then, wife?” he continued, leaning forward. His voice was low and even, but there was an all too familiar flicker of irritation in his eyes.

“The point,” Erica argued, “is that this is me life too, Hunter. If the council is breathin’ down yer neck about heirs, then it involves me. Ye should have said somethin’, instead of stewin’ in yer resentment for me. I’m nae ignorant about clan matters.”

Hunter’s gaze darkened, but there was something else there too—something she couldn’t quite place. “I dinnae resent ye. What have I done to make ye think that?”

“Well, I cannae think of anythin’ right now, but I ken well enough just by the way ye look at me sometimes that ye wish I wasnae here. This is me life, and I’ve been tryin’ to make this a comfortable place for all of us… ye just keep fightin’ me!”

“Ye think I dinnae ken or see that? Ye think I havenae thought about what this means for ye?”