“Not yet, she isn’t,” Dermid replied with a grin.
Kieran’s hackles were raised, and he clenched his fists. “You will keep away from her, Dermid. I am warning you.”
“Or what? You dinnae even like her.”
Kieran flinched and gritted his teeth. “Be that as it may, tis not good to dally with an innocent.”
Dermid replied, “Well, it will be difficult to stay away when I accompany her on the morrow.”
“Over my dead body!” Kieran growled.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Let’s go outside right now and I’ll show you.”
Dermid raised both his hands, palms facing outwards. “Calm down. I didnae ken you were sweet on the lass.”
“I’m not!”
“Well, you could have fooled me.”
“Then you will stay away from her?”
“Perhaps,” Dermid replied with a smirk.
“I will escort her not you,” Kieran said. He was not sure why he just made that announcement seeing as he had spent an entire day trying to figure out a way to get out of it.
“Really? Do you want to make a wager on that?” Dermid asked.
Kieran whipped his head around and swore. “Dinnae play games, or you will surely lose.”
“It’s a bet then?”
“No, tis not a bet, Dermid. I will not fall for that trick. I’m warning you; she is not the type of woman you dally with and discard.”
“Then I’ll just have to ask the laird. I’m sure he will approve, seeing as you were so reluctant to do it.”
“How did you ken that?” Kieran asked.
“I have my sources,” Dermid replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Why do you want to accompany the lass?”
“Because she’s bonnie and I wouldn’t mind getting to spend some time with her. Who kens what could happen on the road between a man and a woman?”
“We shall see about that,” Kieran snapped.
It was Dermid’s smirk that had Kieran on edge. Still, he kept glaring daggers into that man’s back when he sauntered away.
***
EARLY THE NEXT MORN, Kieran was on a mission. “Bram, I want to make sure you ken I will make the sacrifice and guard the lass to Dunsinane.”
“Aye, it would be a sacrifice indeed. But Kieran, I’ve thought more about it and you dinnae need to. She can be very troublesome. I ken it was unfair to ask you in the first place, so I will choose another to see to it,” Bram replied. He was in his council room going over books while a dark-haired toddler slept in the crook of one arm.
“With respect, laird, I ken Naomi is infuriating, but I have ample experience dealing with women like her. If you recall, I guarded your wife, Sorcha, and her MacGregor clanswomen for many years. We both ken how troublesome that lot can be.”
Bram grinned and said, “Aye, I ken it. Then I suppose you are best trained to escort Naomi. Just be sure you dinnae strangle her along the way, given how she riles your temper.”
