But as they rode away, the hair at his nape still prickled.
…
Juliana nudged Misty to come alongside Baron. In spite of Rory’s aloofness—there was frost in the air around him that had nothing to do with the weather—she was not going to follow docilely behind him. Besides, she was curious about the bruise beneath his eye. Had he and Morag crashed to the floor and he’d hit his head on something? They’d certainly bumped into the furniture before Juliana had run up to her room. The thought of him rolling around on the floor with Morag was unsettling. Not that it was her business. It was not.Not.No doubtMoraghadn’t been afraid to welcome Rory’s kisses…and more. Juliana had liked his kisses, too—I had—before the panic had struck. But the dice had been rolled. Something that felt like a hot poker seared her stomach. Rory had made his choice, and it wasn’t her. She swallowed. She might not want to hear the answer, but she had to ask.
“How did you get that bruise?”
He glanced over. “I doona want to say.”
Of course not. Another knife-sharp pain pierced her. He was protecting Morag by not discussing theirin flagrante delicto, as English Society called it. That meant he cared and it hadn’t been just a quick tryst. She pursed her lips. She really was a glutton for punishment, but she wanted him to admit it. That way she could push it out of her mind, too.
“You can tell me. We are away from Invergarry now, so no one will know what you did.”
He raised a brow. “What Idid?”
She waved her free hand vaguely. “You know.”
“I ken a lot of things.”
Was he being deliberately obtuse? If she were prudent, she’d let the matter drop. It wasn’t even a proper subject, regardless. But. She’d never been overly concerned with being either prudent or totally proper, so this was not a time she wanted to start.
“I was referring to the parlor.” When he looked stoically ahead, she added, “Last night.” She was rewarded with a slight muscle twitch in his jaw and took a deep breath. “You were with Morag.”
He reined in. Misty stopped of her own accord when Baron did. “What, precisely, doyethink I did?”
So he was turning the tables on her. He wasn’t going to admit what he did. He wanted her totellhim what she saw. She heard Emily’s voice in her head admonishing her—no,tellingher in no uncertain terms—to let the matter lie. That it was not her business. Ladies didn’t inquire about such things. But there seemed to be a devilish imp on her shoulder, prodding her to go ahead. Maybe it was one of those faeries that the Scots talked about, but she could almost feel it poking her.
“I saw you kissing Morag under the mistletoe.” Juliana threw caution to the winds. “You were quite…involved.”
A corner of his mouth quirked up. “Are ye jealous, lass?”
She drew her brows down. “No. Of course not.”
“Ah.” He tilted his head to the side, the half smile still on his lips. “Then why do ye bring it up?”
Her face heated in spite of the cold. “I…” Suddenly, she felt foolish. No.I am a fool.“My apologies. I should not have brought the subject up. You are free to engage in whatever carnal pleasures you like.” She fought to keep her voice from rising. “With whomever you please.”
His eyes darkened. “With whomever?”
She was sliding on already slippery ground here. She certainly didn’t want Rory bringing up that debacle in the woods. She waved her hand again. “It was obvious to everyone that Morag liked you—”
“I am known to be likable, believe it or not.”
“That is not what I meant! Shewantedyou. She made it plain…” Juliana stopped to collect her thoughts. She was sounding like a harpy. Ajealousharpy. Taking a deep breath, she finished, “I am not blaming you for taking what she offered.”
“Hmm.” He shrugged. “Shekissedme, nae the other way around.”
“That is not what it looked like.” The words were no sooner out of her mouth, but she could have bitten off her tongue. “Never mind. Forget I said that.”
Rory studied her for a moment. “For what ’tis worth, I didna take anything that Morag offered.” He lifted the reins and nudged Baron forward. “We’ve a long ride ahead, so ’tis best we doona delay.”
Juliana nodded, letting him lead the way this time. He obviously didn’t want to discuss the subject further, which was quite all right. She could remain quiet now, since she’d gotten his answer. An odd feeling of elation filled her as she recalled his words.I didna take anything that Morag offered.
…
The terrain grew steeper and more rugged as they rode east toward the Monadhliath mountain range, necessitating riding single file most of the time. That arrangement suited Rory just fine and, he suspected, Juliana as well, since she was lagging farther behind as time went on. He looked over his shoulder regularly to keep her in sight, but he was pretty sure she wanted to put some space between them after their exchange. And he had his own thoughts to muddle through.
She’d sounded quite peeved about seeing Morag kissing him, which didn’t make sense, since Juliana had literally pushed him away when he’d kissed her in the woods. That gesture didn’t need an explanation. She’d rejected him. Why would she care if he were kissing someone else? He could have said that, but instead he couldn’t resist asking whether she was jealous. Then he couldn’t seem to let it go, especially when she made her remark about “whomever.” It hadalmostsounded like… He pushed the thought aside. Juliana hadnotmeant she wouldn’t mind if he kissedheragain. She’d pretty much said he could do what he liked. Then again, shehadsounded rather petulant when she’d contradicted his explanationandshe had blushed furiously right after. Why would she do that?
