Playboy's Challenge (Highlander's Series)

by Jo Barrett

  Deidra stood there in the dark, her chest heaving with deep pangs of regret. She’d known his kiss would be just another of his torments, but she’d allowed it anyway.

  “But you will ne’er touch me again,” she murmured, then started down the hall toward her chamber, her steps unsteady as she quickened her pace until she was running.

  Slamming into her room, she bolted the door behind her, anger holding back her tears. With a swipe of her hand, she removed the few that had escaped. It didn’t matter that her first kiss had been all she’d ever dreamed of and more. Adam didn’t want her—no man did. There was no reason to ever think otherwise. She was who she was, and there was no changing that.

  With grim resolve, she readied herself for bed. But the night was long and sleep refused to come. Her mind and body relived every moment of his kiss, and she cursed him again.

  By morning light, a plan settled in her brain, and with a determined grin, she recalled one of her mother’s sayings.

  Payback’s a bitch.

  “Aye, that it is, Adam Sutherland, that it ‘tis,” she said, and made her way to the kitchens. There was a pie to make, and it had to be just right.

  ****

  The following morning, Adam was thankful Deidra wasn’t at breakfast. He still felt guilty for leaving her the way he had, but he’d had no choice. He’d only cause her pain, and he’d given her enough grief when they were kids. But that kiss would haunt him forever.

  Shaking off thoughts of her, and of his already less than stellar behavior, he looked at his drawings laid out on a large table he’d had set up outside near the main gate.

  “See you here,” Colin pointed at Adam’s sketch. “I think ’twould be best if we brought out this part while we build. The bailey would be safer during the construction.”

  “It will take longer, but if that’s how you want to do it, that’s what we’ll do. Once it’s completed here and here,” he said, running his fingers over the sketch. “We can simply tie it into the current wall structure. It’s not as sound, but won’t leave the keep vulnerable while building.”

  “Aye, ’tis the best way to go aboot it.” He slapped Adam on the back, knocking the air from his lungs, but he managed to stay on his feet. “Amelia and I will be leaving on the morrow. I canna say how long we’ll be away, but I hope ta see some progress when we return.”

  “Are you sure you want to leave all this to me?” Adam rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the massive gate. It was a daunting task, to say the least, and without any modern equipment, it made things all the more difficult. He had to actually think like a seventeenth century architect, but his own doubts, his many failures, concerned him the most.

  Colin squeezed his shoulder. “Have some faith, lad. You’ll do fine, as you’ve done thus far. And Erin has some knowledge of such things as do most of my men. ’Tis no’ the first wall we’ve e’er built,” he said with a hearty chuckle.

  “Right,” he said, a nervous laugh stuck in his throat. “I’ll get started on this half today, now that we’ve some of the stone to work with.”

  “That’s the way, lad. Now I’m off ta prepare for the journey.”

  “Do you have any idea what this meeting is about?” Adam’s question stopped him in mid-turn.

  “Nay, ’tis a bit odd, but I’ll no’ ignore the summons ta meet. ’Tis best ta know all I can, rather than ta stay where ’tis safe. A mon has ta take chances ta keep what he holds dear.” With a somber look on his face, Colin climbed the steps and disappeared into the great hall.

  Adam pondered his uncle’s words as he glanced around the bailey, looking at what Colin held dear. This place, this odd castle out of time, and the MacLean clan were all the things the old Scot needed to make him happy. Adam wondered if he would ever find something that made him happy like that.

  A soft laugh caught his ear, and he turned in time to see Deidra and Macconach walking across the courtyard. He was making a big show of insisting on carrying her basket filled with herbs, and she seemed to be enjoying the attention.

  His teeth clenched when she granted Macconach a bright smile and handed over her basket.

  “He’s been by her side since this morn’,” Erin said, coming up beside Adam. “’Tis enough to sour my stomach.”

  “He is laying it on pretty thick.” He crossed his arms, his fingers digging into his biceps as Macconach slipped her hand to his arm. The same hands that had twisted his shirt the night before when he kissed her. The same hands he’d imagined all night long traveling across his body as he explored hers.

  He tried to shake the image from his mind. “We only need to keep an eye on him for another day. Then he’ll be gone.”

  “Aye. His leaving doesna’ come soon enough for me. But Deidra is soon to the kitchens so he’ll not be bothering her there. I understand she’s makin’ a pie.” Erin grinned at him. “So ’twould seem your change to the wager was no’ accepted after all.”

  Adam looked back to his drawings, ignoring the subtle jibe and wasn’t about to mention what happened last night. “Makes no difference to me. I don’t have time now for wagers, anyway. I’ve got a new gate to build.”

  Erin looked over his shoulder at the drawings, allowing the lie to go unchallenged. His old friend was no fool. He knew there was something going on, but for whatever reason, chose to leave it alone. “So when do you begin on the changes Da scratched out this morn?”

  “Today. I’m going to need to gather the men and give them new instructions. Care to lend a hand?”

  “Aye, seeing as how I canna’ get a rile out of you.” Chuckling, he sauntered off across the yard toward some of the men.

  Adam hated being so damn obvious. He used to be impossible to read, able to hide his thoughts, his feelings behind a wink and a smile. He’d honed his act as playboy to perfection. But Erin saw through him all too well, and he suspected so did his aunt Tuck, he realized, as he caught sight of her watching him watch Deidra.

  ****

  Deidra helped her mother gather the things for their trip. “How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

  “Oh, a week or two. If I know your father, he’ll want to have a bit of a holiday,” she said, wiggling her brows.

  She laughed in spite of the hurt it caused. Her parents’ love was a blessing, to be sure, but a curse as well. It made her future all the more bleak, knowing that a man would never love her the way her da loved her mum.

  “So. What do you think of Macconach?” her mother asked.

  “He seems nice enough.”

  Tuck laid a few underthings on the bed and her tattered britches, the very pair she’d worn when she met her da. “Nice. Not very nice, or really nice, just nice.”

  Deidra sighed and sat on the bed. “Da wants to know if I will let him court me,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “Afraid so. The man is determined, but he means well.” She sat beside her and swept a strand of Deidra’s hair from her shoulder to her back. “He wants you happy.”

  “Then why does he no’ do the same to Erin? Why does he always have to be involved in my personal life?”

  Her mother chuckled. “Erin is a man who has many a girl chasing after him. So your father has no worries that he’ll pick one sooner or later.”

  “And I have had more than my share of suitors.”

  “But you are a woman, and the men have to come to you.” She quickly held up her hands a she rose. “I know, I know. You don’t need a man, you’re perfectly capable of handling your own life, etcetera, etcetera, but he is your father, and all he wants is your happiness.”

  She rested her hands on Deidra’s shoulders. “Just don’t shut out every man at first glance. Some of them are liable to surprise you. Your father surprised the hell out of me.”

  “There are no other men like Da.”

  Laughing, her mother gathered a few more things for her trip. “Don’t bet on it. I can name one or two.”

  She scowled. “Who?”

  He
r mother stilled and looked at her over her shoulder. “Adam Sutherland for one.”

  She shook her head and forced out a laugh. “Adam? He cares for nothing but the moment and the next lass willing to grace his knee. He is nothing like Da.”

  “If you say so.” She put the last of her things on the bed. “Now, why don’t you go check on our guest? See if he needs anything before our trip.”

  With a nod, Deidra left her mother and went to do as she’d asked, wondering what it was she saw in Adam that Deidra didn’t see.

  “Nonsense,” she muttered, and pushed the entire conversation from her thoughts, except for the part about Malcolm Macconach.

  Why was he just nice? Why wasn’t he really nice? And why did she find herself comparing his features and traits with Adam’s?

  ****

  Dinner was a bit more than the usual, what with Colin and Tuck about to depart. Almost a celebration—or more like a last supper, Adam thought. The tension was so palpable, one would think his aunt and uncle were heading into danger instead of taking a little trip.

  Wait, if they were going to the village and across the loch, they’d be leaving the little world they’d created. Time would smack them in the face.

  He scratched his chin as discussions flew around the room about Erin being left in charge, and Adam’s work on the new gate, and whisperings about what the big meeting was all about.

  Why would they make up this weird meeting thing? Why leave the keep and go to the mainland? Something he didn’t think they’d ever done, because if they had, surely they would’ve come to visit his parents. And why now?

  Other murmurs, whispers about Macconach and Deidra, and how she seemed to have finally found a suitor she didn’t wish to kill, made their way to his ears and settled on his brain like a ten pound weight. He began to wonder if this was why her parents were really leaving. Give her the space she needed without any pressure.

  He shook off the thought, it made no sense. Macconach showed up with the news, and Deidra had never met the man. Still the whole trip in itself seemed odd. Why had the MacLeans never visited his parents if they were okay to step out of their roles for a little while? And why would Deidra instantly take to this new guy, whom neither he nor Erin trusted?

  He watched as Macconach leaned toward her and whispered something, bringing a smile to her luscious lips.

  Adam wanted nothing more than to put his fist through the guy’s face. Well, it didn’t matter, he’d be gone in the morning and with luck, he’d drown in the damn loch on their journey.

  Deidra rose and took two small pies from a serving girl. The same one who’d been open to Adam’s way of thinking the first night, the one he’d also been avoiding. Somehow playing fast and loose with anyone close to the MacLeans didn’t feel right. Not anymore.

  With a sweet smile, Deidra placed one of the pies before Macconach, and the jerk took her hand and kissed it in thanks.

  Adam did all he could to remain in his seat. It was stupid, wrong, and damned dangerous, these weird feelings he had toward her. He had to get a grip, and tried to concentrate on his food, but as Deidra turned toward him, he knew it was a lost cause.

  Although her smile had fallen, the stern face he’d grown accustomed to seeing now looked back at him, he saw the strong, proud, regal woman he knew.

  Setting the second pie before him, she said, “We are now even.”

  He wanted to tease her, he wanted to taste her—he wanted things he could never have.

  “Thanks,” he managed to say with a small smile.

  Her gaze narrowed, and he couldn’t hold back a subtle wink that sent her storming back toward Macconach. Not exactly the direction he wanted her to go, but as he took a hefty bite of the delicious pie, he couldn’t help thinking that he liked her face flushed from his teasing a hell of a lot more than the faint pink in her cheeks from Macconach’s compliments.

  He smacked Erin’s hand as he tried to steal some of his pie while watching Macconach, a smug grin on the moron’s face. She would never be Adam’s, not in the way he would like, but he had a feeling she would never belong to that grinning hyena either. Not if he had anything to do with it.

  Chapter Seven

  “What the hell did you give him?” Tuck said, swiping Adam’s forehead with a damp rag.

  Adam groaned as he clutched the basin to his side, his color poor. Deidra was beginning to feel a wee bit guilty.

  “And don’t you dare play innocent, Dee. It just won’t float,” her mother said.

  “I’ve no’ done anything to him.” Her mother shot her a look. “Well, nothing he didna’ deserve.”

  “’Tis vengeance for his tricks when we were babes, I’ll wager,” Erin said.

  “Oh, for the love of—you three are going to put me in an early grave,” her mother grumbled. “Your father is chomping at the bit to get on the road this morning. What was it, Dee?”

  “I will tend him,” she said. “You and Da need no’ stay.”

  Adam lifted his weary lids. “I’d rather Aunt Tuck handle this for now, if you don’t mind.”

  “Aye,” Erin said. “She might kill him with her kindness,” he added with a derisive chuckle.

  Deidra elbowed her brother in the stomach to shut him up. He wasn’t helping. She felt bad enough as it was. Aye, the rogue deserved it, but she had to admit she could’ve found another way to punish him.

  “Deidra,” Tuck snapped. “Now.”

  She grimaced, knowing her mother was going to explode when she knew, but tilted up her chin, prepared for her wrath. “Nightshade.”

  Her mother’s face paled, as Erin spouted a stream of curses. “What were you tryin’ to do? Kill the mon!”

  “No! I only gave him enough to make him sick to his stomach. I promise you, Mum, I only meant—”

  “I know what you meant, and I’m ashamed of you. You know this household’s history with poisons. He could have a low tolerance for the stuff, or worse an allergic reaction!”

  Deidra pressed a staying hand to her whirling stomach. Good Lord, she’d not considered such things. If she’d done him irreparable harm, or if he died…

  Hot tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

  “Until he’s made it for a good twenty-four hours, we won’t know how bad it is,” Tuck said. “All we can do is keep him comfortable and full of fluids so he doesn’t dehydrate.” She looked up at Deidra, her face grim. “Your father isn’t going to like this one bit, young lady.”

  “No, Mum,” she said, her voice nearly a whisper, her throat tight with burgeoning tears.

  “Bloody crazy wench.” Erin snarled as he stormed from the room.

  “Now, you take over here, while I go inform your father we’re not leaving.”

  “Oh, no, Mum. You have to go, Da will be—”

  “Furious. You should’ve thought of that before.”

  Her mother marched from the room, her skirts swirling around her. Never had she ever made her mother this angry before, nor had Deidra ever been so ashamed.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not going to die,” Adam said, grinning up at her. “Although I do feel pretty lousy.”

  She gingerly sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the wall above his head, unable to face him as she held back her tears. “I am sorry, Adam. I shouldna’ have done it. But you—you make me so—”

  He chuckled and touched her sleeve. “I bring out the worst in you, is that it?”

  She looked at him, grinning up at her, her fears lessening with his words. “Aye, that you do. You try my patience with your glib tongue and—and—”

  “And tender kisses.” His gaze warmed. “It was your first, wasn’t it?”

  “’Tis none of your business,” she snapped, feeling her face heat.

  He chuckled low. “Yep, it was your first all right.”

  She pinched her lips together, refusing to acknowledge his unfortunate deduction.

  He closed his eyes for a moment on a moan. She dampened the rag her mother
had used then bathed his brow.

  “It was one of the most delicious, exquisite, tantalizing kisses I’ve ever shared,” he said, peering up at her, studying her face as she bathed his forehead. “You’re beautiful, Deidra.”

  Her hand stilled as she gazed into his eyes, seeing his sincerity, and it touched her heart. A heart, she must remember to guard against him.

  His gaze shifted away and his tone flattened. “Too beautiful and too special for someone like me. I’m sorry I—well, I’m sorry, and it won’t happen again.”

  “How’s he doing?” her mother said, as she came through the door, with Da right behind her, leaving Deidra no time to respond to his odd words.

  Why would he think himself unworthy? Aye, he was a rogue, and had likely broken many a heart, but he was a good man. Although he had tormented her greatly as a child, he had played her hero when he’d first arrived, and she suspected he would always do so.

  “I’m fine, you guys,” Adam said, his old smile back in place. “Now that most of it is out of my stomach, I feel better already. I just need to take it easy for a while. You don’t have to stay on account of me.”

  Deidra got to her feet and set the rag beside the bed on the small table. The man was a consummate actor. Not a moment ago she saw such deep sadness in his face, such sorrow, and she didn’t think it had anything to do with her or that kiss, not really. And now, here he was smiling like he hadn’t a care in the world other than an upset stomach.

  “You see, wife? The lad is fine,” Colin said.

  “Hmm, I’m not so sure.”

  Deidra turned to her parents. “I will care for him. ’Tis the least I can do, and he shall be hale upon your return. I vow it.”

  “And you will behave, Deidra,” her father said, tapping the tip of her nose.

  “Aye, Da. I promise I won’t try to kill him until you return,” she said, shooting Adam a smirk.

  He grinned and his lids slid closed, heavy with fatigue and age old pains, invisible weights that pressed the man down, but remained hidden behind a mask of gaiety.