Seducing the Highlander (9 page)

“And you think you can do that when so many others have failed?”

“I refuse to admit defeat . . . yet,” Hamish cautioned. “It will take several attempts to prove my sincerity and win her affections.”

Meriel shook her head. “You are the first McTiernay I have met who doesn’t have a triple dose of pride that he is compelled to defend at all times.”

“Maybe that is because I am not a true McTiernay. I’m actually from a small clan way north of here near Eilean nan Ròn.”

“Then, why are you—”

“—here?” he finished. “Or why am I loyal to the McTiernays?” At her nod, he gave a shrug and said, “For many reasons, all of which are too onerous to discuss on a pretty night like this.”

Meriel found it hard to bite her tongue and keep from asking probing questions, but she knew it would be pointless. She recognized determination when she saw it. And Hamish had enough to rival her own stubborn personality, at least on this topic. “And so how do you intend to win Wyenda’s hand?”

“That I am unsure of. I just know that I am not ready to give up.” He glanced at Meriel and seeing her expression, chuckled. “You’re surprised.”

Meriel nodded. He had said otherwise, but she had truly thought Hamish to be only half interested in Wyenda.

“That’s the problem,” he said, sighing. “I’ve thrown my heart out there for all to see so many times, it makes it hard for a woman to believe when I am truly interested in her.”

Meriel rolled her hazel eyes, completely aware that he saw her. No longer did she try to hide her opinions in fear of offending him. She had not thought it possible to be so relaxed in any man’s company other than Craig’s, and yet with Hamish she was. She could not decipher the innermost secrets the Highlander held, like she could Craig’s, but she did not need to, either. “I do not believe that you, handsome one, have ever exposed your heart quite as you have claimed. Feigning interest is far from making yourself vulnerable.”

Hamish opened his mouth wide with artificial pain. “I have never feigned interest.”

“Nor have you made yourself vulnerable. Even now you are waiting for Wyenda to fall in love before you further commit yourself emotionally.”

Hamish scratched his chin and regarded Meriel in the moonlight. He was caught somewhere between wanting to pull her into his arms and kiss her and needing to walk away lest he do so and lose her friendship—and Craig’s.

Meriel, unaware of the direction of Hamish’s thoughts, walked over to a nearby boulder and leaned against it. “Can I ask you a question I’ve been musing for a while?”

Intrigued, Hamish tilted his head in a nod.

“How do you know when you are in love? For example, you claim to be in love with Wyenda. What is it about her that is so attractive?”

Hamish threw back his head and scoffed. If Meriel were a man he would have blurted out,
Have you seen her?
Instead, he tried to explain it in a way he hoped she could understand. “Wyenda is . . .
very
pretty.”

“I know that. I meant attractive
besides
her obvious beauty. What’s beyond that ‘hardened exterior’ you mentioned?”

“I guess . . . well . . . when she looks at a man, she makes him feel like he is the most special, important man in the world. Once we men feel that, we want to feel it again and again. We cannot help ourselves.”

Hamish’s words washed over Meriel. “You may be surprised to learn that we women are no different. We want to feel special too.”

“And does Craig make you feel special?”

Meriel crossed her arms and looked out at the water rippling in the light breeze. The answer was complex. Their bond was unique and something she treasured, but Craig had not actually made her feel special. At least not until he kissed her. “Let me just say he has the ability to do so if he chooses. But not all the time, no.” Then she turned her green-and-gold eyes to stare directly at him. “What about you? Have you made Wyenda feel that way?”

Hamish strolled over and leaned back against the large rock so that his hips touched hers. “I have no idea. I’ve tried all the typical things—flattery, gifts. I even offered to help her and her grandmother with various things around their cottage. She knows that I have enough money to offer her a good life.” He paused and then asked, “Do you suppose she is cautious because most men when they get to my age are married? That perhaps there is a reason why no one else wanted me?”

“I . . . I . . . don’t know,” Meriel answered honestly.

Hamish sighed. “I only wondered because of you and Craig.”

“What do you mean,
me and Craig
?”

Hamish shrugged. “Just that, why commit to someone who is around anyway? No need for anyone to be jealous.”

Meriel wondered if Hamish was talking about himself. Had he heard the rumors about Wyenda and Iain? But then if she, a visitor, had, it only made sense that he would have, as well. “I don’t know Iain Matheson, but I understand how you could be jealous of—”

“Iain Matheson!” Hamish spewed. “He would be the
last
person I would be jealous of. Have you ever seen him? If he ever tried to pick up a sword it would topple him over. The only muscles he has reside in his jaw, which never stops moving. He professes to be a descendent of the royal house of Lorne and have all the wealth that comes with such a lineage, but there is not a scrap of evidence to support such a claim. He filches off of various family members, and last I heard he was mooching off Dougal Matheson, who lives just on the other side of the McTiernay’s northwest border.”

“Does Wyenda know this?”

Hamish furrowed his brow. “She has to.
Everyone
knows Iain Matheson. If she is telling people that she is interested in him, it is simply to keep them from knowing her true fondness for me.”

Meriel was not convinced, but she could see that Hamish was. Nothing she could say would induce him to believe otherwise. “So what did you mean then about jealousy?”

“I
meant
, that if Wyenda thought someone else was interested in
me
, it might help. Have you ever tried to make someone jealous?”

Meriel wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Don’t ask me. I’m here to get
over
a man, not devise ways to humiliate myself.”

“And how is that coming along? I mean, are you any closer to forgetting Craig?”

Meriel squinted her eyes and then gave in to the urge to shove him. It only added to her annoyance when Hamish did not move even a little bit. “It doesn’t matter. I refuse to love someone who does not love me.”

“I told you before that he does.”

“And you also said that when a man feels a certain way about a woman, he cannot help but want to feel it again and again. Craig won’t even discuss the topic.”

Having now been around Meriel long enough to get to know her, he understood his friend’s dilemma more and more. But while he understood Craig’s reluctance to commit himself to someone who turned out to be a very spirited and challenging woman, Hamish still thought his friend a fool for not snatching Meriel up before anyone else did. “Craig loves you,” Hamish repeated. “He simply refuses to admit it.”

“To himself or me?”

“Himself,” replied Hamish with absolute conviction. “You see, the moment he does—and he knows this, just as every man does—that he will be truly and forever entrapped. And it scares us men. It’s why so many of us marry for other reasons besides love.”

Meriel felt her jaw drop in open shock. “You don’t
want
to love the woman you marry?”

“We want to be
attracted
to them, aye. We want to enjoy their company and be able to have a conversation, but
besotted
? Nothing is scarier. Think about it. If something happened to Lady McTiernay, how do you think the laird would respond? I can tell you, the same way his father did when his mother died. To wrap oneself up emotionally in someone else is wrought with danger.”

Meriel could not believe what she was hearing, but deep down she knew that Hamish spoke not only for himself, but many other men out there. Here all this time she had thought both sexes equally sought the love and support of a life partner, when in truth, men just wanted someone to whom they were attracted and whom they could tolerate when not physically engaged. “But do you think if Laird McTiernay could go back and avoid meeting and falling in love with Laurel, he would?”

“Nay. He would not, now that he knows the pleasure of being in love. What I am saying is some men do not seek such pleasure because they know the risks that come with it.”

All the pain she had been feeling the past couple of weeks shot through Meriel and it manifested into anger. Throwing her hands in the air, she moved off the boulder. “I guess Craig does not consider loving me worth those risks.”

Hamish waved his hand as if he were brushing aside the obvious. “Only because he thinks he doesn’t have to risk his heart to have you. I mean, you
are
going back, are you not? And once you return, your friendship will become the way it was before, or have I misunderstood your intentions?”

Meriel swung around. She took a deep breath for control and then let it escape slowly. Her anger with Craig—which had been swimming just below the surface—was genuine, but she now was equally furious with herself. “You make me sound pathetic and pitiable.”

“Honestly? That is how I first thought of you,” Hamish replied. Seeing her recoil, he knew he had hurt her with his candor, something he never intended to do. Instinctively, he got up and pulled her into his arms. “Meriel, now that I know you better, I can assure you, you are neither. But I am surprised that you, who can be incredibly stubborn when you want something, gave up so easily on winning Craig’s heart. What’s worse is that you already have it; you just need to claim it for your own.”

Meriel felt the tears she had been fighting let loose and stream down her cheeks. She leaned against Hamish, soaking up his strength, feeling safe in the knowledge that he desired someone else. But Hamish was wrong. She could not go back and have things as they were. Feeling the way she did, she could no longer seek Craig’s support without feeling the rejection from his refusal to see them as anything more than friends.

Calmer, Meriel slowly let go and stepped back. “I think I’m forced back to my first plan—to fall out of love.”

“Or you could make Craig admit his feelings.”

“But how? The man is beyond obstinate when he has made up his mind, and I can promise you, when it comes to me, he has definitely decided that love and marital bliss are not in our future.”

Hamish’s dark green eyes probed hers. “Ever try jealousy? I hate to admit it, but it usually works.”

Meriel scoffed. “Craig? Jealous? Even if he were here to witness me with another man firsthand, he would never believe it. Just like I would never give any credence to a story about him becoming suddenly love-struck over some female.”

Hamish reached out and clutched her arm before she could turn away. “Wait—you’ve
never
been jealous?”

Meriel shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

“And he has never been even a little possessive of you?”

Meriel glanced to the side, trying to remember. “Honestly, I don’t think so.”

Hamish did not have to ask. He knew the truth. Since Craig and Meriel had met, neither of them had ever looked at another member of the opposite sex. They had been so wrapped up in their “friendship” that their true feelings had never been tested.

“Maybe you should try it.”

Meriel favored him with a blindingly bright smile, laughing at the idea. “It just would not work.”

“You’d be surprised. Men fight for those they love, if they think they are going to lose them.”

“Maybe, but only if the potential loss was real. Craig would recognize the ruse for what it was—a trap. His pride alone would keep him from becoming jealous.”

It was Hamish’s turn to laugh. “Perhaps, but even Craig cannot fight human nature.”

Meriel froze. Hamish was right. In certain situations, Craig’s disposition would cause him to react a certain way. It would practically force him to. And no one knew Craig as well as she did. Craig would always go where he wanted to, but there might be a way to make him want to go in her direction.

She reached up on her tiptoes and planted a warm, soft kiss on Hamish’s cheek. “You are brilliant and so am I,” she said, beaming. “I think I have a way to solve both our problems—you and Wyenda and Craig and myself. But I would need your help.”

Hamish’s face broke into a large grin. Her eyes were sparkling and it was like looking at Rae Schellden in the midst of a grand scheme he knew was going to work. It drew one in and somehow elicited a commitment without full knowledge of what one was agreeing to. “Call me brilliant again and I might agree to anything.”

“You truly are wonderful and my hero for giving me the idea!” she exclaimed. Then she bit her bottom lip. “Now to convince Laird McTiernay about our plan . . .”

Hamish stepped back and then, seeing the seriousness on her face, took another step back. “
Our
plan? Laird McTiernay? Oh no, you can call me brilliant a thousand times and I still wouldn’t agree to whatever you are thinking.”

Still deep in thought, Meriel bunched her brows and murmured, “Too late.”

Hamish shook his head violently. “First, this is
your
plan. And second, the laird made it rather clear to me that your presence here was to have as little effect on his life as possible. And I got the distinct impression that he thought me responsible for ensuring that outcome—both during and
after
our journey here.”

Meriel waved her hand, dismissing his sincerely felt anxiety. “Oh, don’t fret so. It ruins your handsome face. Besides, it won’t be you and I who will be talking with the laird. We will leave that up to Lady McTiernay.”