Sizzle All Day (33 page)

The three women shared a rueful look, then proceeded to ignore him.

Gillian took a seat at the library desk and removed a sheet of paper from a drawer. "Going over the checklist... Annabelle, you reviewed the guest list with Uncle Angus and confirmed he did not forget anyone?"

"I did."

"Chrissy, food preparations?"

"The supplies we ordered have arrived and Mrs. Ferguson is happily baking and broiling. She's not too keen about turning over her kitchen to me for an afternoon so I can mix up my chili, but we've reached a compromise. Everything should be ready on schedule."

"Excellent." Gillian made a check on the paper. "Jake, about the whisky and ale?"

He stretched out his legs, crossed them at the ankles, and folded his arms. "Angus told me what to order and I ordered it. It'll be here tomorrow. You know that, Gillian. I told you yesterday."

She frowned at him. "Don't pout, Texas."

As the discussion digressed into fashion and the ladies' own attire to the party, Jake sat sulking and sipping his drink. How the hell had he allowed himself to get involved in this? He should have called a halt to Gillian's plan the minute he heard about it. Cole had been right to call him nine kinds of fool for putting up with this nonsense. Of course, Morgan was one to talk. Wasn't he rowing Loch Rowanclere right this very minute, headed for the village to buy spices for Chrissy's chili?

"Well," said Gillian, dropping her pen onto the desk. "That should just about do it. Everyone knows their part. We'll plan to meet—" She broke off abruptly at the sound of Mrs. Ferguson's screech. "David Maclean, you get back here. Miss Annabelle is not here and you will not be bursting into my laird's library looking for mischief."

Everyone to the room realized they had been given a warning. Jake pointed at Annabelle, then to the desk. As she scrambled to hide herself, he joined Gillian and wrapped her in his arms. Giving Gillian a passionate kiss was a fitting distraction, he decided.

The door flew open. "Where is she? Where's my wife!"

Jake didn't have to pretend to be annoyed. "Maclean, what the devil are you doing here? I seem to recall warning you not to step foot on Rowanclere land at risk of losing your... pride."

The Scotsman's gaze flickered around the room. "So it's not you she's meeting. It's the other American. She said—"

Chrissy set down her cup and saucer with a clatter. In a weak female voice entirely unlike her, she gasped, then asked, "Sir, are you implying that your wife is with my husband?"

Gillian pulled herself out of Jake's arms, appearing delightfully mussed. Watching her, he wished he hadn't kissed her after all, because now she sparkled even more than normal as she gazed up at her former beau.

"Cole has gone to the village today," she said in a chastising tone. "He's picking up supplies for our foy. David, you speak out of turn. You winna find your wife at Rowanclere."

The man didn't like being scolded by Gillian, Jake saw. He also obviously believed what she said because he gave a curt nod, then departed.

No one moved until Jake said, "All right, Annabelle. I think it's safe for you to come out."

She crawled from beneath the desk and brushed off her skirts. "It's working. He's jealous, I can tell."

Jake watched the young woman study Gillian with eyes alight with interest. What did she think when she watched the woman her husband still claimed to love? Glancing at his wife, Jake knew what he thought. The need to have her was a fever in his blood, a combination of his customary lust for her, the jealousy that surged through him at each sight of that damned Maclean, and the effect of the kiss they just shared.

Because his attention was focused on his wife, he didn't realize Annabelle had moved until she stood directly in front of him, her face lifted toward his. "I need to look all lovely and mussed like Gillian when I go home. You'd better kiss me like you did her."

Jake gawked at her pursed lips, then shot Gillian an entreating gaze. His wife sighed and shook her head. "Nice try, Annabelle, but I don't share. Go home and prepare for the foy."

* * *

Two days before the party. Gillian spent the morning with Robyn doing nothing more serious than playing. They held a mock sword battle in the muniment room, took Scooter on a long ramble across the glen, and chased Mrs. Ferguson from the kitchen long enough to make a batch of scones. They teased and laughed and giggled. It was such fun.

It was all Gillian could do not to burst into tears.

The preparations for the foy had helped her keep thoughts about her pending departure from Rowanclere at bay, but as the day grew closer, she had to face reality. As much as she loved Jake, the thought of leaving her family all but tore her in two.

She hadn't told them yet because she needed to talk with Flora first. While she knew her twin wouldn't hesitate to make a place for Angus and Robyn at Laichmoray, good manners required she wait for her sister to offer first.

Around lunchtime, melancholy settled over her and Gillian escaped to her bedchamber for some time alone. Walking to the window, she drew back the drapery. Outside, a small flock of blackbirds swooped and swept through the air before landing on a patch of green grass. From the periphery of her vision, she spied a couple walking hand in hand back toward the castle from a stroll along the shore of Loch Rowanclere. Gillian liked Chrissy and Cole very much. They planned to return to Texas when she and Jake departed for the South Seas. Watching them, Gillian wondered if Jake was at all disconcerted at the idea of being separated from his family by more than one ocean.

The blackbird flock took flight and as Gillian turned away from the window, movement out on the road caught her notice. A coach rattled its way up the road toward Rowanclere. Slowly, it drew close enough to identify, and in that instant, Gillian's melancholy disappeared. "Flora!"

Pausing only long enough to check on Angus, she raced for the entry hall and dashed outside just as the conveyance rolled to a halt in front of the castle. Seconds later, the sisters flew into one another's arms.

Flora burst into tears almost immediately. "Oh, Gilly, you got married and I wasn't here."

"I'm sorry. I wanted to wait for you, but—"

"I'm the one who is sorry. I'd have come the moment I received your letter about your nuptials, but first I caught the sniffles, and then each of the boys fell ill. We didn't want to bring sickness to Rowanclere.

"But, Gilly, I missed your wedding. What, happened? Your note said little more than that the two of you had married. The last I knew, you sent Delaney away. When did he return? Why did you allow it? Why is Uncle Angus hosting a foy? You must tell me every little detail starting with why in the world you married that Texan."

"Why wouldn't she marry that
Texan
?" Jake's sister snapped as she swept through the castle's open door. "Jake is a fine catch. An exceptional catch."

With her sister and sister-in-law facing each other like a pair of hissing cats, Gillian quickly performed the introductions. The two women nodded stiffly.

Alasdair disembarked from the coach carrying a child in each arm. Gillian started to go to them, but Flora caught her hand and held her in place. Her twin was not to be put off. "Good catch or no, what I wish to hear is how your brother ended up on my sister's plate."

"A run of good luck, I should say." Chrissy lifted her chin, folded her arms, and scowled.

Gillian realized she had better intercede before a cat fight erupted. She took a deep breath and offered a condensed version of the facts surrounding her marriage. When she finished. Chrissy Morgan scoffed. "Gillian Delaney, how many times do I have to say this? If you think my brother married you to get his trust fund, you are a fool. Jake may have used this 'debt' idiocy as an excuse, but if he hadn't wanted to marry you, the Queen of England could not have made him do it."

She paused, thought for a moment, then added, "Shoot, not even our mother could have made him do it. Jake married you because he wanted to marry you. He loves you."

"I know that," Gillian quietly responded. "However, if he could have gained access to his trust fund without marrying, I doubt we'd be married today. He'd have bought my home, then run off to Rangoon."

"You may be right," Chrissy said with a shrug. "However, I still believe that deep inside himself, Jake wants to call off his travels. Remember, he is a man, that in itself is difficult to overcome. Men are slow to understand the workings of their own hearts, and we women must be patient with them. It's our duty as the more intelligent of the couple."

"Well." Alasdair Dunbar approached the women and observed, "I would like to stand up for the male brotherhood, but now is not a propitious time." He sent his wife a beseeching look. "The karriewhitchits both are in dire need of clean hippins."

Flora gave a long-suffering sigh. "More intelligent with stronger stomachs. How is it that a man who dresses deer without blinking an eye all but faints dead away when faced with his own sons' soiled nappies?"

While Flora took the babes inside to tend them, Gillian introduced Alasdair to Chrissy, then spent a few moments bringing him up to date on events at Rowanclere. "First of all, allow me to offer felicitations on your wedding, sweetie," he said, kissing Gillian's cheek. Then he cut a grin toward Chrissy and added, "Personally, I believe the fact Delaney managed to bind you to him shows exceptional intelligence and extraordinary taste in women. Now, where will I find the boy? I've brought a bottle of an excellent barley-bree for us to crack."

"I suggest you look for him in the muniment room. He and Robyn are making a few adjustments to Scooter's chariot."

"Did you say chariot?"

"Aye, it is Robbie's idea. She believes Scooter has extraordinary powers of smell. She thinks that with more mobility, Scooter will help her locate treasure left behind by Norman invaders."

Alasdair shrugged. "Stranger things have happened. Who knows, the bouff might sniff out a ghaist or two."

"After all that we went through?" Gillian shook her head and groaned. "Aye, you are probably right, Alasdair. Such is the way my luck runs."

* * *

Jake woke up with a smile on his face. It didn't last long. Almost immediately he realized the significance of the day. At that point he wanted nothing more than to bury his head beneath the covers and hide.

Especially since a head buried in the covers of this particular bed was liable to stumble across something good to nibble upon.

Gillian lay beside him, dead to the world as usual. He'd never met a woman who slept as hard as his wife. But then, he'd never met a woman who loved as hard, either. This particular morning he'd like nothing better than to kiss her awake and pick up where they'd left off in the wee hours of the morning. But he knew he couldn't. Shouldn't, anyway.

Today was the day of Gillian's godforsaken party. Today was the day his mother was due to return to Rowanclere. Today was the day his wife planned to tell the rest of her family she intended to join him on his travels.

How much fun does one man deserve?

Last night, he'd joined his wife and the Dunbars for a private meeting in one of the upstairs sitting rooms. He'd promised Gillian he'd keep his mouth shut and allow her to tell the story in her own way. He'd kept his word, though he nearly bit his tongue in two while doing it.

Gillian had made it sound like leaving Rowanclere was all her idea. She'd told her sister that in listening to Jake talk about his dreams, they had become hers. Flora acted bewildered and disbelieving at first, then as Gillian continued to talk, a knowing look entered her twin's eyes.

"You must love him very much," Flora had said.

"I do," Gillian had answered.

That, it appeared, had put all Flora's doubts to rest.

Too bad it hadn't done the same with Jake. Even though Flora jumped at the chance of having Angus and Robyn live with her, he was nagged by second thoughts. Angus was a proud man. He wouldn't take well to giving up a major piece of his independence by going to live in another man's home. And then there was Robyn. Was a move to Laichmoray good for her? A girl her age needed lots of attention and the Dunbars had those new little babies. Jake knew they wouldn't neglect the girl on purpose, but what if they simply got too busy and didn't realize what they were doing? Such a thing could cause Robbie a good deal of hurt. She might have scars from it for years to come.

Jake rolled over and tried to banish the troublesome thoughts. Enough of this. He'd best get up and get moving. He had a lot to do today. Besides, lying here brooding wasn't going to solve anything.

Then Gillian shifted in her sleep and the sheet slipped to reveal one pert, naked breast.

"Twenty minutes," Jake told himself as he reached for her. The day's work could wait twenty more minutes, but that was all.

An hour and forty minutes later, he finally roiled out of bed. "Princess, we need to talk."

"Anything more strenuous is out of the question," she told him.

His mouth twisted into a grin. She was right about that. "Gillian, I love you."

Warmth filled the liquid blue eyes that looked up at him. "I love you, too."

"Something tells me it might be well served to remember that detail throughout the rest of today."

"Today?" She sat up abruptly. "The foy. Jake, the foy is today!"

Flinging back the sheets, she vaulted from the bed and hurried to dress. "I have so much to do. Why didn't you remind me? We should never have lazed around like this."

His gaze resting happily on the delicious sight of her bare behind, he repeated, "Why didn't I remind you? Princess, do you really need to ask?"

She fired off a glare that transformed into a smug little smile. "Chrissy said the note she received from your mother indicated she planned to arrive early. Is your mother a woman to whom 'early' is truly early, or just not as late as usual?"

Jake glanced at the clock. "If my mother said early, she's liable to be downstairs already."

"Hurry up, then!" She finished dressing, did something quick and simple with her hair, then departed the room on a run.