Prescribed for Love (25 page)

“I need to go back home,” explained Cat simply.

“Ah, so
there is another man back home,” concluded Lainie.
“
But will he accept another man’s bastard?”

Catriona could only rub her temples in frustration, she knew the girl meant well. “There is not another man; I just need to get home. Oh, and no one really cares about that
whole
bastard thing where I’m from.”

“But why nae stay? Laird MacLean seems to care for ye
, and ye always seemed happy enough.”

“Yes, I was happy,” said Cat, “But I can’t stay.”

“I am sure ye have yer reason
s, even if I cannae fathom them,” muttered the girl.
“
But be warned, ye willnae be able to keep yer secret much longer, ye are already beginning to show.”

Looking down at her stomach, Catriona cursed as she realized Lainie was right. “I hope that willnae be the bairn’s first word,” said
Alasdair
. Cat cursed
again when she realized
Lainie had abandoned her and
she was
now
trapped alone with the man.
“Ach, now ye are saying it apurpose.”

“What do you want
Alasdair
?”

“
A
favor,
”
he said
far to
o
innocently.

“What kind of favor?”
asked
Cat
with a healthy dose of suspicion
.

“I want to know if ye would be willing to stay…”

“Ugh we went over this last night,
” sighed Cat.
“
I can’t stay here.”

“Ye didnae let me finish,” admonished Alasdair.
“
Ye din
nae need to repeat yer feelings,
y
e made yerself very clear.
I
simply
want to know if ye will be willing to stay a little while longer.  I had discussed with Keith the possibility of making improvements to the actual castle.
I want to ensure ye are willing to extend yer visit before I talk further with yer brother
.”

“Not permanently?” asked Cat.

“Nae unless ye want to,” said
Alasdair
with a suggestive smile.

Catriona
considered
his words. She could not blame the man for wanting to improve his home. She knew Keith could greatly help with the fortification. Plus, since she still could not find the book, she did not see the harm in agreeing…for now. “Fine, we’ll stay a while longer.”

***

Alasd
air was relieved Catriona had willingly agreed to stay. This should make it easier to convince her to live in this time permanently. If
she had felt trapped
here, her sole focus would be
on finding a means of escape. Plus, her agreement
helped assuage his guilt over keeping the book hidden from Catriona.

“How long do you think Keith will need?” she asked.

“I am nae sure,” he replied.
“
I am to meet
with Keith now
to show him what
repairs and improvements the castle needs
. Would ye like to accompany me?” At her nod, he
extended
his arm, but she
did not take the proffered appendage
. Instead, she brushed by
Alasdair to walk ahead.

Alasdair could tell by Keith’s expression he had not expected his sister to approach him so soon.
“So
you’re actually talking to me?”
asked
her brother
.

“No, I’m not talking to you,” she replied.
“
I’m just here to make sure you don’t overcommit to this ren
ovation project.”
Alasdair
briefly considered
explaining the obvious error in Catriona’s first statement to her brother
, but decided she
was still too upset to respond to that type of teasing.

“Okay, fair enough,” replied Keith.
To Alasdair he asked,
“
W
here would you like to start?”

“I think the outer walls are most critical,” began
Alasdair
as he led the
siblings
further from the center of the keep.
He showed Keith the damage the
walls had previously undergone. Then, he brought them to
the areas he felt were too weak, either structurally, or
as a means of defense
.
Keith needed to more closely examine the structure, so he left Catriona with Alasdair as he began to climb the walls.

“Keith is way too excited about this,”
muttered
Catriona as
Alasdair
found her leaning against a wall.

“How can ye tell?” he asked.

“Look
at him;
he’s cl
imbing the walls like a monkey. Keith is
so intent he does not even
notice anything else around him,” answered Catriona.
“
He used to get like this whenever he be
gan a new project back home. He
loves the
challenge
of the new and unfamiliar
.”

“Do ye think he will find this challenging enough?
” he asked.
“
My castle is nothing compared to some of the buildings ye showed me from yer home.”

“Are you kidding me?
” she asked in near disbelief.
“
Keith is like a kid in a candy shop. This will be the biggest building he has ever worked on. And to build a castle, I’m pretty sure that was one of his childhood fantasies. In fact, he even built me a castle once
or twice when we were kids so I could act own my own dream
,” she said.

“What was
yer dream?”

“Nothing. It was stupid—just something
every little girl dreamed about,
”
she explained.

“Now I must know!” exclaimed
Alasdair
.

“Fine,” she said before finishing the rest of the sentence hurriedly,
“
I would pretend I was secretly a princess and that I had met my prince charming who would sweep me off my feet and take me to live with him in his castle happily-ever-after.”
Alasdair had trouble hearing some of what she said, but the thought he had heard the most critical details.

“Well, I may nae be a prince…”

“And you most certainly aren’t charming,” muttered Catriona.

“A
c
h,
now there I must disagree
,”
insisted
Alasdair
as he moved
away from the wall to face her. He encased
Catriona between his chest and the stones. “If I was nae
charming
, would I be able to do this?”

Catriona laughed at his antics. “Okay,
okay,
I’ll agree you have a very charming smile.” She patted him on his cheek to further emphasize
her acknowledgement. Unwilling to let this opportunity pass
,
Alasdair
caught her wrist in his hand. He gently turned her palm
so he could place a
light kiss on the sensitive flesh
. He
used the caress to determine how willing she was to accept his touch
; the heated blush in her cheeks provided the answer he needed.

Despite her body’s response, she said, “
Alasdair
don’t…”

Alasdair silenced her protestation with a short, passionate kiss
. “I ken ye eventually intend to leave. But be warned, I intend to do everything I can to convince ye
that yer place is here with me
.”

***

Traitorous, stupid body!
Rather than feeling relieved at
Alasdair
’s quick departure, Cat felt bereft. She could not deny the attraction she felt for the man, she had never tried.
Why else would she have let herself have a fling with the man—something she had never seriously contemplated before this misadventure.
But,
his pull was merely physical
.
Sure, keep lying to yourself.

Cat knew it was more than just
attraction which had drawn her to Alasdair
—
he was just one of those ‘one-in-a-million’ type of guys
. How many times had she sat around thinking about how wonderful and funny he was?
I just need to accept the fact he is going to be ‘
the one that got away,
’
b
ecause if I don’t start avoiding him like the plague, I could be in
some
serious trouble.

Catriona’s
attempts
to avoid
Alasdair
had proved
to be
c
ompletely futile—
like
‘you will be assimilated’ futile
.
I really should kill Keith for getting me hooked on Star Trek!
Alasdair
must have enlisted the entire keep to
help with his goal of convincing her to stay.

For the past two weeks, Cat had had to contend with suddenly being abandoned
by whomever she
was with whenever
Alasdair
had
approached (because of course
, they would want some privacy.)
Or, if Alasdair was nowhere near, she had had to listen to a litany of his
many great qualities and attributes.
As if I didn’t already know these things.
At this point, Cat was pretty sure th
at even if she did agree to marry the man,
it would be a sin—because
Alasdair
was obviously the pope!

Sadly, but unsurprisingly, e
ven Ailsa was in on the act. At first, she had been subtle, but
now she appeared to be trying the
more direct approach. “Ye know,
Alasdair
would make ye a good husband.”

“I never said he wouldn’t.”

“Then why do ye resist?”
asked Ailsa.

Catriona had grown tired of answering these questions. Her arguments had begun to sound
increasingly
weak without being
able to explain
she si
mply did not belong in this century. “I just can’t,
”
she sighed.

“But why?
He is good, and kind, and loyal.”
Oh boy, here we go again.
“
And I am sure he would provide ye with more than enough bairns,” said Ailsa.
Catriona heard a snort from the back of the room. She glared daggers at Lainie who had been in the back of the room since Ailsa had started her assault.
“What
? What did I miss?” But then
realization came over Ailsa
’s face
. “Ye mean to tell me ye are carrying my niece or nephew and ye
still intend
to simply leave? Catriona, I had nae thought ye could be so cruel!”

“I am sure she never meant to be cruel
,
Ailsa,” interrupted Lainie
in an attempt to get back into Catriona’s good graces
. “It cannae be easy to
find yerself in a strange land
in her situation.
But, if ye must insist on pestering her so, at least help me get her dressed
.”

Catriona had not noticed before, but the dress
Lainie held
was far more beautiful than anything she had worn
since she had arrived
.
Ailsa also appeared to be in her best finery. “What is going on
?
” asked Cat. “You all aren’t planning on surprising me with a priest or anything are you?”

“Laird
MacKinnon is here this evening,” answered Ailsa.

“Wait, who?” asked Cat. She was completely confused.

“Laird MacKinnon,” repeated Ailsa. “
Alasdair
has grown increasingly concerned about the activities of the Camerons, so he wrote MacKinnon asking for possible aid.”

“Your clans are allies?”

“Nay,
we are closer to enemies,” responded Ailsa.

“So, why would he agree exactly?” asked Cat.

“Because
we both have had troubles with the Camerons,” answered Ailsa.