Chapter 4

"What!" Scarlett hissed and tried desperately to pull away from him.

But Arran kept her close and asked her again, "What about a marriage, Scarlett?"

"What? No. Wait!"

I've made a horrible mistake…

Scarlett shook her head. "Me faither will never agree to this!"

Arran's boyish grin and tousled hair left her knees even weaker than they were before.

"This is maddening, Lair—Arran! Ye're daft."

Arran let her push herself away from him and patiently waited for her to continue the argument.

"Ye're just messing with me. Ye dinnae actually have any intention of helping me, do ye? Just—Ye're just having a laugh…"

They remained in the darkness of the hallway, and he never took his eyes off her as he explained, "I need a bride. A Lady of Clan McLaren, ye ken? Me sister and council are pressuring me to marry. So, this"—he gestured between them—"this is perfect."

His explanation was far less romantic than she had ever thought a proposal would sound, even one that might have come from Reuben Buchan.

"See, I would get the pressures off me, for a year, and ye would be free of the inevitable match with Reuben. Though, I'd need to focus on being the Laird of this clan for now and the running of Castle McLaren," Arran continued.

"Just—Would this be just a handfasting, or would it be an actual marriage?" she muttered.

He answered just as quickly, "It would just be for the year and one day, lass. Handfasted by the end of this week. But ye still have to give me yer answer."

He looked perfectly at ease standing in front of her, as if he didn't just ask a total stranger to fake an engagement with him.

Arran pushed off the wall and placed Scarlett's hands on his shoulders. Her hands slipped down to his chest as he towered over her, and she tilted her head up.

"That's right, lass," he whispered, and his chin dipped so his eyes met hers. "I can still kiss ye if ye wish?"

"No," Scarlett said, shaking her head, "I dinnae want ye to kiss me anymore."

Arran's chest vibrated with a deep, resonant laugh. His smile was wide but held a hint of mischief and an unspoken secret.

"Are ye sure, Scarlett?" His voice was low, and his breath was warm against her skin as his head dipped lower, bringing his lips tantalizingly close to hers.

Me name on his lips…

"Ye ken, ye said that out loud, lass…"

His other hand crept around her waist to rest on her lower back.

Shite…

"And that, too, Scarlett."

Arran inhaled her need for his kiss when the sudden cool air hit her flushed face and shocked her enough to take a step backward, out of his arms. She leaned against the wall for balance, and she saw that the look on his face was once again cold and calculating.

"What's wrong, lass?" he asked casually, and she felt the sudden urge to wipe the smirk off his face.

"Ye'll have to court me, Arran Williams," she demanded sternly. "And, by the time our agreement ends, ye will find me a respectable man to marry, or else I'll be ruined."

Scarlett crossed her arms over her chest to mask her heaving chest.

I need the upper hand in this agreement, or else this entire situation will end with me at the center of a scandal.

"Fine," Arran relented.

"I'll nae be a broken, unworthy, or somehow disagreeable woman at the end of this—it would be shameful. We have to make them believe it."

"Done."

"The handfasting ceremony, will we do it at Castle McLaren?"

"Yes, at the end of this week. Where else would we do it?"

"Will we have witnesses?"

"Of course."

Scarlett bit her cheek, thinking about the details of the plan, but Arran knew she didn't have anything else to say or ask. So, he stepped toward her again.

"If ye have any more demands, lass, let me ken. We have this week to make everyone believe us."

The heat resting low in Scarlett's stomach rose to her cheeks, and she was grateful for the darkness.

Arran cupped her face in his hands. "That willnae be a problem, right?"

"I'll play me part," Scarlett whispered.

"Now, dinnae fash yerself. I will make this proposal more romantic later this week in front of the entire clan and visiting lair?—"

His promise was cut off by a loud, sharp, piercing cry coming from the front stairwell.

* * *

Arran took off running without a second thought. He heard footsteps following behind him, and he knew they belonged to Scarlett.

Adrenaline was coursing through his veins by the time he reached the front stairwell and saw Niamh standing there, pointing down the dark stairs as if she had seen a spirit.

"Niamh! Tell me what happened, now!" He scanned her for injuries to make sure she was unharmed.

His sister continued to point and stare blankly down the dark stairwell. That's when the body came into full focus. Scarlett's gasp was all he needed to know that she had also seen the body lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs.

"Stay here," Arran commanded as he bounded down the stairs.

It was young Buchan lying in a pool of his own blood. There was a huge gash in his head, as if he fell down the stairs, but he was breathing.

"Niamh, go wake Laird Donaldson, now! I'm going to take him to the surgery, so our healer can take care of him. Scarlett, go with her!" Arran called out. Then he lifted the slim man into his arms and carried him down to the surgery.

He let his healer know that the young Buchan seemed to have fallen down the front stairwell in a drunken stupor and hit his head.

Laird Donaldson was in the surgery with them in a matter of seconds.

"Zachary, over here." Arran waved him over.

Laird Donaldson walked further into the room, leaving Scarlett and Niamh by the doorway looking at all of Reuben's blood on the table and floor.

"It looks worse than it is," Arran said, trying to reassure them. "Come." He made a face to get his sister's attention, but she didn't join him.

He felt as if she was purposefully avoiding him, but he thought better of it and made a mental note to bring Scarlett around the surgery more, so she would get more tolerant of seeing blood.

I have several close friends who would see right through our charade if she doesnae have those sensibilities. Knowing how bloody the war was, and how I grew up getting into fights all the time, she would have to ken me well enough to expect blood at a gathering. Perhaps nae this much, but certainly some. I wouldnae marry a lass who dinnae at least have a strong stomach, and me friends ken that about me.

"The young Buchan, here, might have suffered worse injuries had he been found even a minute later, Me Laird," the healer stated.

"It's a good thing ye were so close by," Laird Donaldson said as the healer got to work stitching up the wounds. "Laird McLaren, ladies, I'll have to beg that ye please keep this quiet. Please. If this gets out…"

This night just keeps getting better and better…

Arran smirked and bowed his head slightly, a silent agreement to Laird Donaldson's request, and the two men turned back to watch the healer. However, Arran caught Scarlett's judgmental glare, which made his devilish smile widen despite his best effort to mask it.

I'll have to explain it to her later, so she doesnae think I'm a wretched arse.

Laird Donaldson wished to remain with his son in the surgery, so Arran bid him good night and escorted his sister and Scarlett back to their bedrooms.

"Me Laird," the healer called, catching Arran before he left the surgery, "Lady Niamh looks like she might need some tea to help her get back to sleep. I'll send Mrs. Cameron up to her room."

With a nod, he turned and walked out of the room. "Sister, Mrs. Cameron will be up shortly with some tea. It'll help ye sleep. I'll send the healer in the morn to check on ye."

"Aye, Braither. Thank ye…" Niamh said, and he turned to leave her in peace.

His housekeeper, Mrs. Cameron, has been with the family since his father assumed the Lairdship. If anyone knew how to care for them through this shocking incident, it was undoubtedly her.

Even as he pushed through the door and back out into the hallway, Arran saw the hint of candlelight coming from the stairwell and knew that it was Mrs. Cameron.

Good, she's already here.

Satisfied, he turned down the hall with Scarlett and escorted her back to the guest wing of the castle.