To Catch a Highlander: A Highland Erotic Romance by Krystal LaCroix

that I had not brought my male disguise with me, for there was no question of a lady entering any of the pubs I saw along the high street. Under other circumstances I might well throw caution to the wind and at least try to get a pint, however small my chance of success, but I was wary of drawing such attention to myself when Ewan was likely on my trail. And so I wandered about, searching every side street for an eating house of some repute and also trying to spot places that might be in want of a new barmaid.
    Just as I thought my hunger was to get the best of me, my eyes fell upon a lovely cottage squeezed between two large stone bu ildings, with gabled windows and a waft of smoke from the chimney that promised a late luncheon. With a sigh of relief, I tethered Honey and smoothed out my dress as best I could, and stepped inside. I shall never know whether or not I was aware of the lady of the house taking note of my arrival as I ambled up the path, but in the eye of my memory that is now how I always imagine it.
    Whether I had noticed her or not beforehand, she was present and friendly when I entered the otherwise-empty dining room. “ Welcome, madam!” she said. “A table for you?”
    “If you please, yes. I am absolutely famished.”
    “I shouldn’t wonder, at this time of day. Would you care to start with some scotch broth with lamb?”
    “Why, that is my favourite soup!” I said, never thinking I was stepping into any sort of trap, undoubtedly because I was so very hungry.
    “Very good, then, I shall have that for you shortly,” she said.
    “Thank you,” I said. Alone for the moment in the lush dining room, with all the tables set and ready for the dinner hour, I relaxed and let my guard down just far enough to have it bounce back up and smack me between the eyes. Was it too good to be true that the lady had offered me my favourite soup without even showing me a menu? Why, of course it was! But Ewan could hardly be behind any of this, I reasoned, and with that I resolved to enjoy my late lunch and be on my way.
    Only then did I recall that I would also require work if I were to make it on my own in Inverness, and this looked like a lovely place to earn one’s keep. And so it was that when she reappeared with the soup a few minutes later, I straightened up in my seat and smiled as broadly as I could in my condition. “I say, madam, I intended to ask as well after your need for other ladies to work here?”
    “Why yes, I do need a barmaid,” she said. “Perhaps you would like to discuss the opportunity with my lord.”
    “I certainly would,” I said, also nodding thanks for the soup as she set it before me.
    “Well, as luck would have it, here he is,” she said, pointing toward the door just behind me. Excited now at the fast turnaround in my fortunes, I turned to see the door open,and who should walk in but Ewan!
    “Dear God,” I said, throwing my spoon down in resignation. “How?”
    “I know many a shortcut into the city,” he s aid, sitting down across from me uninvited. “And I know you. Margaret here is an old family friend, and knowing you would not be able to disguise yourself as a man this time, the list of eating houses to which you would even have access was fairly short. Even if you did not appear this very afternoon, I had little doubt you would find your way here before long. So I paid Margaret a visit, and asked her to notify me if anyone should ask for scotch broth with lamb.” He gave me a knowing nod as I recalled all the many times I had requested that opener for our dinner when I was younger.
    “I’m terribly sorry, Lady Douglas,” Margaret said. “But I assure you this is for your own good. A city like this is no place for a young woman who has never been on her own befo re.”
    “I have been on my own for most of my life,” I grumbled. “That is the very problem!”
    Ewan took his hat off; I could see from his face that he regretted the faux-pas of not doing so