To Catch a Highlander by Karen Hawkins

voice lowered with false compassion. "I'm so sorry about that. Red refuses to purchase new mattress ticking when—"
    "You misunderstand," Dougal said. "I didn't intend to take a nap, just to rest. However, the bed was so comfortable that I fell asleep anyway."
    Sophia opened her mouth, then closed it. She'd spent
hours
stuffing his feather mattress with straw, wood chips, stones, and sticks. How could he possibly have slept? "How… how fortunate for you. My bed is as hard as a rock."
    He leaned forward, so close that his lapel brushed her cheek, the scent of sandalwood engulfing her as he whispered in her ear, "Perhaps you need another opinion… about your bed…"
    His warm breath teased her ear, and she shivered but rolled her eyes. "No, thank you." She glanced up the stairs. "I hope Red hurries; I am famished."
    "I am famished, as well." He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. "Perhaps we should await your father in the dining room?"
    "Of course." His casual touch was playing havoc with her equilibrium, her skin tingling as if he'd stroked her, but she managed a credible smile. "Perhaps we can find some sherry and—"
    At the top of the steps, Red's door opened, and he came out, turning his head to one side as if listening.
    Sophia took a step forward, releasing MacLean's arm. "Red! Lord MacLean and I were just going into the dining room."
    Red turned a startled look their way and hurried down the steps. "Och! MacLean, I didn't realize you'd already come downstairs. I was going to escort you to the dining hall myself and—" His foot hit the third step, his boot catching the loose board.
    Sophia started forward, but it was too late. With a loud yelp, Red toppled down in a blur of tangled arms and legs, landing at the bottom of the stairs with a sickening thud.
    ----
Chapter Five

     
    Since the time of Eve, women've born the brunt of takin' care o' the ill Meanwhile, men have done what they could to be the worst ill folk in the world. Life's simply not fair to the fairer sex.
    Old Woman Nora from Loch Lomond to her three wee granddaughters one cold evening
     
    More than an hour later, Sophia came down stairs, pausing at the loose third step. She regarded it sullenly, then lifted her skirts to kick it. She pulled back her foot and—
    "That won't fix it, you know." MacLean stood at the bottom of the stairs, arms crossed over his broad chest, amusement in his green eyes, his dark blond hair falling over his brow.
    She dropped her skirts back over her ankles. "I know, but it might make me feel better." She came the rest of the way down the steps. "Thank you for riding for the doctor."
    "It was the least I could do. How is your father?"
    "He's asleep now, thanks to the laudanum." She peeped up at MacLean. "I suppose you heard him yelling as the doctor set his leg."
    "I never knew there were so many rude words in the English language. Or French, German, Italian, Latin, or… there was another language I didn't quite recognize."
    "Greek."
    He paused, his eyes dark. "I daresay he is not happy that his daughter is now unchaperoned. A gentleman would bid his adieu."
    "You can't leave!"
    The words hung in the air. Sophia hid a wince and said again, in a more measured tone, "I'm sorry. I'm distraught over my father."
    MacLean gave her a devastatingly sexy half-smile. "You misunderstood me; I said, a
gentleman
would bid his adieu." His voice, low and soft, rolled over her senses like liquid silk. "Fortunately for us both, I am not a gentleman."
    "No?" She flicked a finger at the lace on his wrist. "You dress like one."
    "I dress like a dandy. Or, as my oldest brother, Alexander, often says, like a 'damned dandy.'"
    Her lips quirked. "Your brother sounds a bit harsh."
    "You have no idea." He smiled. "As I was saying, dressing fashionably does not make me a gentleman."
    "Fine. You are not a gentleman, and I am far from a child," she returned with a lofty wave of her hand. "I don't need my father's presence for protection."
    "But