The Lass Who Lost a Shoe Lee, Caroline (great novels .TXT) 📖

future involved walking into a person. Her tray slammed into the man’s upper arm, teetered for a moment as they both lunged for it, then tipped so the empty mugs began to slide toward the floor.

She thought she heard the man curse under his breath as he dropped to his knees the same time as she did.

“I’m so sorry!” she cried out, her attention on gathering the dropped mugs. “I wasnae looking where I was going, and I…”

Her words trailed off when the man grabbed the same mug she did. His hand closed around hers, and for a moment, they both froze. An odd sensation traveled up her arm, almost as if a spark had jumped from him to her in that moment, and she was torn between the urge to pull her hand from his or press closer.

Holding her breath, Ember allowed her eyes to travel up his arm to his shoulder, then his neck, and finally, his face. He was wearing a simple suit, as one might quite often find on a traveler who stayed at the inn, but his face…?

Oh my, but his features were—

Ember was finding it difficult to suck in another breath. She wasn’t sure she wanted to.

She knew he was a guest, one she’d seen from afar and admired a few times in the last weeks, but this was the first time she’d seen him up close.

He was darkly handsome, his hair curly under his hat, and his eyes twin pools of the warmest brown. Each feature by itself was nothing particularly special—a slightly crooked nose, a set of dimples which emerged as he slowly smiled at her intense study of him—but together, they equaled a face which made her feel quite light-headed.

Breathe, ye idiot.

Och, aye. That maybe would help.

Finally managing to suck in a breath, she blurted out, “Hullo!” And then winced.

Great. Now he thinks ye’re clumsy and an idiot.

Wait, why did it even matter what this stranger thought of her?

Still grinning, and without dropping her gaze, the man made short work of collecting the mugs to stack on her tray. Then, with one hand, he lifted it and stood. But as he did, he offered her his other hand. So—holding her breath—she took it and allowed him to lift her to her feet as well.

And that same sparky sort of sensation—tingly and warm, and oh-so-curious—traveled up her arm and settled in her chest. And…lower.

She shivered and involuntarily tightened her hold on his hand for just a moment, which, since he wasn’t wearing gloves, she could tell his hand was callused.

Delightful.

Those dimples were on full display when he lowered his chin in a slight nod and released her hand. While she tried to decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing, he offered her the tray.

“Ma’am.”

That was all he said, but the deep drawl resonated with the warmth in her stomach, and lower, and made her suck in a breath.

And then, a call from the front foyer startled them both. “Are ye coming, man? We have to get ye into yer costume!”

The stranger dipped his head once, as if taking his leave of her, then hurried off toward his companion’s call. After he disappeared, and only then, Ember’s gaze dropped to her hand, the hand he’d touched, which now gripped the tray’s edge.

He’d touched her hand, and she couldn’t recall the last time she’d been so aroused. Perhaps when she’d borrowed one of Bonnie’s books with the girl being captured by the ship of lusty pirates. But this man—this stranger—had merely smiled at her and touched her hand, and now she was pressing her thighs together like a mare in heat.

Wait, did mares worry about that sort of thing?

Lord in Heaven, I’m going mad, am I no’?

He was just a man; a guest at the inn no less. She’d seen handsome men before, and he was no different.

Trying to pretend she believed that, she hurried to return the tray of empty mugs, then lifted her serviceable gray skirts and took the back stairs two at a time to reach the family’s private sitting room.

The sight which met her pushed the stranger’s touch from her mind almost instantly.

Her sisters were stunning!

“Oh, Bonnie! Vanessa! Ye look…”

Vanessa preened. “Beautiful, I ken.” She ran one slim hand down her pink-gowned hip. “I am certain to catch the eye of one of the Prince brothers.”

“But the heir willnae be there, will he?” Bonnie asked quietly, looking uncomfortable in her golden gown. “He rarely leaves the auld castle.”

“The Beast of the Oliphants? He’ll be there tonight,” Vanessa promised. Then, with a little giggle, she swept into a twirl on her stockinged toe. “Is this gown no’ simply resplendent? I am sure some lord will fall head over heels for me tonight.”

“I dinnae doubt it,” Ember assured her, exchanging an indulgent look with Bonnie, amused by her stepsister’s vanity. “But speaking of heels…”

“Do ye have them?” Bonnie asked eagerly.

With a flourish, Ember presented her stepsisters with their shoes.

“Oh, Ember,” breathed Bonnie reverently, holding her gold slippers up to the light. “They’re…”

“They’re perfect!” squealed her sister, already seated on one of the chairs to work her foot into the shoe. “They’re going to draw so much attention when I waltz—I cannae wait!”

Ember allowed her sisters’ praise to wrap around her, her lips curling into a smile once more. “I’m excited as well.”

Before either sister could respond, their mother swept into the room. “There ye are, Ember. Have ye dropped off the shoes? Excellent.” She didn’t wait for confirmation before continuing. “Come with me. I have something I need to discuss with ye.”

Shooting Bonnie a bemused grin, Ember shrugged and followed her stepmother as Machara led her down the hall to Ember’s small room. It had been a storage room at one point, but after Da’s death, when her stepmother began to make her true feelings for Ember known, it had become Ember’s space. There was barely enough room for a small bed and a cast-off wardrobe, full of