Kiwi Bride Series: Highland Kiss (8 page)

Alec heard Brian say hi,
and told Susan to say hi back for him.

“
Alec, I have to go now.
We’re going out to lunch,” Susan said excitedly.

“
All right then, have
fun,” Alec replied and hung up. He threw the BlackBerry on the
table, left the drawing room, and went up the stairs.

At Ruby’s door, he
unlocked it and stepped inside. He took two steps and immediately
halted.

He halted not because he
physically couldn’t move, but because of the sight he beheld before
him. It took his breath away.

She was fast asleep on the
Georgian sofa. He couldn’t help staring at her. She looked like an
angel sleeping there so peacefully with the afternoon sunlight
beaming over her.

He moved toward her and
stood beside the sofa, studying her.

Since he first set eyes on
her, he couldn’t seem to stop looking at her. She was so unique.
Her oval face was flawless and smooth, her perfectly arched black
eyebrows rested above her slightly slanted eyes; her nose was
straight, and those generous, full lips of hers—lips any model or
celebrity would envy and strive for in vain, using Botox and
surgery to achieve such perfection.

Instinctively, he wanted
to touch her lips. He was just about to act on his irresistible
urge when she opened her eyes—dark brown orbs that looked at him
without any recognition.

Ruby focused her eyes so
that she could see him better, for she had no contact lenses in.
Her darned glasses were with her other belongings, and he hadn’t
yet given those back to her.

“
What’s your name?” she
asked, sitting up. “And I want my glasses, if you don’t
mind.”

Alec hid a grin. No wonder
she narrowed her eyes at him. It was because she couldn’t see
properly. Good, then she wouldn’t think about running away. He was
sure she’d probably get lost on the way and trip over things
because she couldn’t see properly.

“
Alec, and nay, you will
not be getting your glasses back until the time comes,” he said,
shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans to avoid his stupid
urge of wanting to touch her lips.

“
Beast,” she hissed at
him, standing up so quickly that the room started spinning before
her. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply and slowly. She had to
remember not to do that again. As well as staying calm.

Alec couldn’t help
noticing her skin—which was fair, and smooth from where he could
see because the collar of the shirt dropped down over her right
shoulder. He could almost see her breasts, and his mind started
reeling with imagination.

Shit!

God, he hadn’t been with a
woman for three months; and now, this mere slip of a woman was
turning him on. He better stop it this instant.

“
Is that what you wanted
to see me about?” he asked, glancing away.

“
Of course. That, and I
want you to release me from this room this instant.”

Alec hid his smile.
There she goes again, another order.

“
I can’t do that. You’d
run away, and I don’t want you to get lost.”

“
I won’t get lost, you brute, I’m a grown woman,” she
blurted out.
How old does he
think I am? He acts like I’m a three-year-old child!

“
Aye, a grown woman who
doesn’t know her way around,” he said, walking to the
door.

He was dismissing her, she realized.
Oh no!
Not
just yet. She wanted him to release her, and intended to make sure
he did just that.

“
I’m sure I can find my
way around. Besides, it’s illegal to imprison someone without
obtaining prior consent. I’m sure it’s the same here in, er,
Britain.”

He continued walking to the door. Panicked when he would
not listen to her logical reasoning, she shouted, “Mr. Alec Cook,
if you don’t let me out this instant, I will do
something—
something
—I warn
you.”

Mr. Alec Cook? Where in
God’s name did she get that from?

“
Well, we’ll see what you
can do, my dear,” he said as he closed the door behind him before
turning the key and locking it.

“
Oh, that man!” she mumbled.
But what can I do being stuck in here?
She tried the knob anyway, just in case he
hadn’t locked it properly.

It was locked
tightly.

Darn the man!
She
kicked the door with her bare foot.

What should I
do?

She sat down on the bed
and groaned—that’s just what she did.

I hate him! I hate him! I
hate him! I hope he burns in hell when he dies.

There was nothing to do except lie there and think.
Think, Ruby, think what you could do
to get out of here. If only I could persuade him.

She sat up.

That’s right.
If only
she could persuade him to let her leave this room. If she were to
ask—
no
—assure him that she wouldn’t run away, perhaps
he’d let her out of the wretched room.

Excited now, she smiled.
She planned to wait for him to come and look in on her before she’d
ask him.

She waited and waited and
waited, but at the end of that day, he still didn’t turn up. He
jilted her, she realized in irritation.

“
Will—will Alec look in on
me?” she asked Mrs. McKenzie, when she came in to retrieve the
silver tray after her dinner.

Mrs. McKenzie couldn’t hide her grin.
So! The little lass misses her lover. Poor wee
thing.
She must have been
striving very hard to get Alec’s undivided attention. Apparently,
it didn’t seem to work, however, since Alec hardly paid her any
mind at all. And this door-locking business, she could only assume
was for the lass’s own good. After that first night when she heard
her screaming; and later leaving the room in a state of mess; and
the way Alec held her, as if to prevent her from getting hurt, the
old woman knew right then the lass was suicidal. That was the
reason why Alec was locking her in, to save her from harming
herself. Consequently, she immediately informed her staff to take
particular care with Alec’s girlfriend.

“
Not sure, lassie, Master
Alec dunna say anythin’.”

“
I’m sorry? I didn’t
understand you,” Ruby said, frowning.

“
Lassie, ’tis ‘ard
understandin’ ya, too,” the housekeeper said. She patted Ruby’s arm
before taking the tray away, and locking the door when she
left.

Ruby went to the bed and
sat down.

The darn man! I hope he
burns two times in hell when he dies.

She didn’t know when she
fell asleep, but the next time she opened her eyes, it was morning.
The sun was beautiful, and she wished she could go outside and
breathe in the fresh country air.

Arising, she rushed to the window and scanned the outside.
She beheld a glorious view of green hills rolling over more green
hills. At the far left from where she stood, she could see the
woods stretching all the way to her right side until they
disappeared from sight. There was also a stream running across the
land. It was a serenely beautiful vista.

The door opened, and Ruby
turned to see Lizzie bringing in her breakfast tray.

“
G’mornin’, lassie,”
Lizzie said cheerfully.

“
Good morning to you, too.
It’s so beautiful outside, I wish I could go out and breathe the
fresh air. It seems so stuffy in here,” she groaned, looking out
longingly.

“
Why don’t ya
go?”

Ruby’s ears pricked up as
she blinked and glanced at the maid.

Did I hear her right? Or was it just my imagination?
After all, she could hardly
understand the woman, or anyone else, for that matter, in this damn
place except that blasted, too-handsome-for-his-own-good Mr. Cook
who neglected to look in on her yesterday.

She reached for a piece of the toast and took a bite, her
mind whirring with plans. She finished her toast and took a sip of
the tea. It was nice, and she drank the rest of it, draining the
teacup empty. That pleased Lizzie mightily because it was her own
concoction. There would be none of those no-good commercial teas
for Alec and his lady guest.

“
Ye full, lassie?” Lizzie
asked gleefully.

Ruby nodded, and Lizzie
tidied up.

As Lizzie moved toward the
door, Ruby followed.

So far, so good. No sudden
alarm yet.

Lizzie moved out the door,
and Ruby did the same.

Outside her room, she scanned down the corridor and
gasped.
Good Lord, the place
was huge and very elegant. Just like in a castle.

Lizzie turned to look at
her.

Ruby held her breath as
the woman watched her. “Ya afraid o’ gittin' lost?”

Ruby sighed with relief
and nodded.

“
Ya follow me then,”
Lizzie said.

Ruby’s heart soared with
happiness. She gratefully followed the woman.

They came down the grand
stairs to the first floor. Ruby noticed the corridor was elegantly
decorated with antique furniture, urns and priceless treasures.
There were also lots of portraits—portraits of people wearing
historic costumes dating from medieval times, and the Renaissance,
to the Regency and Victorian periods, and so on until today. Some
of the men looked a lot like Alec, which was stupid, of
course.

Finally, they came to the
ground floor landing.

Looking around, Ruby found
the corridor decorated in much the same way as the first. It was
also beautifully refurbished with antique furniture and other
priceless urns and objects. She smiled when she saw at the center
of the grand foyer a large vase with a coral peony arrangement, her
favorite flower. She gently touched the beautiful, rich pink
petals.

“
Ya like the flowers,
lassie?” Lizzie asked, feeling rather proud indeed, for that was
her very own arrangement.

Even though Ruby could
hardly understand the maid, she nodded.

“
Where d’ya fancy goin’?”
Lizzie asked.

Ruby tried to figure out
what the woman said. She got the word “goin’” at the end. Oh,
right, where would she like to go? Ruby grinned and said, “Er,
books, is there, er, um—”

“
Aye, the library.” Lizzie
strolled toward the end of the corridor, and Ruby quickly followed
her.

The woman stopped and
flung one of the doors open.

Ruby widened her eyes when
she saw the library, as the sight took her breath away. It was very
large, and stacked with books she could never have imagined any
house could contain. The room was even bigger than the ground-floor
medical library, which she often frequented during her university
years back in Dunedin.

“
Thank you…
um…?”

“
Lizzie, lassie,” the
woman replied before she left.

Once the maid was gone,
Ruby rushed into the room and shut the door quietly behind her.
Despite that she loved books and wished she could leisurely browse
through them all, she had to ignore that urge and find a way to
escape.

She sprinted to the large
window and tried the lock. As she struggled to get it open, she
heard him. His voice was loud, but incoherent. She recognized
Lizzie’s voice as well. Then she heard the woman saying something
about her name.

Oh, God, hurry! Why won’t
this damn window open?

She struggled with the
lock, and just when she was about to give up, managed to fling the
stubborn window open.

She heard his footsteps
rushing along the hallway toward the door as she nervously climbed
onto the window and jumped down. She landed with a thud! on the
grass, and instantly shot up and raced across the field.

Alec was at the door when
he saw her running across the field toward the stream. He dashed to
the window, hurdled over it, and chased after her in a full
sprint.

“
Ruby!” he
shouted.

Ruby wasn’t listening, or
looking back either. All she knew was she had to get
away—fast.

Just then, Alec saw
Bernard with Storm. They were going toward the stables.
“Bernard!”

The man saw his signal and
pulled Storm over to Alec.

Alec was impatient. He
raced toward them, grabbing the reins from Bernard’s hands, before
climbing onto the saddle and kicking the horse hard in its
side.

In response, Storm started
galloping fast toward the stream.

Ruby felt she was far
enough away that it was safe to look back. He could not catch her
now.

Glancing behind her, instead of seeing him tiring of the
chase and allowing her to escape, to her horror, she saw him now
pursuing her on horseback.

She nearly died of fear,
for the giant man and beast galloping after her looked so much like
a Scottish warrior charging into war in medieval times, especially
because he seemed so big and forboding.