My Fair Lily (10 page)

Ewan let out a sharp, laughing gasp as she started to move back up his body. “Better no’, lass. That isn’t going to work.”

“Well, I... I could—”

He began to laugh in earnest, a glorious, deep rumble that she found irresistible. No longer able to stifle the urge bubbling inside of her, she simply gave in and began to laugh as well. They were well
and truly wedged, and had no delicate way out of this situation.

She was practically atop Ewan.

Meggie and Eloise were gaping at them, seemingly unable to
move, or afraid to move for fear of worsening the situation.

Then Jasper pushed her, and suddenly, she
was
atop Ewan.

Her legs tangled between his thighs.

Her breasts intimately pressed against his chest.
And loving it.
Not that her breasts had a mind of their own. They didn’t. Though if
breasts could ever be happy, hers were.

Jasper, enjoying what he thought was a game, jumped atop her.

Ewan let out a groan that seemed to rise from the depths of his
soul. “Lass, I’m... och, Jasper, ye looby! Ye’re killing me.”

Lily knew she’d struck his ribs with her sharp elbow and struck other parts of him that should not be mentioned. “I’m so sorry. Are you hurt?”

He seemed to have trouble breathing. Oh, dear! Was he in that much pain? No, he was laughing. Why was he still laughing? He
enveloped
her in his magnificently muscled arms and used his booted foot to
gently shove Jasper off her. “No, lass. Are you?”

She wasn’t feeling any discomfort. Quite the opposite, she felt
quite light and deliciously boneless. “I feel perfect.”

“Lass... I’m... bollix.” He lifted her off him with the speed of a hummingbird’s wings and half tossed, half deposited her on the soft
sofa cushions. Then he grunted to his feet beside her, still breathing unsteadily as he ran a hand through his hair. He gazed at her with an odd expression on his face. She couldn’t quite decipher it. Perhaps confusion. Or was it unbridled horror?

“No harm done, Mr. Cameron. My gown may be a bit rumpled, but it remains intact.”

“It isn’t the frock I was worried about.” He stared down at her,
his eyes dark and roiling with sensations she still didn’t understand.

She smiled and slowly rose to face him. “It strikes me, Mr. Cameron, that you and I must work on our introductions. Every time we meet, someone ends up flat on their back. Usually me.
Fortunately, this time it was you. I think it would have been a lot messier had you fallen atop me, your weight on my body.”

Your glorious, crushing weight.

As she thought about it, her cheeks began to flame. Discomfort
always made her sputter and ramble. “And speaking of weights and bodies,” she said, pausing to sputter and let out a nervous titter.
Stop talking!
Of course, she couldn’t. Another titter. Another sputter. “It brings to mind one of Galileo’s experiments. Quite fascinating. Did you know he climbed to the top of the Tower of Pisa with a pair of heavy balls, and when he reached the top he dropped his balls—”

“Lily!” Eloise let out a burst of laughter, reminding her that she
and Ewan were not alone. “Child, how you do go on!”

Of course. She was rambling and making a fool of herself, something
that couldn’t be helped while Ewan held her in his arms. How did she get
back in his arms? No matter. She wasn’t complaining. He was silently
laughing. About to explode with laughter. She could feel his shoulders
shake beneath her palms. “Well, you get the point. No need for me to go
on.”

There was nothing funny about Galileo’s experiment. It proved an important point about the laws of gravity, but it was no use
continuing the explanation. “Obviously, no one appreciates Galileo’s balls.”

Ewan opened his mouth to say something, glanced at Eloise, and
then changed his mind and snapped it shut. He removed his hands from her waist and took a step back, this time careful to avoid Jasper, who was still underfoot, his tail wagging and tongue hanging out of his mouth as he joyfully panted, so proud that he’d obeyed her
command to sit. “Your days are numbered,” Ewan said, scowling at the dog.

Jasper scrambled to his feet, scurried over to Ewan, and began to lick his hand. Ewan sighed and patted him affectionately on the head.

“Well, that was most extraordinary,” Eloise said. She turned to Ewan’s stricken sister. “See, Meggie, even your perfect brother can
make a complete ass of himself. You will notice that the sky hasn’t fallen. The walls haven’t crumbled down around us.”

Meggie, her lips now quivering, glanced at Eloise and promptly burst into tears.

Lily sighed. She had her work cut out with the girl.

***

After calming Meggie and righting Eloise’s elegant tea cups—
which had been tipped over but not chipped or broken in the debacle—Ewan
managed to settle down with the ladies to afternoon tea and a
discussion about what was needed to make Meggie’s stay
in London pleasant. He didn’t think anything would help, but Eloise and Lily were game to try and he was grateful for their assistance.

Conversation flowed smoothly, though he participated very little. His thoughts were still on Lily and the way she’d fit so perfectly against his hard frame. She’d been atop him. Soft, warm, the look in her eyes warning that she’d be willing to let him do
anything to her that he wished. He’d wanted to kiss her beautiful lips for starters, then kiss his way down to her lush, perfect breasts... and further down to taste the heat between her thighs.

Bollix!

Eloise would bludgeon him with that cake knife now in her hands if she knew the manner of his thoughts. Damn. The wily old dowager probably knew exactly what he was thinking. He braced himself for the
private conversation between them that was sure to follow, Eloise
eager to lecture him about his marital status and the need to find himself a proper wife.

He wasn’t looking for a wife. Wasn’t going to happen. Not while
he was in London fulfilling that damnable promise to his father. He needed to pay full attention to his malicious, manipulative
grandfather, and he didn’t need a female to distract him.

Especially one as distracting as Lily.

Problem was, almost an hour had passed since he and Lily had been lying on the elegantly carpeted floor with their bodies plastered to each other and their limbs entwined. He had yet to calm his body down. Damned traitorous thing was a man’s body.

Eloise interrupted his thoughts by calling for her writing paper
and pen. “Now, let’s get down to business,” she said, dipping her quill into the ink pot also provided by the ever-efficient Watling.
“Meggie, can you sing?”

“No.”

“Play an instrument?”

“The flute.”

Eloise nodded. “That’ll have to do. Can you sew? Knit?
Embroider? Paint?”

“No, no, no, and no.”

Ewan saw the panic in Meggie’s eyes and knew by the quiver in her lips that she was about to cry again. He didn’t know what to say or do, but in the next moment he realized he didn’t have to say or do anything.
Lily had all under control. “Neither can I, Meggie,” she said with
genuine
warmth. “In truth, I’m sorely lacking in almost every talent. I sing
like a bullfrog and dance with the grace of a walrus.”

“I doubt that,” Ewan said softly, which caused her to blush.
Damn, had he said that aloud?

Meggie glanced at him, then at Lily, and smiled.

Eloise saved his sorry self by moving on to topics of more general interest while desserts were served. “Mr. Cameron,” Lily
started, but he cut her short.

“About that, lass. I’m Ewan. Plain and simple. Ye needn’t be so formal.”

“Yes, but what I meant to say is that you’re a lord and I should actually be calling you by your proper title, Lord Carnach, and not—
”

“A title’s just a title. What’s important is the man who fills it.”

“Precisely my point. You fill it quite well,” she said with a blush, certainly revealing more than she intended through her innocent blue eyes, “yet you’ve never corrected my mistake. In truth, you
don’t seem to like your title.”

He sighed. “It’s being in London that I dislike. In Scotland I’m Lord Carnach... or Laird Carnach to most Highlanders, and I don’t mind at all. But here it all sounds so pompous, so condescending to those who are not as fortunate in the circumstances of their birth. That’s all it is, the
luck of the bloodstock. No valor or brilliance on my part. So call me Ewan, lass. Or Mr. Cameron. But I prefer Ewan with you. Especially
since we have so much in common.”

She tipped her head and studied him. “What do we have in common?”

He glanced at Jasper. The great, foolish beastie instantly perked up and wagged his tail. “We’ve both landed on our backs thanks to him.”

She laughed, a gentle laugh that reminded him of warm summers and lush, green meadows. “Of course. That dangerous fiend who tries to slather my face with his ridiculously wet tongue each time we meet. How is it possible for a dog to generate so much
liquid?”

Ewan couldn’t answer, for his brain had frozen at the mention of slathering and tongue and all he could think of was licking his tongue down Lily’s body and making her ridiculously wet... and hot... for him.

He was as big a looby as his dog. A bigger looby, if that were possible. Jasper’s affection for Lily was pure and innocent. His was
just hot and wicked.

Lily pursed her lips adorably, unaware of the depraved thoughts
rolling around in the mind he’d obviously lost. “Ewan,” she said
with a
nod, gracing him with a smile that set him on fire. The lass was dangerous,
had a way of turning him inside out with a mere glance of her warm and vibrant eyes.

“Dogs have wet tongues. Particularly Jasper’s breed.” His voice was little more than a strangled rasp as he struggled to fashion a response,
though none of the ladies appeared to notice the extent of his
discomfort.
Eloise was busily scribbling something on her paper, and Meggie was busy looking down at her toes as she’d done for most of this hour.

Lily noticed his sister’s shyness as well. “Meggie, have you any other relations in town?” she cheerfully blurted, unaware of what
she had just asked. “Cousins? Uncles? Family who will receive you and Ewan?”

Meggie’s gaze shot up and exchanged tense glances with him.
“We do have some.”

“Hush, Meg. They’ll no’ be helpful.”

Lily frowned. “What makes you think they won’t cooperate?”

“I just know. Leave it at that.” He was no longer smiling, for the last thing he wished to discuss was the Cameron family animosities.

“Surely, once they meet Meggie—”

“Leave it alone, lass,” he said more sternly, though he understood the reason for Lily’s persistence. She came from a big, loving family. He came from a pit of vipers.

“Would you kindly explain why?”

“I’d rather no’.”

He could practically hear her teeth grind in frustration, her agile mind attempting to get at the truth, wanting to help overcome Meggie’s fear and shyness, turn her into the engaging young lady Ewan knew
she could be, one with the confidence to handle those unfriendly
relatives if
they chose to poison her time in London. “Ewan, what’s going on? I
need to know.”

“No, you do no’.”

Unfortunately, Meggie thought otherwise. “They want Ewan dead.”

“WHY DOES EWAN’S FAMILY
want him dead?” Lily asked Eloise, once more alone with her now that Ewan and Meggie had departed. Eloise, who usually adored gossip, chose precisely that moment to repent
her ways and embrace discretion. Imagine! Lily’s trusted informant regarding all things scandalous declined to discuss the reason, advising that it wasn’t her place to say and Lily should ask Ewan.
Had the world just been tipped on its end?

Honestly, discretion was highly overrated.

And she
had
asked Ewan, tried in every way to pry the information out of him. He was like the granite rock on a cliff face. Hard, sharp. Impenetrable. She wouldn’t get anything out of him. Not ever. She’d seen his dark expression and practically felt that wall
of privacy build around him, stone by stone. Well, if he wouldn’t talk to her, that left only Meggie, assuming her brother hadn’t forced her to take a blood oath of silence.

Of course, she knew that he had.

Or if he hadn’t yet, he would before her next outing with Meggie.

Which was why Lily was still a little peeved when another box arrived for her the following morning. A very large box.

Lily had no intention of accepting it, but Dillie grabbed it out of their butler’s hands as he was about to set it on the entry hall table
and raced off with it before Lily could refuse the delivery.

Pruitt, their stoic butler, arched a bored eyebrow. He’d been with the family too long to be surprised by Dillie’s antics. “Seems
your sister has left you with no choice.”