If she’d conjured the perfect room, this would have been it.
His manners might be lacking, but his taste was impeccable. Or his wife’s, she corrected. For obviously this was a woman’s room.
Because the idea should have relieved her, she ignored the little sinking sensation in her belly and satisfied her curiosity by opening the opal bottle.
Wasn’t that strange? she thought after a sniff. The bottle held her favorite perfume.
3
FLYNN had a stiff whiskey before he dealt with the food. It hit him like a hot fist.
Thank God there were still some things a man could count on.
He would feed his woman—for she was unquestionably his—and he would take some care with her. He would see to her comfort, as a man was meant to do, then he would let her know the way things were to be.
But first he would see that she was steadier on her feet.
The dining hall fireplace was lit. He had the table set with bone china, heavy silver, a pool of fragrant roses, the delicacy of slim white candles and the jewel sparkle of crystal.
Then closing his eyes, lifting his hands palms out, he began to lay the table with the foods that would please her most.
She was so lovely, his Kayleen. He wanted to put the bloom back in her cheeks. He wanted to hear her laugh.
He wanted her.
And so, that was the way things would be.
He stepped back, studied his work with cool satisfaction. Pleased with himself, Flynn went out again to wait at the base of the stairs.
And as she came down toward him, his heart staggered in his chest. “Speirbhean.”
Kayleen hesitated. “I’m sorry?”
“You’re beautiful. You should learn the Gaelic,” he said, taking her hand and leading her out of the hall. “I’ll teach you.”
“Well, thank you, but I really don’t think that’ll be necessary. I really want to thank you, too, for taking me in like this, and I wonder if I might use your phone.” A little detail, Kayleen thought, that had suddenly come to her.
“I have no telephone. Does the gown please you?”
“No phone? Well, perhaps one of your neighbors might have one I can use.”
“I have no neighbors.”
“In the closest village,” she said, as panic began to tickle her throat again.
“There is no village. Why are you fretting, Kayleen? You’re warm and dry and safe.”
“That may be, but…how do you know my name?”
“You told me.”
“I don’t remember telling you. I don’t remember how I—”
“You’ve no cause to worry. You’ll feel better when you’ve eaten.”
She was beginning to think she had plenty of cause to worry. The well-being she’d felt upstairs in that lovely room was eroding quickly. But when she stepped into the dining room, she felt nothing but shock.
The table was large enough to seat fifty, and spread over it was enough food to feed every one of them.
Bowls and platters and tureens and plates were jammed end to end down the long oak surface. Fruit, fish, meat, soups, a garden of vegetables, an ocean of pastas.
“Where—” Her voice rose, snapped, and had to be fought back under control. “Where did this come from?”
He sighed. He’d expected delight and instead was given shock. Another thing a man could count on, he thought. Women were forever a puzzle.
“Sit, please. Eat.”
Though she felt little flickers of panic, her voice was calm and firm. “I want to know where all this food came from. I want to know who else is here. Where’s your wife?”
“I have no wife.”
“Don’t give me that.” She spun to face him, steady enough now. And angry enough to stand and demand. “If you don’t have a wife, you certainly have a woman.”
“Aye. I have you.”
“Just…stay back.” She grabbed a knife from the table, aimed it at him. “Don’t come near me. I don’t know what’s going on here, and I’m not going to care. I’m going to walk out of this place and keep walking.”
“No.” He stepped forward and neatly plucked what was now a rose from her hand. “You’re going to sit down and eat.”
“I’m in a coma.” She stared at the white rose in his hand, at her own empty one. “I had an accident. I’ve hit my head. I’m hallucinating all of this.”
“All of this is real. No one knows better than I the line between what’s real and what isn’t. Sit down.” He gestured to a chair, swore when she didn’t move. “Have I said I wouldn’t harm you? Among my sins has never been a lie or the harm of a woman. Here.” He held out his hand, and now it held the knife. “Take this, and feel free to use it should I break my word to you.”