Good Girl Gone Plaid(65)

He pulled away, winked and then returned to the line of competitors.

“Mom?” Emily’s voice rose in disbelief. “Ian just kissed you! Does that mean he’s your boyfriend?”

Crap. First Ian had thrown the perfect caber toss, and then thrown them both past the point of no return.



What had driven him to do it?

Ian ignored Colin’s questioning gaze and kept his attention on Aleck, who was taking his turn in the toss.

Even though he watched his brother, his mind was on Sarah. He’d kissed her in front of everyone. He’d been on a high from such a successful toss. And everything male and primal inside of him had wanted to celebrate it by kissing his woman.

His woman. He’d officially started thinking of Sarah as his again. When? After learning about Emily? No, it had been before that. Even if he’d tried to deny it to himself.

He slid his gaze away from his brother and looked at Sarah again. She was looking right back at him and shaking her head. Her look clearly screaming what the hell was that?

The bouncing figure of his daughter caught his attention next. Her face was plastered with a huge smile, and she kept pointing his way. When she noticed him watching, she waved and then gave a thumb’s-up.

Apparently Emily approved of the kiss. Which might not be a good thing depending on what decision Sarah chose to make about their future.

He gave her a thumb’s-up and grin, before watching Aleck make a fantastic toss of the caber. Colin went next and did equally well.

The rest of the day passed quickly. After the Parade of Clans he explored the grounds with Emily and Sarah. To his surprise Emily didn’t say one word about the kiss—which he assumed meant Sarah had instructed her not to.

“Can I have a sword?” Emily plucked a play sword from a stand at one of the vendors and waved it in the air.

“I’ll get it for you.”

Sarah arched a brow and leaned toward him. “Spoiling her already, I see.”

“Of course,” he whispered back, not that Emily would’ve heard them with the way she was swinging her sword around at an invisible opponent. “I’ve got a lot of years to make up for.”

He’d meant it to be a joke, but the flash of guilt in her eyes made him realize it had been kind of a crap thing to say.

“Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. You’re right.” She gave a brief smile. “And she’ll love the sword.”

He’d just finished paying for the toy when someone slammed into him from the side.

“Well hello, young lovers.” Aleck’s booming voice drew several glances from people nearby.

Not about to let the friendly attempt to knock him down go, Ian gave him a forceful nudge right back, but his brother didn’t move an inch.

Ah, but then he hadn’t been caught off guard.

“You did great in the caber toss. All you guys did.” Sarah’s tone bordered on shy, as if she were a bit embarrassed with the visible shift in her and Ian’s relationship.

All because you kissed her. Ah well, it wasn’t as if his family hadn’t known he and Sarah were heading in that direction, right?

His brother’s attention turned to Sarah. “Well thank you, luv. I’m glad you could make it out today. You brought Emily, I trust?”

Ian nodded and gestured to Emily, who stood a few feet away, swinging her sword at a metal pole holding up a tent.

“Emily, come meet Aleck.”

She lowered the foam sword to her side and bounced over.

“Hi.” She lifted her head to stare up at him. “Who are you?”

“I’m your uncle.”

Shite!

This time Ian did succeed in shoving his brother hard enough to stumble.

All the while Sarah’s mouth hung open a bit and she’d lost a shade of coloring.

“My uncle?” Emily repeated, looking from Aleck to her mom. “No you’re not. I don’t have any uncles.”

Aleck cleared his throat. “Uhmm…”

“You just told a lie, and that’s totally not good.” She laughed and rolled her eyes, before skipping back to look at the tent full of goodies.

“We’ve not told the lass yet, you daft idiot.”

Aleck’s brows rose as he glanced between Ian and Sarah. “You haven’t? Any reason why?”

“We wanted to give her an afternoon to get to know you all without any pressure,” Sarah explained. “To let her see what the McLaughlins were about.”

Aleck grinned. “Beyond whisky and troublemaking you mean?”

“Aye, beyond that.” Ian glowered at his brother. “We’ll tell her soon, though.”

“I was thinking tonight would be good,” Sarah murmured.

Ian hadn’t been sure she would be ready yet, but one glance in Sarah’s eyes showed her resolve.