by Darci Balogh
Before she got too involved in walking the gardens, Tawnyetta decided she would ask Bridget to join her. She left the Secret Garden to go back inside, but stopped short when she saw Shaun at the fountain in the middle of the geometric flower garden.
He noticed her at once and stopped what he was doing to stare at her. He was even dirtier than when she'd seen him before, a wheelbarrow with an open toolbox sat next to him. He must have come to fix the fountain.
Again she felt like a deer in headlights under his gaze. He was at least 20 yards away from her, with several beds of rose bushes and hedges between them, yet she felt strangely vulnerable. He did not speak or wave. He simply stood there holding a giant wrench in one hand and a dirty rag in the other, watching her calmly.
Tawnyetta felt as if she was intruding. She found herself blushing again and was surprised at the thumping of her heart in her chest. Something about this man made her react. She wasn't afraid of him. Not exactly. But he made her feel nervous, exposed.
The moment and their look went on longer than was comfortable. Tawnyetta decided she didn't owe him any explanation for her presence. Stewart had told her she had free reign of the gardens. It wasn't her fault that he was stuck working on a broken fountain while she was out on her walk. Still, she would feel much better if Bridget was here, too.
Tearing her gaze away from his Tawnyetta hurried past the garden, up the steps, and into the castle. She found Bridget in the bedroom.
Bridget had ordered breakfast in their room and taken her own luxurious bath while Tawnyetta was gone. She had also, apparently, gossiped a bit with Anne.
"Isn't this place glorious?" she asked Tawnyetta.
"It really is," she agreed.
Tawnyetta was seated in one of the chairs by the windows and had a view of the manicured flower garden below where Shaun was still working. Even from this high in the air she could see how wide his shoulders were and sense his strength. She was definitely more comfortable checking him out with four stories of stone walls to separate them. The fact that he didn't know she was looking made it easier to let her gaze linger.
"There is prince here just like I thought," Bridget said. "Or I guess they don't call him a prince. I think of him as a prince, but Anne said he's a Lord. Or 'Laird' is how they say it."
"Really?" Tawnyetta responded, still watching Shaun. She was captured by the way he hoisted what looked to be a very heavy stone off the side of the fountain wall.
"Anne said he lives here all the time, but he hardly makes himself known to guests. I guess he's quite elusive," Bridget said with a twinkle in her eye.
Tawnyetta switched her gaze to her friend's with interest. "What is that look for?"
Bridget shrugged in mock nonchalance. "Oh I don't know. What could be more distracting from one's troubles than trying to track down a handsome Scottish Laird?"
Tawnyetta smiled, "How do you know he's handsome? Maybe he's geriatric."
"Anne says he's very handsome." Bridget grinned. "Are you up for the challenge?"
"What challenge?"
"Find him. Flush him out. Make him dance with us...I don't know! It will be fun!"
"We're going to spy on a Scottish Lord in his own castle?"
Bridget nodded happily then corrected her, "A Scottish Laird."
Tawnyetta smiled again, happy to see her friend excited about something and keeping her mind off of Christopher. "Sure. Why not?"
Later, when they were strolling through the fountain garden, Tawnyetta told Bridget about the private quarters Stewart had shown her during her tour. Bridget's blue eyes grew wide with the intrigue of it all.
"Do you think that's where he lives?" she asked.
The fountain gurgled, though not at full force, and Shaun was nowhere to be seen. Tawnyetta supposed he had given up on fixing it completely and moved on to another castle project. There must be a lot to do on a huge estate like this with an ancient building to keep up. She and Bridget were strolling comfortably around the idyllic pathways like ladies from an old novel–plotting.
"Well, he didn't say specifically that's where the Laird of the castle lives, but I don't know any other place to start," Tawnyetta answered.
"Good point. Let's wait until it's quiet and we can slip away from Anne and the others," Bridget conspired, her eyes twinkling with the fun of it all.
"Excellent idea."
The opportunity for their adventure did not arise until right after teatime.
Tawnyetta had never had an official high tea before. It was quite the 'to do'. Scottish High Tea included a savory dish as well as delicious sweet goodies. It was really more like dinner with an extra layer of rich desserts. Not to mention the beautiful bone china in a charming thistle pattern that felt decidedly Scottish.
Afterward, the entire staff must have run off to a meeting or maybe to have their own tea, because the whole estate grew quiet. Though they were both stuffed from all of the good food, she and Bridget decided this was the best chance they would get to hunt down the Laird of Claymore Castle.
Bridget followed Tawnyetta to the Great Hall. They passed the weapons room and went up the side stairway that ended in another long hallway. Tawnyetta wasn't totally certain she remembered how to get to the private rooms, but recognized the doors immediately when she saw them. They were closed, as she'd expected. A tickle of excitement pinged in her belly.
"Do you think it's locked?" Bridget whispered as Tawnyetta reached for the door handle.
"Only one way to find out." She held her breath as she grabbed the door handle and pushed. It moved easily. It wasn't locked. The excitement in her stomach blossomed and she looked at Bridget who stood just behind her. Bridget's cheeks were flushed and she pressed her lips together in an attempt to stay quiet.
"You ready?" Tawnyetta whispered. Bridget nodded. Tawnyetta pushed the door open slowly, just far enough to pop her head inside. She didn't see anyone, just an empty sitting room, much smaller than the one Stewart had shown her during the tour.
She turned to Bridget. "The coast looks clear."
"What if we get caught?"
"We'll just say we got lost," Tawnyetta suggested.
Bridget puffed her cheeks up with air then pushed it all out of her mouth. She lifted her shoulders to her ears and drew her lips down, meaning 'why not'. "Let's do it!" She whispered.
And with that, they slipped into the sitting room, closing the door quietly behind them.
The space was not even as big as their bedroom upstairs, which was unexpected. It had a casual elegance about it, red leather couch, dark brown leather armchair, a gorgeous fireplace with a carved wooden mantle and a beveled mirror above. Despite the fact that it did display a certain level of wealth, it was cozier than the other formal areas of the castle. The room also had a distinctly masculine feeling, which supported the gossip Anne had told them about the Laird not having a woman in his life.
Tawnyetta noticed an assortment of books in various sized piles filling any and all flat surfaces in the room. These weren't like the antique leather bound books in their room, which were mostly for decoration. These books were normal everyday books that looked as if they were being read. Several of them had bookmarkers of some kind in them, torn paper or used envelopes stuck inside to save a place. Tawnyetta was struck at the sheer number of them. This Laird guy must be a big reader.
There was something comforting about this space and they both started to relax. They wandered around picking up books and knick-knacks to take a look at them, getting a sense of the personality of the man who lived here. They got so comfortable in their surroundings that they had just about forgotten they were not supposed to be there–that's when they heard the sound of singing.
The women froze in place and looked at each other, their eyes bugging out in surprise.
"What is that?" Bridget whispered.
"I don't know," Tawnyetta whispered back. She wiggled her eyebrows up and down at Bridget mischievously. "Maybe it's him!"
&nbs
p; Then, for some inexplicable reason, Tawnyetta put down the book she'd been looking at and moved toward the sound of the voice.
Chapter Five
The singing drew her down the hallway. She felt an intense urge to know if they were right. She wanted to know if what they were hearing was really the Laird of Claymore Castle singing in his private quarters. There was no logical explanation as to why she wanted to know, she simply did. And despite Bridget's frantic whispers of warning, Tawnyetta couldn't stop. She stepped out of the sitting room into a hallway that led deeper into the living quarters. The singing grew louder.
It was definitely a man's voice. A man singing joyfully. A man singing off key. As she drew closer she could hear that the singing was accompanied by the sound of music playing. He must be singing along. A man who sang so boldly out of tune would probably not be too furious if he found two women wandering around his private rooms, would he?
The hallway was dignified enough, artwork depicting what looked like the Scottish countryside hung on its walls along with a few ornate decorative mirrors. They passed two entryways to other rooms as they crept along. Glancing inside, Tawnyetta saw the first one was the kitchen and the next was another sitting room, or maybe a small library. The singing was coming from the end of the hallway.
The closer they moved toward the sounds the clearer they could hear other details. The man's voice was a baritone. He was singing with abandon at the moment, unaware that any other ears were listening. The song he was singing along with became clear, too. Quit Playing Games With My Heart by The Backstreet Boys. Tawnyetta smiled. It was an impossibly silly song for this situation. It seemed that he knew every word, which was funny. But his deep singing voice with its distinct Scottish accent mixing with the youthful sound of The Backstreet Boys made it beyond charming. It was absolutely beguiling.
There was something else. Another sound she couldn't quite make out until she was standing directly next to the open door of what she saw was a bedroom. Bridget pressed up against the wall directly behind her trying to stay hidden. The indistinct sound became distinct. Splashing water. It took just a few moments before Tawnyetta realized what that sound meant. The Laird of Claymore Castle was taking a shower.
"Tawny!" Bridget hissed and grabbed Tawnyetta's arm to pull her back. "He's in the shower!"
Tawnyetta put her finger to her lips to shush Bridget. That tiny kernel of excitement she'd felt earlier was now a full-blown thrill fest pulsing through her body and she couldn't stop smiling. She realized that she might burst out laughing if she wasn't careful.
The familiar bridge of the song came to an end and the last chorus started, prompting the singing Laird to really belt it out. Tawnyetta couldn't hold it in any longer. She fell into a fit of giggles, which prompted the same reaction in Bridget. It was like they were in elementary school again, their hands pressed tightly over their mouths as they tried to silently laugh, hushing each other the entire time.
Just when Tawnyetta was about to motion that they leave, the sound of running water stopped abruptly. They froze, their eyes opened wide with the possibility of discovery. He was done with his shower. The next logical thing for him to do was to leave his bathroom. From their position in the hallway they were completely exposed if he were to step out of the bedroom. Tawnyetta's mind clicked quickly through their choices. They could make a run for it, but if he came out of the bedroom immediately they may not have time to make it down to the end of the hall. They risked being seen escaping into the front sitting room. The two options remaining were to hide in the kitchen or the small library. Would someone more likely go to their kitchen or their library right after a shower?
In a split second Tawnyetta made the decision. She grabbed Bridget and pulled her into the small library. They jammed into the space behind the open door and waited.
The song ended and they heard the Laird humming in his bedroom, then the humming got louder as he left his bedroom. Still with her hand pressed hard over her mouth, Tawnyetta squinted to see into the hallway through the thin sliver of an opening from their vantage point behind the door.
The next song started. Another Backstreet Boys song, I Want It That Way. She knew this song. It had a long, slow intro. She only hoped it was loud enough to cover up the sound of their breathing as well as her heart beating fast and hard in her chest.
Suddenly, they saw him.
Still dripping water from his shower and completely naked, the Laird of Claymore Castle walked past the door where they hid, blissfully unaware he was being observed.
Tawnyetta sucked in her breath. The view was minimal and he had his back to them, but the sight of his body was staggering. He was like a wild animal, muscles rippling under his skin, wide shoulders, a brawny back that flexed as he moved, a round, toned bottom, so virile she could not have averted her eyes even if she'd wanted to.
Bridget, too, was affected by the sight of him. She gasped out loud and he stopped abruptly.
Tawnyetta wanted to run. Burst out the door and fly past him, dash down the Great Hall and out of the castle before he knew who she was. Or, better yet, escape through the library window so he would never know they had been here at all. She glanced at the window, but they were two stories high. That wasn't an option.
The Backstreet Boys kicked their song into the rhythmic section. The long, slow intro was over. The Laird of Claymore Castle moved his hip to the side and lifted his bent arms into the air as he started to sing along. Relief washed through her whole body. He had stopped to do a dance move. He had not heard Bridget at all.
There was a pause in his dancing and an energy filled the air around them. The music was pumping through the hall so loudly that it sent tiny tremors through the door. The Laird moved his hips back and forth with the song, then stopped again. Tawnyetta watched in glorious anguish, knowing exactly what was about to happen. She could sense it. So could Bridget. To their delight and horror the Laird did a full 360-degree turn on his heels as part of his Backstreet Boys dance routine. Both Tawnyetta and Bridget watched in sublime shock as they were given a full frontal flash of his family jewels. It took every ounce of self-control they possessed not to squeal at the sight.
Smashed behind the door, the two women doubled over in an attempt to contain their laughter. When the Laird disappeared into the kitchen, Tawnyetta tried to keep her wits about her enough to watch through the slit and wait for an opportune moment for their escape.
That moment came when they heard the unmistakable sound of a coffee grinder erupt from somewhere inside the kitchen. Tawnyetta yanked a furiously giggling Bridget out from behind the door and they made a break for it down the hallway, praying that he was not facing the entryway while making his coffee. Neither of them was brave enough to look into the kitchen as they passed, terrified that they might be seen and equally terrified of what they might see again.
They stumbled out the front door and Tawnyetta had the sensibility to close it as quietly as possible. Pulling the door slowly until it clicked into place, she winced as the sound echoed through the empty hallway. Luckily, there was nobody else to hear it, or to witness them exiting.
Laughter bubbled out of Bridget in spite of her struggle to keep quiet. Under pressure, her mirth made its escape in a long-winded snort, which made the moment even funnier to both of them.
The two women ran as fast as they could up the stairs to their bedroom. Several times as they climbed the spiral staircase one of them would let out a peal of laughter and they would both collapse into the stair railing, overcome with merriment to the point that they were unable to breathe.
Once safely in their room they fell onto the bed, weak with laughter. Flushed with excitement from their excursion and their near brush with the naked Laird of Claymore Castle.
"I can't believe we just did that!" Bridget exclaimed.
"I can't believe those dance moves," Tawnyetta retorted.
This sent Bridget into a new fit of laughter and she rolled over, shoving her face in
to her pillow to mask her squeals of delight. Tawnyetta couldn't even do that much, her abs were contracted in a silent guffaw. Bridget lifted her head from the pillow and crowed, "The Backstreet Boys!"
This sent them howling again until their cheeks were wet due to crying from laughter.
"Wait, wait." Tawnyetta wiped her eyes and chuckled. "Didn't they do a video where they were half naked in the pouring rain?"
Bridget nodded, smacking Tawnyetta's upper arm with acknowledgement. "They did!"
Tawnyetta had to wipe her eyes again. "That was too good."
Bridget chortled as she looked at Tawnyetta with mischief in her eyes. "Did you see him?" She asked, obviously impressed.
"Oh, I saw him." Tawnyetta arched her eyebrows and nodded, showing she had taken note of the Laird's generous gifts.
"He was incredible looking," Bridget said.
"That he was."
Bridget crinkled her brow in a delicate expression of curiosity. "Was he handsome?" she asked.
Tawnyetta gave her an incredulous look and said, "I didn't see his face."
"Me neither!" Bridget blurted out and they broke into laughter again, flopping onto their backs side-by-side on the bed.
As Tawnyetta giggled uncontrollably she could not get the vision of the Laird's muscled, masculine body out of her mind. It was true, she had not seen his face. But honestly, he could have the homeliest face she'd ever seen and it wouldn't matter. The man was built like a Greek God, and he wasn't a bad dancer either. An intense, hot spike of energy shot through her stomach and made her shiver, like a rush of adrenaline.
