Some Like it Scot (Scandalous Highlanders Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

dry, warm sleep either of them could expect for the next few days, until she found them another place to hide. And thoughts of the giant were not going to keep her from it.
    â€œHello the house!”
    Ice slammed down Catriona’s spine. Sitting straight upright from the thin blanket before the hearth, she dove for the musket beside her even as she noted the wan sunlight drifting in through the hole in the corner of the ceiling. “Stay here,” she hissed as her sister struggled upright, grabbing for her clothes, throwing them on, and then bolting from the kitchen. She knew that voice already. She’d let him go once when he’d blundered after her; this time he was a threat, and she wouldn’t be so charitable.
    â€œRed! I know ye’re in there! The chimney’s smoking.”
    Next would come the torches and the flames—the usual way Scottish lairds rid themselves of villagers they no longer wanted about. How many were with him? Was Glengask himself outside with a dozen rifles aimed at the old pile? Catriona scrambled up the half-collapsed wood and stone stairs to peer out one of the many cracks in the upstairs walls. Only silent, damp forest appeared to her view. She’d overslept, blast it all; rays of sunlight broke through the heavy clouds low in the eastern sky. With a muttered curse she hurried to the next opening, a misshapen, glassless window. Still nothing.
    Had he called out and then ducked into hiding again? Was he trying to lure her into the open? Damnation. She shifted to the next window—and then spotted the giant. He had a huge gray deerhound at his side, its head level with his waist, but she couldn’t see anyone else. Surely he wasn’t daft enough to appear with only a dog to support him.
    â€œI told ye to stay away,” she called out, ducking into the shadows before she spoke. “I’ll nae warn ye again.”
    When she next peeked out, he was scanning his gaze across the second-floor windows, clearly looking for her. He was younger than she’d realized yesterday, the scruff of his beard in the scattered sunlight making his face look lean and dashed handsome. “It’s nae safe up there, ye ken. That whole floor could give way in a stiff breeze.”
    â€œIt’s nae safe oot there for ye, giant,” she returned, shifting her position yet again. “I’ll give ye to the count of five to clear away from here. If I still see yer arse after that, I’ll put a ball in it.”
    He didn’t move. “Be reasonable, Red. I only brought ye some bread and a blanket. I reckon old Haldane Abbey was drafty even before it collapsed.”
    She edged sideways, gazing at him through the broken casement. “Ye expect me to believe that, ye big lunk?”
    His rather fine brow furrowed. “I go by Bear. I prefer that to ‘giant’ or ‘lunk,’ if ye dunnae mind.”
    â€œSo ye think we’re neighbors now, do ye? Leave the satchel and go. And dunnae come back.”
    This time she could swear a smile touched his mouth. “Nae. I reckon I’ll bring it inside,” he countered. “The dog is Fergus. He’ll nae harm ye, if ye behave yerself. And neither will I.”
    Ha. She would never give him the opportunity to do such a thing. On the other hand, unless she did mean to shoot him, she was going to have to permit him into the building. He wasn’t a coward, and that was damned certain, but that information didn’t precisely do her any good. She was a Highlands lass and could pass for one, but one word spoken by Elizabeth and he would know she was English—or at least that she’d been raised that way. She couldn’t risk that.
    Before she could consider her strategy he started around to the front of the house. Damn it all. She picked her way back down the fallen staircase as swiftly as she could, taking only a second to be thankful once again that she wore trousers. This