The Highlander's Hope - A Contemporary Highland Romance Read Online Free PDF

journals.  I don’t know where ye’d like to start or what ye’re looking for, but I’m happy to help.”
    She took it as a truce.  If he was willing to help her find the Hope, then that was all that mattered.  Letting out a sigh, she let her anger go, happy to get back to the reason she was there and the only thing of any importance. 
    Her research had turned up a connection to the jewels few would know about, and even fewer would likely document openly, given the time period.  The books Iain had gathered—especially the journals—might help to reinforce the information she’d found.  And now that Iain had weaseled his way into her find, she’d make the most of his offer to help.
    “I think the journals might be a good place to start, but first, I was wondering if you knew of any clan stories that were passed down through the generations.  Given the importance of the jewels, I suspect they’d try to mask the clues in the spoken word rather than the written.”
    “ My father would be the one to talk to about that—or our housekeeper, Mrs. Wallace.  She would likely know the stories better than anyone, though she’s only here once a week on Mondays.”
    “Should we go through the journals then?”  Despite all the annoyances of the day, excitement bubbled within her like champagne drunk too fast, ecstatic to be looking for the necklace once more.
    He leaned against the desk, his arms crossed in front of his chest, so his shirt stretched tight over his muscles.  “Not yet, lass.  If I’m going to be of any help to ye, I need to know what ye’ve already found.”
    And just like that—she felt like a soda gone flat. 
    She shook her head no, wondering how the hell this all got away from her so quick.  “This is not your find, Iain, it’s my research—research I’ve worked hard on.  I truly appreciate your help with this, and I’ll give you full credit for that, but it doesn’t mean we’re partners.”
    He lazily stretched out his long legs in front of him as if he hadn’t a care in the world and shrugged, a smirk on his lips.  “Ye see, I think it means exactly that.  If the Hope necklace is found on my lands, then you can have full credit for finding it and analyzing the historical records that uncovered it, but the necklace will still be mine.” 
    She forced herself to take a deep breath and calm down, so that she wouldn’t lunge at his neck, wrap her fingers around it and strangle the life out of him.  “Please, do not tell me you’re going to hock that necklace to the highest bidder.  You can’t possibly sell the Hope when it has such historic importance.  If you do, then you’re an even bigger jerk than I first thought—and given the circumstances under which we met, that’s saying something.”
    “Well, ye may think me a jerk and an idiot, but I take offence that ye’d think I’d sell something of such significance to my country and clan.”  He leaned forward so they were only inches away, anger ablaze in his eyes, but she refused to budge even if he was infuriatingly close.  “I’m a highlander, aye?  That necklace means more to me than you could ever know.”
    Cat racked her brain for the legal wording and specifics.  “Well, you wouldn’t be able to sell it anyway.  Though the Treasure Act may not apply to Scotland, you still abide by bona vacantia , and that means the treasure itself would go to the National Museum, though you’d be paid its equivalent.”
    “Ah… but would it really? ”  His smirk was infuriating.  “Ye’ve said ye have information that involves my clan and that my clan was in possession of it, no?  And my understanding is that as long as there’s a living descendent, the treasure belongs to that heir.  Since my family is still in existence and the rightful heirs, the Highlander’s Hope would remain ours.” 
    His smug smile made her want to wipe it from his face.  Her mind raced through the law ’s details, and though she