To Catch a Highlander Read Online Free PDF

here." His gaze raked her again. "It quite takes my breath away."
    Sophia quirked a brow. He didn't look breathless. He looked calm and collected—a bit predatory, perhaps, but nothing to suggest that her appearance had been anything more than a pleasant surprise.
    She wasn't vain, but men had been reacting to her strongly for a long time, and it was annoying that the one time it would actually be beneficial to make a man breathless, that wasn't happening.
    Something glinted in his gaze, and he slowly looked her up… and down, his lips curving into a smile as heated as his look. Sophia's breasts tightened as if she stood nude in a cold room, and she had to fight the urge to cover herself.
    Good God,
she
was reacting to
him
! Never once in her twenty-seven years had that happened.
    His gaze was as hot and immediate as a touch. "Had I known
you
were waiting, Miss MacFarlane, I would not have lingered, I assure you."
    Flattery was something she knew how to deal with, and it was much better than this odd heat that simmered between them. "What a pretty compliment, Lord MacLean. I don't know what to say."
    He bowed. "I merely speak the truth. I daresay you've heard such before."
    "And I'm certain you've spoken such before."
    Amusement twitched his lips, though he said gravely, "I am sorry if you were left waiting on my arrival. I hope you were not bored."
    "Oh, I managed to keep busy."
    "I'm certain you did," he replied, almost under his breath.
    Sophia cast a sharp glance at MacLean. Something about his manner made her wonder if he knew of her efforts to disguise the value of her house. The thought was completely ridiculous, of course; there was simply no way he could know.
    He smiled blandly, came forward, and took her hand in his. His fingers closed over hers in a firm clasp. "I apologize that some important business held me in Stirling longer than I anticipated." His gaze glinted almost challengingly. "I own quite a bit of property in that area. I would be remiss if I did not tend to it whenever I was in town."
    Perhaps he hadn't been carousing, after all. Not that it mattered. What did matter was the way her skin tingled at his touch, as if the casual contact were something for more intimate. "I hope your business was profitable."
    He bowed. "More than you know."
    His voice was low, wickedly so. Sophia realized that her heart was thudding against her chest, her hands damp, an odd quiver in her knees. So this was what Red had meant when he'd warned her that MacLean was dangerous. Good God.
    Enough of this! She freed her hand with a light laugh. "I am sorry Red is not here to welcome you."
    He raised his brows. "You call your father by his given name?"
    "I was raised on the Continent, so I daresay my manners are somewhat different from those of the average London miss's. My mother and I accompanied my father from game to game. There are times when I miss traveling."
    "You don't travel now?"
    "Not often enough." Funny, she hadn't really allowed herself to think about it since Mama's death. But sometimes a picture in a newspaper or the mention of a far-away place would set her imagination flying, and an unfamiliar longing would engulf her. Red called it wanderlust. She called it silliness.
    "Red should arrive in time for dinner." She sent MacLean a flirtatious glance from beneath her lashes. "You
are
staying for dinner, aren't you?"
    MacLean's gaze narrowed with a considering look-before he bowed. "Of course. I couldn't imagine doing else."
    "Wonderful! Then you must also spend the night. We are miles from an inn, and I can promise that the sheets are fresh and clean."
And the beds lumpier than those at any posting house
.
    She gestured toward the library. "Would you like some refreshment? There is sherry in the library."
    He stepped beside her and captured her hand, tucking it into the crook of his arm.
    His fingers tightened on hers ever so slightly, and a jolt of awareness blazed through her. She caught her breath and glanced