Page 29 of Kiss Me, Macrae
The weight of uncertainty that had been pressing outward from her chest twisted into a sweet ache at the thought of such a noble, kind, generous man truly loving her.
Her heart wrenched painfully at the sudden realization of how absurd it was to compare him any way to Lucas. It shamed her that she had thought for even one second they were anything alike.
Baird Macrae was everything decent and honorable in a man. He was also passionate and loyal and supportive. Life with him would be full of laughter and heated glances, warm embraces, and invigorating mountain walks. Respect, friendship, and sensually passionate kisses that made a woman shed her inhibitions as she clung to his strength, followed his lead, and willfully accepted the risk of loving him back.
And she did. Love him back.
The realization was an amazing shock and a calm certainty at once. It burst free inside her and spread outward in all directions. She loved him. It was so simple and right and perfect and terrifying.
Allegra tossed aside her bedcoverings and swung her bare feet to the floor. In long strides, she crossed to the widow and pulled back the heavy drapes. Chilled air seeped through the frosty windows, but she stepped closer, peering out through the purple hues of early dawn.
It was too dark to make out any more than the shadowed outline of the mountains in the distance and she had to imagine the walking path she always took. But as she stood there, an indelible craving for the frosty bite of the winter morning air consumed her. She needed to move her legs in long strides over snow covered ground as her breath puffed out in clouds of vapor.
After turning from the window, she threw on her clothes.
Not much later, she stepped from the house into the back garden just as the first fingers of sunlight started to reach upward along the horizon. The morning was still and quiet, with no wind or falling snow. Just the rhythmic crunch of her boots on the frosty ground and the air moving through her lungs.
The rough and rugged winter landscape cleared her mind while the physical movement eased the tension from her body until all she was left with was a soft, aching hunger deep in her core.
A feeling both sweet and sad, raw but comforting.
As she ascended the hill overlooking the small loch and Macrae’s lodge, she picked up a stone along the way. Reaching the top of the rise, she took a few deep breaths of the thin air, allowing it to fill her completely before she exhaled. After carefully adding her stone to the cairn, she turned to look down on the loch and lodge below. She was surprised to see a thin stream of smoke issuing from the chimney.
Macrae hadn’t just left the party after their conversation last night, he’d left Darrow House altogether. He was there now, nestled in that stone house below.
Warmth and emotion flowed through her. Starting in the center of her chest and flowing outward to her fingers and toes and up through her throat until she felt almost choked by the feeling.
Ye ken where tae find me, he’d said.
It appears he’d been right.
Chapter 15
Allegra held her breath as she waited for the weathered wooden door to open. When nothing but silence greeted her knock, she realized Macrae was likely asleep at such an early hour and might not hear her.
Not to be deterred, she removed her mitten to prevent any muffling of the sound and lifted her hand to rap her knuckles on the door once again. Before she could, it opened.
Macrae filled the doorway with his large, muscled form. He wore casual trousers, no coat or vest or shoes, and a shirt that was open at the collar and rolled at the sleeves. His red hair was wildly tousled and he looked a near replica to that first morning when she’d awoken in his bed.
Her breath exhaled on a heavy puff and her heart squeezed tight as tingling flutters of anticipation took flight in her belly. “Good morning,” she muttered, trying to gather her scattered thoughts.
The corner of his mouth lifted as he lowered his chin in a brief nod. “Mornin’”
The rough richness of his voice—so beautiful and strong—filled her with a sense of rightness and reignited her purpose.
“I was just taking a walk.”
He arched his brows and cast a glance out over the frost-edged loch and snowy mountains beyond. “Aye, and it’s a lovely mornin’ for it.” He brought his gaze back to hers. “But a bit early tae be oot’n’aboot, isnae?”
“I couldn’t sleep,” Allegra admitted in a heavy murmur.
The green of his eyes darkened. “Me neither, lass.” Then he stepped to the side. “Come in. I’ve tea on the stove and biscuits tae share.”
Tea and biscuits.
Allegra smiled as she stepped over the threshold. The lodge was bigger than it appeared from a distance, but it was still no more than a few rooms extending from a main living space that boasted an enormous stone hearth undoubtedly designed to roast large game directly over the flames. Only a modest fire burned in the grate this morning, though it still managed to spread warmth throughout the entire room.
Macrae gestured toward the worn leather sofa set before the hearth. “I’ll just fetch the tea then.”