“No,her mother was made for the life. Patient,with a rod of steel beneath the fragile skin. Shelby wouldn't choose it, nor would she let it choose her. She'd love no one who could leave her again so horribly.Letting the conversation flow around her, Shelby tilted back her glass. Her eyes met Alan's. It was there-that quietly brooding patience that promised to last a lifetime.She could almost feel him calmly peeling off layer after layer of whatever bits and pieces made up her personality to get to the tiny core she kept private.You bastard.She nearly said it out loud. Certainly it reflected in her eys for he smiled at her in simple acknowledgement.The siege was definitely under way. She only hoped she had enough provisions to outlast him.”

“My kin would sooner have a badger in their house than a Campbell."Alan saw his mother open hermouth and shook his head to silence her. He not only knew Shelby could hold her own but wanted to see her do it."Most MacGregors were comfortable enough with badgers in the parlor.""Barbarians!" Daniel sucked in his breath. "The Campbells were barbarians, each and every one of them."Shelby tilted her head as if to study him from a new angle. "The MacGregors have a reputation for being sore losers."Instantly Daniel's face went nearly as red as his hair. "Losers? Hah! There's never been a Campbell born who could stand up to a MacGregor in a fair fight. Backstabbers.""We'll have Rob Roy's biography again in a minute," Shelby heard Caine mutter. "You don't have a drink, Dad," he said, hoping to distract him. "Shelby?""Yes." She shifted her gaze to him, noting he was doing his best to maintain sobriety. "Scotch," she told him, with a quick irrepressible wink. "Straight up.If the MacGregors had been wiser," she continued without missing a beat, "perhaps they wouldn't have lost their land and their kilts and the name.Kings," she went on mildly as Daniel began to huff and puff, "have a habit of getting testy when someone's trying to overthrow them.""Kings!" Daniel exploded. "An English king, by God! No true Scotsman needed an English king to tell him how to live on his land."Shelby's lips curved as Caine handed her a glass. "That's a truth I can drink to.""Hah!" Daniel lifted his glass and drained it in one swallow before he thumped it onto the table at his side. Cocking a brow,Shelby eyed the Scotch in her glass,then proceeded to follow Daniel's example.For a moment,he frowned at the empty glass beside his. Slowly,with the room deadly silent,he shifted his gaze back to Shelby.His eyes were fierce, hers insolent. Heaving himself out of his chair, he towered over here, a great bear of a man with fiery hair.She put both hands on her hips, a willow-slim woman with curls equally dramtic. Alan wished fleetingly he could paint.Daniel's laugh, when he threw back his head and let it loose,was rich and loud and long. "Aye,by God,here's a lass!"Shelby found herself swept off her feet in a crushing hug that held welcome.”

“It's a very odd feeling for a daughter to see her mother blush over a man.""You wouldn't?" Alan skimmed a thumb over her cheekbone. Shelby forgot her mother altogether."Wouldn't what?""Blush," he said softly, tracing her jawline. "Over a man.""Once-I was twelve and he was thirty-two." She had to talk-just keep talking to remember who she was. "He,uh, came to fix the water heater.""How'd he make you blush?""He grinned at me.He had a chipped tooth I thought was really sexy."On a quick ripple of laughter, Alan kissed her just as Myra opened the door."Well,well." She didn't bother to disguise a self-satisfied smile. "Good evening.I see you two have met.""What makes you think that?" Shelby countered breezily as she stepped inside.Myra glanced from one to the other. "Do I smell strawberries?" she asked sweetly."Your lamp." Shelby gave her a bland look and indicated the box Alan carried. "Where would you like it?”

“Lazily...possessively he ran a hand down her back."Mmm, again," Shelby murmured.With a quiet laugh, Alan stroked up and down until she was ready to purr. "Shelby..." She gave another sigh as an answer and snuggled closer. "Shelby,there's something warm and fluffy under my feet.""Mmm-hmm.""If it's your cat, he's not breathing.""MacGregor."He kissed the top of her head. "What?"She gave a muffled laugh against his shoulder. "MacGregor," she repeated. "My pig."There was silence for a moment while he tried to digest this. "I beg your pardon?"The dry serious tone had more laughter bubbling up. Would she ever be able to face a day without hearing it? "Oh, say that again.I love it." Because she had to see his face, Shelby found the energy to lean across him and grope for the matches on the nightstand. Skin rubbed distractedly against skin while she struck one and lit a candle. "MacGregor," she said, giving Alan a quick kiss before she gestured to the foot of the bed.Alan studied the smiling porcine face. "You named a stuffed purple pig after me?""Alan, is that any way to talk about our child?" His eyes shifted to hers in an expression so masculine and ironic, she collapsed on his chest in a fit of giggles. "I put him there because he was supposed to be the only MacGregor who charmed his way into my bed.""Really." Alan tugged on her hair until she lifted her face, full of amusement and fun,to his. "Is that what I dd?""You knew damn well I wouldn't be able to resist balloons and rainbows foever.”

“Alan..." Shelby kept her voice mild and patient as excitement ripped through her. "I've already told you, nothing's going to get started between us.Don't take it personally," she added with a half smile. "You're very attractive.I'm just not interested.""No?" With his free hand, he circled her wrist. "Your pulse is racing."Her annoyance was quick, mirrored in the sudden flare in her eyes, the sudden jerk of her chin. "I'm always happy to boost an ego," she said evenly. "Now,I'll get your shirt.""Boost it a little higher," he suggested and drew her closer.”

“I meant to resist your charms; I really did.I wasn't going to do this."Alan took her wrist, guiding her hand over so that he could press a kiss to the palm. "Make love with me?""No." Shelby's gaze traveled from his mouth to his eyes. "Be in love with you."She felt his fingers tighten on her wrist, then loosen slowly as his eyes stayed dark and fixed on hers. Beneath her, she felt the change in his heartbeart. "And are you?""Yes." The word, hardly audible, thundered in his head.Alan brought her to him, cradling her head against his chest, feeling her low slow expulsion of air as his arm came around her. He hadn't expected her to give him so much so soon. "When?""When?" Shelby repeated, enjoying the solid feel of his chest under her cheek. "Sometime between when we first stepped out on the Write's terrace and when I opened a basket of strawberries.""It took you that long? All I had to do was look at you.”

“Hello."Her mood deflated as if she'd been pricked with a pin. "Alan.""Shelby."She struggled not to be moved by the quiet,serious tone that should never have moved her.She liked men with a laugh in their voice. "Alan, this has to stop.""Does it? It hasn't even started.""Alan-" She tried to remember her decision to be firm. "I mean it. You have to stop sending me things. You're only wasting your time.""I have a bit to spare," he said mildly. "How was your week?""Busy.Listen,I-""I missed you."The simple statement threw the rest of her lecture into oblivion. "Alan, don't -""Everyday," he continued. "Every night. Have you been to Boston, Shelby?""Uh...yes," she managed, busy fighting off the weakness creeping into her. Helplessly she stared up at the balloons. How could she fight something so insubstantial it floated?"I'd like to take you there in the fall, when it smells of damp leaves and smoke."Shelby told herself her heart was not fluttering. "Alan, I didn't call to talk about Boston.Now,to put it in very simple terms,I want you to stop calling me, I want you to stop dropping by, and -" Her voice began to rise in frustration as she pictured him listening with that patient, serious smile and calm eyes. "I want you to stop sending me balloons and pigs and everything! Is that clear?""Perfectly.Spend the day with me."Did the man ever stop being patient? She couldn't abide patient men. "For God's sake, Alan!""We'll call it an experimental outing," he suggested in the same even tone. "Not a date.""No!" she said, barely choking back a laugh. Couldn't abide it, she tried to remember.She preferred the flashy, the freewheeling. "No,no,no!""Not bureaucratic enough." His voice was so calm,so...so senatorial, she decided, she wanted to scream. But the scream bubbled perilously close to another laugh. "All right, let me think-a standard daytime expedition for furthering amiable relations between opposing clans.""You're trying to be charming again," Shelby muttered."Am I succeeding?”