“With the organization and brevity of a drill sergeant, she began arranging them to her liking."Alan here..." She took him by the arm and stood him between his parents' chairs. "And Shelby." She nudged Shelby beside him. "Caine,you sit in the foor." She tugged on his hand, until grinning, he obliged her. "And Diana-" Caine pulled his wife down on his lap before Gennie could finish. "Yes, that'll do. Justin over here with Rena.And Grant-""I'm not-" he began."Do as you're told,boy," Daniel bellowed at him,then spoke directly to his grandson. "Leave it to a Campbell to make trouble."Grumbling,Grant strolled over behind Daniel's chair and scowled down at him. "A fine thing when a Campbell's in a MacGregor family portrait.""Two Campbells," Shelby reminded her brother with alacrity.”

“A pair of aces," Daniel said with a fierce look in his eye.Justin set his cards down quietly and faceup. "Two pair.Jacks and sevens." He sat back as Caine swore in disgust."You son of-" In frustration, Daniel broke off, shifting his eyes from his daughter to Shelby. "The devil take you, Justin Blade.""You're sending him off prematurely," Shelby commented, spreading her cards. "A straight,from the five to the nine."Alan walked over to look at her cards. "I'll be damned, she drew the six and seven.""No one but a bloody witch draws an inside straight," Daniel boomed, glaring at her."Or a bloody Campbell," Shelby said easily.His eyes narrowed. "Deal the cards."Justin grinned at her as Shelby scooped in chips. "Welcome aboard," he said quietly and began to shuffle.”

“Damn your eyes, Justin Blade; you've the luck of the devil.""Sore losers, those MacGregors," Shelby sighed, sliding her gaze to Alan's."We'll see if the Campbells can do any better.New blood," Alan announced from the doorway.Smoke hung in the air,the rich, fragrant sting of expensive tobacco. They were using Daniel's huge old desk as a table, with chairs pulled up to it. The three men looked over as Shelby and Serena walked in."I don't like taking my wife's money," Justin commented,sending her a grin as he clamped a cigar between his teeth."You won't have the opportunity of trying." Serena lowered herself to the arm of his chair with a quiet sigh. "Shelby'd like a game or two.""A Campbell!" Daniel rubbed his hands together. "Aye then,we'll see how the wind blows now.Have a chair,lass. Three raise, ten-dollar limit, jacks or better to open.""If you think you're going to make up your losses on me, MacGregor," Shelby said mildly as she took her seat, "you're mistaken."Daniel made a sound of appreciation. "Deal the cards, boy," he ordered Caine. "Deal the cards.”

“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.”

“You'll make a good First Lady, Shelby Campbell."Shelby's fingers tightened on her wineglass, an involuntary gesture noticed only by Alan and his mother. "Perhaps," she returned calmly. "if it were one of my ambitions.""Ambitions or not,it's fate when you're paired with this one," Daniel stabbed his fork toward Alan."You're a little premature." Alan cut cleanly through his meat, swearing fluidly in his mind only. "I haven't decided to run for president, and Shelby hasn't agreed to marry me.""Haven't decided? Hah!" Daniel silled down wine. "Hasn't agreed?" He set down the glass with a bang. "The girl doesn't look like a fool to me, Campbell or no," he continued. "She's good Scottish stock,no matter what her clan.This one'll breed true MacGregors.""He'd still like me to change my name," Justin commented, deliberately trying to shift the attention onto himself."It's been done to ensure the line before," Daniel told him. "but Rena's babe'll be as much MacGregor as not. As will Caine's when he's a mind to remember his duty and start making one." He sent his younger son a lowered-brow look that was met with an insolent grin. "But Alan's the firstborn, duty-bound to marry and produce and sire..."Alan turned, intending on putting an end to the topic,when he caught Shelby's grin. She'd folded her arms on the table,forgetting her dinner in the pure enjoyment of watching Daniel MacGregor on a roll. "Having fun?" Alan muttered near her ear."Wouldn't miss it.Is he always like this?"Alan glanced over, watching his father gesture with his lecture. "Yes."Shelby sighed. "I think I'm in love. Daniel..." She interrupted his flow of words by tugging sharply on his sleeve. "No offense to Alan,or to your wife,but I think if I were going to marry a MacGregor,he'd have to be you."Still caught up in his own diatribe, Daniel stared at her.Abruptly his features shifted and his laugh rang out. "You're a pistol,you are, Shelby Campbell.Here..." He lifted a bottle of wine. "Your glass is empty.”

“Now where's this artist?" His eyes darted around the room, landed on Gennie and clung. She thought she saw surprise, quickly veiled, then amusement as quickly suppressed, tug at the corners of his mouth."Daniel MacGregor," Grant said with wry formality. "Genvieve Grandeau."A flicker of recognition ran across Daniel's face before he rose to his rather amazing height and held out his hand. "Welcome."Gennie's hand was clasped, then enveloped. She had simultaneous impressions of strength, compassion, and stubbornness."You have a magnificent home, Mr. MacGregor," she said, studying him candidly. "It suits you."He gave a great bellow of a laugh that might have shook the windows. "Aye.And three if your paintings hang in the west wing." His eyes slid briefly to Grant's before they came back to hers. "You carry your age well, lass."She gave him a puzzled look as Grant choked over his Scotch. "Thank you.""Get the artist a drink," he ordered, then gestured for her to sit in the chair next to his. "Now, tell me why you're wasting your time with a Campbell.""Gennie happens to be a cousin of mine," Justin said mildly as he sat on the sofa beside his son. "On the aristocratic French side.""A cousin." Daniel's eys sharpened, then an expression that could only be described as cunning pleasure spread over his face. "Aye,we like to keep things in the family. Grandeau-a good strong name.You've the look of a queen, with a bit of sorceress thrown in.""That was meant as a compliment," Serena told her as she handed Gennie a vermouth in crystal."So I've been told." Gennie sent Grant an easy look over the rim of her glass. "One of my ancestors had an-encounter with a gypsy resulting in twins.""Gennie has a pirate in her family tree as well," Justin put in.Daniel nooded in approval. "Strong blood. The Campbells need all the help they can get.""Watch it,MacGregor," Shelby warned as Grant gave him a brief, fulminating look.”