The Rogue: A Highland Guard Novella (The Highland Guard) Read Online Free Page B

make the same mistake again.
    But her cousin didn’t seem to have the same concerns. That she and Randolph liked one another was enough, boding well for a perfectly happy and successful noble marriage. The Douglases would benefit from Randolph’s great landed wealth and royal connection, and Randolph would have Elizabeth’s generous tocher and the most dazzlingly beautiful woman at court as his wife.
    Her cousin was far more than that—Elizabeth was smart, accomplished, generous, and kind—but Izzie suspected the reason Randolph had been persuaded to give up his prized bachelorhood was because he knew he would be unlikely to find a more “perfect” bride to complement his “perfect” knight. With her blond hair, big blue eyes, and poppet-like features, Elizabeth looked like a faerie princess drawn straight from the pages of a children’s tale, and not surprisingly Randolph had claimed the part of the handsome prince by her side. The abbey was already buzzing with admiration for the two after Randolph’s grandiose “romantic” greeting the other night, riding into the abbey yard in full, shiny mail on a great black charger and dropping to his knee to kiss Elizabeth’s hand.
    How could Izzie compete with a faerie tale?
    Not that she wanted to, although she had to admit she’d had a few—maybe more than a few—confused thoughts after that kiss. Something tugged in her chest, perilously close to her heart. For a moment…
    For a moment she’d been half-crazed. She must have been to have succumbed so easily to that kiss and the man who’d wielded it so expertly—Lord knew, he must have had enough practice. “What’s not to love?” Well, it certainly wasn’t the way he kissed. Sir Too-Good-To-Be-True was indeed too good to be true in that regard.
    Had she actually thought even for a minute that she’d felt something special? What she’d felt was desire.
    The physical reaction was hardly unexpected. He is gorgeous, who wouldn’t be attracted to him?
    Your cousin for one, a little voice pointed out. It was true; if Elizabeth was attracted to him, she hid it well.
    But Izzie pushed that annoying voice aside. Just because she was attracted to him, didn’t mean anything. She wasn’t going to let one kiss make her act like a silly, starry-eyed maid with dreams of fate and everlasting love.
    Not with Sir Thomas Randolph, at least. He wasn’t for her any more than she was for him. Izzie wasn’t beautiful and accomplished like her cousin. She was more want-to-be scholar than princess or suitable consort for a hero, content to stay in the background rather than be the center of attention. Randolph and her cousin were the same in that regard, both seemed to have been made to be on pedestals and to shine. Although Izzie had been told she was pretty, she was a mere mortal and not in her cousin’s realm of jaw-dropping beauty. Izzie was even-tempered and made people laugh with her wry—sometimes mischievous—observations, but she certainly didn’t dazzle.
    Why Randolph had kissed her, Izzie didn’t know. But she wasn’t going to let it upset her cousin’s plans. If she told Elizabeth about the kiss, Izzie had no doubt her cousin would read something more into it than there was and insist on stepping aside—even if there was nothing to step aside for.
    Nay, Izzie thought. If this betrothal didn’t happen, it wasn’t going to be because of her.
    She wondered if it might be about someone else though. Not wanting to lie to her cousin, she decided to turn the question back to her. “I was going to say the same about you,” she said. “Where were you going earlier that you forgot about your ride with Randolph?” Elizabeth opened her mouth to respond, but Izzie stopped her. “And don’t tell me it was an errand for Joanna—unless that errand had something to do with Thom MacGowan.”
    Elizabeth’s mouth snapped closed. Apparently, she had no more wish to talk about the earlier events in the day than