A Laird to Hold by Angeline Fortin (free children's ebooks online .TXT) 📕

My life is with you, my world with you. I wouldn’t give it up for front row tickets to the Met or box seats at Camden Yards and a lifetime supply of Half-Baked.” She swatted his chest irritably when he stared fixedly at the ceiling. “I swear to God, when the time comes, I’ll race you home.”

A chuckle built steadily in Connor and when he flipped her beneath him once more, his brown eyes were dancing with amusement. “Now that’s just the profound declaration I was waiting for, my love. ‘Tis happy I am to ken I’m worth more to ye than yer favorite ice cream.”

“You let me pour my heart out on purpose?” she gawked up at him.

“Aye. I was curious to see how far ye’d go to convince me.”

He bent his head to kiss her but Emmy evaded his lips until he was laughing with hearty glee.

“I take it all back,” she told him.

“Nay, ye cannae, lass. I ken now how much ye adore me.”

“You insufferable—” He caught her mouth fully this time, putting a halt to her tirade. Emmy tried to fight the power of his kiss, but within seconds she melted beneath him.

“Anything else ye want to say to convince me further, lass?” he murmured against her pliant lips.

“No, it’s your turn to convince me.”

“Wi’ pleasure, my love.”

They had some babies to make, after all.

Claire

 

The next morning

“Danny? Can you hear me?”

Claire tucked her phone against her shoulder and opened the hotel room door. Waving in the room service waiter, she checked the volume on her phone with a frown.

“Danny?”

The waiter pushed their breakfast cart inside and parked it near the table. He uncovered the myriad of dishes they’d ordered. The steam carried the scent toward her and her empty stomach grumbled. A reminder of all she’d done to work up an appetite the previous night.

“Here,” her brother mumbled at last, and she forced her attention away from the food. “You know it’s like one in the morning, don’t you?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, did I interrupt your lunch break? It’s not like you were asleep.”

“You don’t know. I could have been.”

Sure, and a housecat enjoyed the morning paper for the insightful editorials. Danny’s regular hours had more in common with a vampire’s than those of an average human. Most of the time he went to bed as the sun was coming up, not going down. Which was exactly why she’d waited to call him.

“Listen, Danny, I need your help.”

Despite whatever plans Hugh and Laird had to plot Jameson’s untimely demise, she needed to continue with a more sane, less murderous strategy to circumvent the agent.

Making the men legal citizens of Scotland, or at least projecting the appearance of legality was key. After all, it had worked well enough for Hugh. It could work for them, too.

And her hacker brother was the man for the job.

“Again? Truly unprecedented,” he drawled. “Are you in trouble again?”

“No, but trouble is after me.”

He slurped loudly in her ear—Red Bull most likely—before a snort of laughter reached her. “You know, my sister, for years you never did anything interesting at all. You’re much more fun these days.”

“I’m so glad I can amuse you.” She put the eye roll he couldn’t see into those words.

Danny cackled again. “Oh, you do. You do.”

They could do this all day, no doubt. Trade one snide comment for another. While it would be diverting, they had more vital territory to cover.

The scent of bacon warred for her attention as much as her brother’s random commentary. She inhaled and released a sigh of yearning. “Listen, Hugh has some friends here who are having the same problem he did an—”

“You do have a way of riling the Feds, don’t you?” Danny interrupted without apology. “I know and I’ve been working on it.”

Claire frowned at the phone. Had she heard correctly? She put the conversation on speaker. “What do you mean, you know?”

“You know how I told you about my new neighbor?” The question was muffled. Most likely because a slice of pizza had found its way into his mouth, as usual.

Hugh and Rhys seated themselves at the table and dug into the food. Laird lifted Hermione onto his lap and doled out a plateful of eggs and bannocks. A piece of bacon on Hugh’s plate called out to her and Claire couldn’t resist snatching it up.

Hugh rapped his fork across her knuckles. “Ye dinnae want that. Yer a vegetarian, remember?”

She was. Damn it, but it smelled too heavenly to deny. “Baby wants meat,” she told him and bit into the crisp goodness with a moan to rival any Hugh had wrung from her last night.

What was Danny talking about again?

“What neighbor?”

“The creepy old Irish dude down the hall. I told you about him, remember?” he admonished. “Nut job, most like, but the minions think he must be clairvoyant or something.”

“Irish?”

“Or whatever.” She could envision his careless shrug. Details like that were never important to him. Claire nibbled on her bacon as he continued, “He came by a couple weeks ago and told me you were having some issues and asked, quite nicely and with generous monetary incentive, to prepare a few things for you. Told me you’d call when you were ready for them. Gotta say, I didn’t believe him, but cash is cash, right?”

Everyone at the table stopped eating and stared at her phone as if they could see through it to her brother in Seattle.

The bacon stuck in Claire’s throat. “This guy wouldn’t happen to be named Donell, would he?”

“Dude! Are you clairvoyant now, too?” Danny sounded impressed. “Yeah. Well, I got most of it ready for