Rogue of the High Seas by Cynthia Breeding Page B

her?”
    â€œCaptain Henderson has always behaved like a perfect gentleman,” Shauna said to put an end to the conversation before it strayed to the part where he had shown a definite interest. She didn’t want anyone finding out about that.
    â€œIf ye say so,” Kyla said and launched on to her next subject. “Ye cannae deny the MacLean wants ye. He said so.”
    Shauna didn’t even bother to ask how Kyla knew. Servants had hearing as keen as a cat’s sight at night. And Kyla flirted with all three of the footmen in Shane’s employ. “What he may have said and what I want are two different things.”
    Kyla rolled her eyes. “The mon is good looking and spare, with nae fat on him.”
    â€œYe make him sound like something being taken to market.”
    â€œBesides,” Kyla went on as though Shauna hadn’t spoken, “his father is rich and the MacLean is his heir.”
    As if Shauna needed to be reminded of that. The only reason she tolerated this ridiculous courtship idea was because she didn’t want to cause problems for Ian. “I am aware of that, Kyla. It does nae mean Mr. MacLean and I would get along well.”
    â€œWhat’s to fash about? From the looks of him, he’d give ye a good bedding—”
    â€œ Kyla ,” Abigail said.
    â€œWell, he would. I have nae doubt Captain Henderson would pleasure ye—”
    â€œ Enough .”
    â€œAll right.” Kyla picked up the empty plate and headed for the door. She turned to Shauna before she left. “It doesnae hurt to keep a mon on his toes. Think on it.”
    Shauna didn’t have to worry about trying to keep Robert on this toes since she didn’t see his booted toes or the rest of him over the next two days. She knew he was working on his boat dry-docked nearby at Leith, but she hadn’t seen him come back to the flat and she’d stayed at the office until late in the afternoon. Abigail insisted on tea at five o’clock. Even though it was not a Scottish custom, Shauna knew Shane would be suspicious if she wasn’t back at the townhouse by then.
    And Shane had already looked askance at her when she’d turned down Owen’s invitation to a carriage ride yesterday afternoon, claiming she was behind on filing. Owen had promptly offered to help her get the filing done. She was sure he’d done it to annoy her, but Shane thought it would be a fine idea, saying an extra hand would allow Abigail to stay home.
    Shauna wasn’t sure with which one of the men she was most annoyed. To her dismay, both of them were in the office this afternoon, so she had to be pleasant.
    â€œI never realized how much detail went into shipping kelp,” Owen said as he shuffled stacks relating to harvesting, drying and baling the seaweed. He spread out several papers. “This looks like a lot of man hours.”
    â€œThose stacks need to stay together,” Shauna said, trying to keep the edge off her voice as she gathered the papers. Owen had managed to mix several different receipts for services. “Otherwise, we will nae ken what to pay the workers.”
    â€œOh.” Owen sounded unfazed and moved closer to look over her shoulder. “This looks like a lot of money.”
    Shauna tried to shift away, but the counter blocked her. She couldn’t very well tell Owen to step back since he wasn’t touching her, but his presence still felt too close. From the knowing grin on his face, she suspected he knew exactly how she felt.
    The sound of the door opening caused her to look up and then stifle a groan. Robert had to choose this moment to make an appearance? She’d been waiting for two days and now—when Owen hovered much too near—Robert walked in. His gaze sharpened as he looked from her to Owen and then turned to Shane.
    â€œI saw La Colette sail into the harbour. She should be docking soon.”
    â€œI dinnae expect her until