𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐞 | 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐫 ✅

20 - La Maison Est Celle Que J'aime

"There's but one room free tonight." The innkeeper eyed us both, "ye're together?"
I opened my mouth to reply, but Jamie jumped in before I could, "promised." He paused, "we hope to be married in a week or so. I've brought my beloved here to speak to the good Father."

"Ah," the innkeeper smiled, "well congratulations on your upcoming union," he paused, "will ye be wanting the room? There's only one bed, mind. We're a proper establishment here, so ye'll have to take the floor, lad."

Jamie nodded, a small smile on his face as he replied, "I intended to, sir." He reached into his sporran and took out a few coins, dropping them into the man's outstretched hand, "and a hot meal for us both, if ye would."

"We dinna serve food here," the innkeeper counted the coins before looking back up at us, "but the tavern across the way does a bonnie stew. Reckon ye'll find what ye're looking for there."

Jamie bowed his briefly in thanks, "have the room put in the name of James Fraser -"
"James Fraser?" The innkeeper's eyes widened, "of Broch Tuarach?"

Jamie nodded, "is there another that ye can think of, sir?"

"Nay, Mr Fraser, um master Fraser... I'll take your bags -" he peered over the top of the desk at our feet and saw that we had no luggage with us, "I'll just find the, um, key..." he shuffled about for a few seconds, searching for the key before producing it. He held it up and then out to Jamie, who took it.

Jamie led me up the stairs and to our room.

There was, as warned, only one bed - a double, in the middle of the room. There was a fireplace to the side of it, and a small pile of logs on the floor beside that. The room other than that was bare - there wasn't even a chair.

Jamie grunted when he saw it, "for what I paid for this, I expected at least a place to hang your coat." He took off his overcoat and threw it onto the bed, untying his cravat and laying it on top of the coat. I watched, unable to take my eyes off of him - not that I wanted to, of course. "Still," he said, coming round the side of the bed and over to the far side of the room, "at least there are two windows." He looked out of one of the said windows into the street below. "Market's still going strong, Eira," he glanced over his shoulder at me, "ye'll be wanting to go straight away, I expect?"

I was still fixed on the fact that there was one bed.

"Eira?" He pressed again when I didn't reply. "Are you a'right, Mo Chridhe?"

At the use of the sweet nickname, I came to. I looked into his pretty blue eyes and nodded, humming in reply. "Aye, I'm fine... just thinking about the bed."

"Oh, Christ," he muttered to himself, so quietly that I barely heard it, "o'course ye are..." he came over to the bed and then sighed, "ye'll take it, of course -"

"I'm sure we could share," I looked away from the bed again, "we're friends, after all... and I'd hate for ye to injure yerself on the hard wood." I gestured to the floor.

"But yer reputation!" He exclaimed, horrified at the idea despite what we had done in the field a week earlier, "it'd be ruined -"
"Ye a'ready told the innkeeper that we were engaged," I reminded him in a soft tone, taking a step closer and reaching out for his hand with one of my own, "he'd think it odd, I'm sure, if ye slept on the floor -"
"I told him I would. Ye were there."

"Aye, I ken, but I thought -"

Jamie withdrew his hand from mine. "Do ye not think that I want to lie with ye?" His question caught me off guard. "Eira, what ye said the other day... I want ye as ye want me, but we canna -"