A Minx for the MacKenzie [Highlanders Love #2]

Chapter 15

Amhuinn held up her arm limply, looking at the loose sleeve in amusement. It hung off her like a sack, making her small frame look even smaller in the loose clothes, but despite how much of a potato sack Amhuinn thought she looked like, Hammond couldn't help the stirrings in the pits of his stomach when he saw her illuminated by the campfire.

The sun had just disappeared over the horizon, and the campfire now served as the sole light. The MacKenzie's were using it to cook their dinner of hunted rabbit, but were cautious to have built their tents around the fire to prevent it from view of the Kincaid castle. Tristan had yet to return, but they knew his excursions could occasionally take some time and as such did not worry too much as they gathered around the fire. Despite the situation which had led them here, as the chatter of his men mixed with the smell of cooking meat over the fire, along with the smell of heather so familiar to the highlands made him wish that it was not the kidnap of a child which had him where he currently was. And the way Amhuinn looked now did not help matters.

Hammond's solution to her disheveled look was to offer her his own spare tunic and pants instead. But with how large of a man Hammond was as compared to Amhuinn's slight frame, the shirt hung off her like a sack, and his pants had to be reinforced with a string around her waist. Young Isaac had tried to offer his clothes, but Hammond had bristled at the idea, disliking any other man's clothes around Amhuinn. Even with their tentative agreement, Hammond was finding it difficult to stay back when she so much as smiled at anyone else. He had watched as she entered their circle after she had changed in his tent, and then all but shoved Connor out of the way so she had a space to sit next to him.

Amhuinn had raised a brow at his actions, but stifled her laughter as she went to join him.  The truth was, the laird invoked all sorts of feelings that she had been fearful of for a long time. It had started off with anger, anger at herself for being weak enough to feel that way. Hammond however, proved himself time and time again that he was dependable and trustworthy, so much so that he would help and stay up with her when Adair was down with the fever. When he had taken off without a second thought when Adair had been taken away, some part of Amhuinn's hard-built resistance against him crumbled, and she now found herself looking at the red-haired laird in a whole new light.

From the corner of her eye, she watched as he accepted the plate of rabbit stew and easily engaged in conversation with his men. Had he always been this easy-going? Or was it just lately? His laughter sounded wonderful, a steady baritone that made Amhuinn feel that she would also have someone to rely on for help whenever she needed. After so long of being alone and independent, the feeling was a foreign but welcome one.

"He's been smiling a lot more since ye came." 

Connor's sudden voice next to her almost startled her, but his chuckle had her smiling too as she took the bowl of stew he offered her. Watching as the dark-haired husband of Evie settled next to her, Amhuinn raised a brow in question. "Who? Him?" she clarified, motioning at Hammond.

Connor nodded. "He was broody and highly distrustful of females, and of love. He even disliked the idea of me and Evie at first, until he noticed how smitten we were with each other."

"How could he? Evie's his cousin." she asked in an incredulous tone. 

"She is." he agreed, slurping at his dinner. "But that doesn't mean he wasnae distasteful of the idea that his first-in-command was in love. Admittedly, I was like a lovesick puppy at first. Hammond doesnae have a good view on love though. He thinks it makes him weak."

She knitted her brows, frowning as she took a look at him. Amhuinn had already admitted to herself that she was half besotted with Hammond. But if that was how he felt... was it worth her own gamble?