Kiwi Bride Series: Highland Kiss (19 page)

He rushed out the door and
up the stairs before entering the bedroom and sitting beside Ruby.
He stared at her long and hard, wondering what to do. He knew
without a doubt that Brian was coming. He moved to touch her
face.

“
Madame, what have you
done? Do you love him that much?”

Suddenly, Alec felt an odd aching in his chest. Not a
physical ache, but more of an emotional pain.
Was he jealous of Brian? Was he in love with
Ruby?

Nay, he couldn’t very well
whisk her away again. Nay, he was not a coward. If Brian came and
challenged him for Ruby, then so be it. He’d have to take the bull
by the horns and simply ride it out.

As he gazed at her sleeping peacefully, his fingers stroked
her soft cheek, and Alec knew exactly what to do. He smiled, his
eyes glinting with mischief. He couldn’t wait until Brian got
there.
A challenge!
It’d be fun.

* * *

Ruby blamed Alec for
making her drink too much the previous night, because, when she
woke up in the morning, she had a massive, splitting
headache.

“
You only drank three
glasses of wine,” he explained after she swore at him in Khmer. She
couldn’t help herself.

Lunch didn’t help either. Alec said that fluids helped to
conquer a hangover.
Hangover!
She never
had a hangover in her life. This was her very first time, and Ruby
swore she would never have another one.

Stupid wine!

The phone rang again. She groaned. The noise was
ear-piercing and her head started to
pound even more. She wondered who it was. It kept ringing
insistently for the whole morning, on and off. She was pretty sure
that Lizzie and Mrs. McKenzie must have been sick of it by
now.

The pesky ringing
persisted, refusing to quit.

That was it!
She’d
had enough. Apparently, no one intended to pick it up. Reluctantly,
she got up from the chaise lounge and limped over to the phone.
Lifting it up, she said, “Hello?”

A panicked voice said from
the other end asked, “Is Alec there?”

Ruby frowned. It was a woman
. Alec’s lover?
Her
heart did a wee somersault.

“
No, I’m sorry. He’s not
here right now,” she replied.

A long pause. Then, “Who
is this?”

“
It’s Ruby,” she
answered.

A thump. Then Ruby heard
the beeping sound. She withdrew the phone from her ear and looked
at it in surprise.

“
Okay?” she said,
confused, and shaking her head as she hung up the receiver. The
woman must have been very angry indeed to slam the phone down
without another word.

She limped back to the
chaise and lay down. Using her fingertips, she delicately touched
her head and groaned. She felt like she had just died, and hoped
the aspirin would kill the headache.

Groaning again, she closed
her eyes, forcing herself to sleep so that she wouldn’t feel the
pain as acutely.

Is she Alec’s lover? Is
she his girlfriend? Stop it, Ruby! Stop thinking about
Alec!

Fifteen minut
es
later, she was fast asleep.

An few hours later, Alec came back in to check on
her.
My God,
he had never known anyone who was so
sensitive to alcohol before. She only drank three glasses of wine
the previous night, and seemed to be affected in an
instant.

He sat beside her on the
chaise. Ruby opened her eyes just then, and sleepily looked at him
as his hand came to stroke her hair.

“
Feeling
better?”

“
You have to ask?” she
snapped. “You made me drink the wine.”

“
Ah, as I recall, it was
you who insisted upon drinking. I did not force you,
Ruby.”

She wiggled her nose at
him with distaste.

Alec couldn’t help
himself. She was simply too adorable, so he leaned toward her and
kissed her forehead.

“
Why are you kissing me
again?”

“
Because I want to,” he
replied. “Don’t you ever just feel like kissing another
person?”

Ruby thought about that for a second, but shook her head.
Of course, she was lying to him
and
herself. She
really wanted to kiss him back right then, but she was too shy to
admit it, and preferred to pretend not to be interested.

“
Really?”

She nodded and looked
away, her lips pressed in a thin line.

With their faces inches
apart, Alec asked, “Has anyone kissed you before?”

“
You have.”

“
Before me?”

“
Nope,” she said, shaking
her head.

Alec couldn’t resist the
wave of happiness that filled him. “Really? Then I hope I will
always be the only person that ever kisses you.”

Ruby blinked in confusion;
but before she could analyze it any further, his lips were on
hers.

His kiss was passionate
and wild. Ruby couldn’t help but sigh with pleasure and instantly
responded physically. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers
and thumbs digging through his hair as her tongue playfully stroked
his.

When Alec moved his head
back, Ruby gazed up at him, appearing dazed. She was lost in his
tender, passionate embrace. But she wanted more.

“
Feeling
better?”

Ruby shook her head in confusion.
What did he just say? Oh God, Alec is so
handsome.
She wanted him to
kiss her again. A nice, liquid sensation rushed through her. She
sighed and her heart fluttered. She couldn’t resist lifting her
head up and kissing him again on the lips.

Alec was not one to resist
an invitation. He kissed her back, deep, hot, and
sensuously.

When he drew his head back
for the second time, he saw her smile contentedly.

Ruby’s smile vanished
instantly when her eyes caught sight of a movement at the door just
inside the room. She sat up straight and shifted her head to the
side to see whom it was since Alec was blocking her view. She
narrowed her eyes to focus because she didn’t have her glasses
on.

The blond-haired woman
shifted uncomfortably where she stood.

Ruby frowned, thinking she
had seen the woman somewhere before. Then she noticed a man
standing beside the woman. Her heart missed a beat as she realized
who he was, and all the blood drained from her face.

Alec instantly knew Brian
and Susan were standing by the door once he saw Ruby’s expression.
He turned slowly to look at them, with a nice, big grin plastered
on his face.

“
Hello?” he greeted
cheerfully.

Ruby shot up. And since
she did so too fast, the blood didn’t have time to reach her head,
causing the room to spin around her. She closed her eyes and
started swaying.

Alec knew she was about to
faint, and caught hold of her in his arms. He looked down at her
with concern, saying, “Darling, are you all right?”

Ruby closed her eyes,
biting her lip as she tried to concentrate. A moment later, her
head cleared, and her eyes fluttered open. She saw Alec’s face
above her.

“
Alec,” she managed to
say.

“
I told you not to drink too much last night.
Darling
, now you’re exhausted.” Then he kissed her
forehead.

Ruby could only stare.
What does Alec mean? And what is Brian doing here? Oh God,
I want to die.

“
Alec, what’s going on?”
Susan asked, confused as to why her brother was so passionately
kissing the woman he kidnapped.

“
Ruby’s unwell,” Alec replied, ignoring the inquisitive look
his sister gave him. Then he turned to Brian. “Ah, Brian! How are
you, old friend?”

Ruby could only stare at
him with a perplexed expression.

“
What is Ruby doing here?”
Brian asked, his tone getting harder.

Ruby glanced at Brian. She
saw that he was very angry, and bit her lip because she didn’t know
what to tell him.

“
Brian,” Alec said.
“Please don’t use that tone; Ruby isn’t well.”

Brian gritted his teeth.
“Alec, what the hell is going on here? Why is Ruby
here?”

“
Brian, can’t you see that my
fiancée
isn’t well?
Can you please not use that harsh tone?” Alec said
firmly.

“
Your what?”
Brian
shouted.

Susan widened her eyes in
shock.

Ruby glanced in confusion from the angry Brian back to the
happy Alec.
What’s going
on?
Her headache returned
with full force. She touched her head and closed her eyes. The
steel hammer that was pounding away on her head
intensified.

“
Sweetheart, is your
headache back again?” Alec asked with obvious concern.

“
Oh, Alec,” she cried. She wanted to ask him what he was
doing, but she couldn’t do that simple thing. She shook her head
and told herself that this was only a nightmare.
A nightmare! Brian is not here and I
am not Alec’s fiancée!

Alec bent down and picked
Ruby up in his arms.

“
Sorry, Brian, I’m taking Ruby to
our
room. She
needs her rest,” he said as he passed them.

At the door, he turned on
his heel and said to Susan, “Would you tell Mrs. McKenzie to
prepare the guest rooms?”

Susan nodded uncertainly,
still staring at her brother oddly.

“
See you both at dinner,”
he said as he headed toward the stairs.

“
Hi, Alec,” a female
said.

Alec glanced to his left
and said, “Hello, Jane, back from your overseas trip?”

“
Uh-huh. Who’s
she?”

“
Ruby, sweetheart?” Alec
said, looking down at Ruby who was still rubbing her temple with
her fingers.

Ruby glared at him,
wondering what he was up to now.

“
This is Jane, Brian’s
little sister.”

Ruby smiled at Jane.
“Hi.”

“
Are you unwell, Ruby?”
Jane asked, seeing Ruby’s pale face.

“
I, er—” Ruby touched her head and gritted her teeth.
Nightmare! Only a
nightmare!

“
Hangover,” Alec supplied.
“See you at dinner.”

“
Okay,” Jane replied
before disappearing into the drawing room.

In the bedroom, Alec lay Ruby down on the bed, and she
touched her head as she tried to concentrate.
Think, Ruby, think logically what the hell is
going on around here?
It was
no easy feat, however, because her head was now pounding like
mad.

Alec exited the room
without saying a word. Ruby was glad that he left because she could
think more clearly; only her peace didn’t last long
enough.

Alec returned momentarily
and shut the door behind him.

That was the final straw.
Ruby shot up as Alec advanced toward her. “Why are you doing this?”
she shouted at him. “Who’s that blond woman? And why is Brian with
her?”

Alec stood his ground and said calmly, “She’s my sister.
Her name is Susan. And Brian
was
her
fiancé.”

Ruby absorbed the
information in shocked silence. She closed her eyes. Then slowly,
everything began to make sense. “And what is Brian to
you?”

“
We have been friends
since childhood.”

“
Is that the reason why
I’m here? The reason why you kidnapped me?” she asked.

Alec raked his fingers
through his hair. “Aye.” Then he shook his head. “Nay.”

“
Aye or nay, Alec?” Ruby
shouted. “So you think I’m a threat to your sister? Is that why you
did this?”

Alec had no answer to
that. He just stood there, looking at her, his body
tensing.

“
How could you do that?
How could you?” She was so angry, she rushed at him and hit his
chest with her fists. “Why? I’m not your puppet, Alec!”

Alec continued to stand
there, enduring her tantrum. He knew she needed to release her
steam, and that was perhaps the best way.

When she tired of hitting
him, she rested her head against his chest and sighed. “I hate you.
I’m not your puppet.”

“
Nay, you’re
not.”

Ruby drew her head back to
look up at him. She saw that he was looking down at her in a very
bizarre way.

Alec caught her left hand
and brought it up to his lips. He kissed the back of her hand
gently as Ruby watched him; his eyes seemed soft and
tender.

“
I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m
sorry I used you, Ruby.”

Ruby wondered if he were
truly apologizing for his wrongdoing, because he was acting very
strange.