She put her hands on her hips and glared. "Well, far be it for me to interrupt your waiting." She turned and headed up the path.
He was quick, but not quick enough to take her hand before she turned. Her back was to him now and he knew better than to grab her from behind. She could and would hurt him -- he had a scar to prove it.
That occasion was the only time in his life Kevin gave him a stern talking to. Kevin was furious and roared that no man was ever to grab a MacGreagor woman from behind. He was to put his hands behind his back in a non-threatening manner and talk instead. It wasn't Kevin's fury that bothered Connor so much; a mere woman managed to damage him and that embarrassed him to the core.
He wondered for a second, if putting his arm around Rachel from behind that day in the forest frightened her, but he dismissed the thought. Walking behind her now put him at a disadvantage. He couldn't tell if she had a dagger in her right hand, her left hand, or both. "Rachel, I am missing a dagger."
She didn't bother to turn around. "Perhaps you misplaced it."
"Perhaps you have it."
"Perhaps I do not."
"It was my father's dagger and I want it back."
She stopped and turned around. "Oh that's right, your father died. How did he die again?"
"You know very well what happened. A Cameron accidentally shot an arrow through his heart."
"I remember now." She started up the path again. Some of the women planted flowers in front of the cottages and without Connor behind her; she might have taken the time to admire them. "We nearly went to war over that. Fortunately, Laird Cameron came to Kevin completely unarmed and offered his life for your father's. Kevin was very impressed, but I might have killed the lad."
"I do not doubt that. Tell me, what other stolen property do you have?"
For a second time, she stopped, turned around and faced him. "Why would I tell you?"
"You were willing to brag about it last night."
Her ire was steadily rising and she clenched her fists. "I do not brag!"
He smiled. At least she didn't have a dagger in either hand.
His smile made her madder still, but she hid it and released her closed hands. She put them behind her back, smiled and looked up at him. "Did you like holding me yesterday?"
"Nay." He hoped to wipe the smirk right off her face. Instead, she had a twinkle in her eye.