The second surprise was that Sam would inherit a couple of titles. As a landowner, he would become Laird Kincaid, but he was also in line to become Earl of Cairnmar.
The third surprise was the most astonishing to Lyra. Her sweet, loving husband turned into a brutal warrior on the rugby field.
Sitting beside Sam’s parents on a hill, Lyra watched with great trepidation a match between Sam’s team and the one from the next town over. At one point in the game, when she saw Sam emerge from a pile of huge, muscular men, she grabbed her father-in-law’s arm. “Did he just break …? Did his elbow …?”
Sam’s father, seeing the horrified look in her eyes, sympathetically patted her knee. “Do you know what’s been said about rugby? It’s a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen. Don’t worry, he’s fine, my dear.”
Nodding, she turned back to stare at her husband. He was covered in mud, and his uniform was spotted with blood, which she didn’t think belonged to him. His teammates were just as beaten up. What she found most amazing, however, was that once the game was over, both teams laughed and carried on as they dragged one another off the field.
Sam saw her in the crowd and made his way over to her. He had a cut over his eyebrow, and he was muddy from head to toe. Oblivious to the fact that she was wearing a white blouse, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. That wasn’t good enough for Sam. He kissed her passionately, ignoring his cheering teammates.
When he finally came up for air, he said, “Now that’s the way a husband should greet his wife when he returns home.”
Blushing because of their audience, she said, “You were thirty feet away from me.”
“Exactly,” he replied, and kissed her again.
She leaned into his side. “I’m relieved you’re still intact.”
“It’s a sport, sweetheart.”
A sport? They actually called the mayhem she’d just witnessed a sport? “Does it have to be so rough? I don’t want you to get hurt.”
He laughed. “A few minor cuts and bruises won’t kill me.”
He picked up his duffel bag, put his arm around her shoulders, and began walking toward their car. “I got a call from the FBI this morning. They want me to fly to D.C. tomorrow to consult on a case. I’ll be leaving before dawn. Want to come with me?”
“I can’t,” she answered. “I’m visiting the Cairnmar school tomorrow to film for my new series.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to say our good-byes tonight.” He lustfully inspected every inch of her body and then said, “In fact, if you’re up to it, I’ll say good-bye all night long.”
As Lyra waited by the car for Sam to drop his rugby gear in the trunk, she looked all around her. She was in a field bordered on one side by a lane of quaint stone cottages and on the other by a pasture with sheep peacefully grazing. In the distance were the magnificent Highland mountains. How different this all was from where she had been less than a year ago. Because of Sam, everything was new and exciting and wonderful.
He turned and smiled at her, and her heart swelled with love.
Life with Sam was going to be full of surprises.