Oh, please, no—anyone but Jamie!
And then I flattened him. We landed on the ground, hard, Jamie on his back with my chest smashed uncomfortably into his face. It felt like I’d hit a concrete sidewalk. Worst of all, I couldn’t breathe. Wriggling in panic, my vision began to darken. Then I gasped, sucking in a mouthful of air. Relief flowed through me, and I relaxed against the solid body beneath me. It was then I noticed the delicious scents of pine and soap mixed with … the charged air before a storm, a distinctive fragrance I suspected was coming from the boy whose body felt like fire against mine.
I tried to pull away from him, but strong arms held me in place as I stammered, “I’m so—so—sorry, please let me go and I’ll get off you.”
His warm breath pushed against my throat and a blush rushed up my neck as the truth washed through me—I’d tackled and was lying on top of Jamie MacCrae, boy of my dreams, future king of Doon. Ugg!
Just when I thought I couldn’t handle the mortification any longer, his hold loosened. Quickly, I rolled to the side, landing in the grass beside him.
“I’m sorr—”
“Och, lass, I heard you the first time. Dinna apologize again.” I caught a quick glimpse of his impossibly gorgeous face before he rose to his feet and tugged his idiotic hood back into place. Closing my eyes to shut out tears of humiliation, I lay as still as possible, hoping I would simply melt into the ground. This was not what I had in mind by living in the moment.
The distinct sound of someone clearing his throat caused me to open one eye. Jamie stood at my feet with his hand extended.
Slowly, fixing my eyes somewhere around the vicinity of his chest, I sat up and placed my hand in his large, warm fingers. The contact sent a delicious tingle all the way up my arm as he pulled me to my feet in one easy movement. I looked up into his face and our gazes crashed as forcibly as the recent impact of our bodies. His eyes, the color of rich coffee, flowed over my face, melting me like the first thaw of spring.
My eyes lowered to his strong lips. Would they be as soft as I imagined? I leaned toward him and—his face closed like a door slamming shut. He dropped my hand, practically flinging it back at me. Then he turned on his heels and strode away.
Stunned, I drew in a ragged breath and then busied myself with smoothing my hair and brushing bits of grass off my skirt. Kenna and Duncan were nowhere in sight. It appeared no one else in our group had witnessed my nosedive into the crown prince of Doon or the way he’d callously crushed my heart and then walked off.
Fiona fell into step beside me. “Are ye all right, Veronica?”
Except for Fiona, I corrected myself with a heavy sigh.
“I’ll live,” I said as lightly as I could, but one look at her knowing face made me realize I wasn’t fooling her with my glib attitude. I shrugged, unwilling to replay Jamie’s scathing rejection. “I feel like a fool. He was trying to put the steps down for me and I was in such a rush that I fell right on top of him!”
Fiona put her arm around my shoulders as we walked. “’Tis good for the lad ta have some sense knocked into him once in a while.”
I smiled in relief at her irreverent comment, and we made our way toward the crowded marketplace. Fergus, Duncan, and Kenna waited for us at the edge of the crowd and Jamie—well, Jamie’d vanished … again.
Not that I cared. Just because I forgot to breathe when he looked at me didn’t mean he had anything to do with my happiness. So he was the most gorgeous boy I’d ever seen. And yes, he was the prince of an enchanted kingdom … So what—he was a jerk! And he obviously didn’t give a fig about me. I’d clearly misread his intentions when he was popping in and out of my world as if it were the local quickie mart.
Rushing ahead, I caught up with my new giant friend. “Fergus, where might I find the best strawberries in Doon?”