A Knight in Central Park (4 page)

“And how would you know that?”

“Because your kindness shimmers in your eyes like a lost treasure in the sand.”

He cocked a brow upward. “Is that so?”

She nodded. “You are a gentle warrior with a good heart, and you are going to help me. It is your destiny. My instincts tell me all of this. My instincts rarely fail me.”

She looked so innocent, so earnestly naïve, that he could hardly stand the thought of disappointing her.
Why upset her tonight? What good would it do?
He gave her a pitiful smile. “I’ll help you...first thing in the morning.”

He stood. His head still throbbed. He went to the window and closed it, making a mental note to have the lock fixed.

Alexandra’s eyes were closed by the time he turned back. He watched her snuggle against her pillow like a contented cat, and then he headed for the door.

“Sir Joe,” she called softly.

He turned and leaned against the doorframe. “What is it now?”

“Thank you. Grandfather said I would find a brave champion to help us, and he was right.”

Something twisted in his gut. To think she thought of him as her champion when all he wanted to do was get her out of his home as quickly as possible. It was more than his conscience could stand. “Is there anything you need?”

No response. Just like that she’d fallen asleep. The woman probably hadn’t slept in a regular bed in months.

He went back to her bedside to turn off the lamp. Strange, he thought as he watched her for a moment, how different she looked from earlier in the day when her hair was matted to her head and dirt covered her face. She was actually pretty in a cute, impish sort of way. With her red hair, small nose, and fine cheekbones, she looked like a fairy princess who’d come right out of a children’s book.

Too bad she was as crazy as a loony bird, he thought as he clicked off the light.

Alexandra bolted upright in bed. Her heart fluttered against her chest. The darkness was literally swallowing her whole. It was eerily quiet.

Where was she?

Her brother needed her. She remembered now. She had to find him. Her feet hit the ground. Pain shot up her leg, but nothing could keep her from seeking out Garrett.

She hobbled across the room, made her way through the door, clawing through the darkness and gulping furiously for air as if she were drowning. The dark terrified her almost as much as the thought of not being able to find her brother.

He needed her. She sensed it.

She felt his very essence as he called for her, leading her up the stairs of some strange, forbidding castle, the floor cold against her feet. Panic choked her as she limped from one room to the next, afraid of what she may or may not find.

And then she saw him...lying on a bed of downy blankets. Up close, she saw Garrett’s dark head of hair peeking from beneath linen sheets. “Thank you, Lord, for keeping him safe,” she whispered as she climbed on top of the layers of soft linens and edged herself closer to his side.

She closed her eyes. She would let Garrett sleep a bit longer, at least until she caught her breath. Then she would take her brother back home where they would both be safe.

Y
awning, Alexandra peeked sleepily through one eye and then the other, noting the streaks of sunlight coming through the window and hitting the wall just so. As she stretched her arm toward the ceiling, every bone in her body tensed. Something was amiss.

The walls were neither stone nor wattle and daub, but covered with colored parchment instead. She felt a movement upon her chest and stifled a gasp.

Slowly, afraid of what she might see, she peered downward. A hand lay upon her breast. A large masculine hand that rose and fell with each breath she took. Time held still as she turned her head until she was gazing into the sleeping face of Sir Joe.

She had done it again!

She had walked in her sleep. And right into Sir Joe’s bedchamber. She tried not to wake him as she pondered her predicament. Her nose itched and her leg began to cramp.

As if he sensed her dilemma, Sir Joe stirred, pulling her snug against him until her lips were pressed firmly to the hard cords of his neck.

She dared not breathe.

If he found her here in his bed, he would surely throw her out on the streets.

It was not Sir Joe’s fault she walked in her sleep and crawled into his bed.

His stubbled jaw rested on her forehead. He mumbled incoherently for a moment before falling silent again. She was sure he had drifted back to sleep until his fingers began to massage her chest. She never had her breast kneaded in such a way. She sucked in a slow deep breath and determined that Sir Joe smelled nice, like pine-scented soap and the fresh outdoors.

As his hands moved over her body, she stifled a groan at the sensations he awakened in her. Surely this was not how a man was supposed to make a woman feel. Although the men in her time paid her little attention, she was not an inexperienced lass...not completely. She had been kissed more than once, and she would never forget Sir Lionel’s fast and fumbling hands before she was forced to kick him on the shin.

With her face pressed against Sir Joe, she found it hard to take in too many details, but her awkward position did not stop her from seeing well-muscled shoulders. And he had lots of dark curly hairs sprinkled about his chest. She never would have guessed that such a wonderful specimen of a man was hidden beneath those strange garments he wore.

Sir Joe mumbled again, prompting her to attempt to ease her way off the bed. But before she could get away, he opened his eyes.

She froze.

They were nose to nose. She felt strongly compelled to say something. “Good day, Sir Joe. I trust you slept well?”

She followed his sluggish sleepy-eyed gaze to where his hand lay on her chest.

As if he were afire he tossed the covers aside and jumped from the bed. He pointed a reproving finger in her direction, his face a fiery red. “What are you doing in my bed?”

Towering over her with that menacing frown, he seemed to have overlooked the fact that he wore not a stitch of clothing. Or mayhap he enjoyed flaunting himself in such a manner. He had one of the finest chests she’d ever seen on a man. And she’d indeed seen her share considering her father hired no less than a dozen men whenever the crops warranted it. But not one of those men had ever taken off his breeches and stood naked before her as Sir Joe was doing now. His rigid manliness demanded her attention. She stared with wide, unblinking eyes, unable to bring herself to look away.

With an exasperated shake of his head, Sir Joe retrieved his clothing from across the room and stepped hastily into his breeches. “Alexandra,” he said as he turned back to her, “what kind of game are you playing?”

“’Tis no game, I swear. I have been cursed all of my life with a sleep-walking ailment.”

His face was pinched tight. “You are certifiably insane.”

“But you will help me nonetheless?”

With his face an annoyed shade of red and his teeth clenched together in such a menacing way, he looked angry enough to take on Sir Richard and his men.

The thought cheered her immeasurably.

“You may get your kicks out of pretending to be a maiden in distress and crawling into bed with strange men,” he said, “but I personally don’t find it amusing.”

Alexandra sat up, bristling at his words. “You, an unseasoned knight from a pampered world, are accusing me—” She pointed to her chest, “Alexandra Dunn of being a loose woman?”

Enough was enough. Pushing herself from the bed, she hobbled his way, wagging a finger at him as she went. “Although I have had fair enough chances to do so, I have never before crawled into a man’s bed. I am a virgin and I plan to keep my maidenhood intact until I marry.”

“Oh,” he said, “I get it. You’re looking for a husband.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You knotty-pated ox. It would be a stormy day in the forest before I would marry the likes of you...or any other man.”

He winced. “Where do you come up with these things? Knotty-pated ox?” He shook his head.

They both heard the loud click of the front entry door being opened and then clicking shut.

“Quick,” Sir Joe said, gesturing wildly with his hands. “Where’s your robe?”

“Belowstairs,” she said, wondering why the sudden concern. “Is something wrong?”

Sir Joe grabbed her arm and ushered her quickly towards his chamber door. Escape was impossible, for Shelly and another woman already blocked the doorway. Shelly was dressed in a loose-fitting blouse and tight breeches, while the other woman was attired in a matching two-piece garment that revealed long legs; the woman also wore the strangest footwear Alexandra had ever seen, making her appear three inches taller.

“Joe,” the woman with Shelly choked out, “what is going on here?”

Sir Joe’s countenance paled.

Shelly turned about and quickly disappeared.

Obviously the woman with the scowl had some sort of claim on Sir Joe. Alexandra shrugged. As long as he kept his promise to help her, she cared not how many women he courted.

Sir Joe rubbed a hand over his face. “It’s not what it looks like,” he told the woman. He gestured toward Alexandra and said, “She snuck into my room last night while I slept. I had nothing to do with it.”

Alexandra raised a brow. “You dare accuse me of being a wanton woman when you were the one who pulled me snug against your body and kneaded my breast?”

His jaw hardened. Her half-naked champion appeared to be at a loss for words.

“You touched this woman’s breast?” his lady friend asked.

Sir Joe shot Alexandra a piercing glance before he turned back to the woman and said, “I don’t know. I don’t recall.”

“You don’t
recall
?” The woman threw her hands in the air. “I come here to apologize for last night, find you in your bedroom with another woman, and you don’t remember whether or not you touched her breasts?”

“I never lie,” Alexandra chimed in.

Sir Joe’s face flushed with anger. “She never lies,” he said incredulously. “Tell Suzanne where you’re from. Tell her about King Henry and all of the king’s horsemen. Go ahead.”

Alexandra sighed. Sir Joe failed to believe her after all. All his talk...just a cartful of lies. Despite her damaged leg, she made her way past the tall, elegantly dressed, sweet-scented woman. Sir Joe’s true character mattered not she told herself. It mattered only that he believe in her plight...and the sooner the better.

Joe watched Alexandra hobble away before he turned back to face Suzanne. As always, Suzanne was perfection in her dark tailored suit and pearls. Her blonde hair was rolled tightly upon her head, her anger flaring from icy blue eyes. “I know this looks bad,” he said, “but you have to believe me. That woman is crazy...absolutely nuts. I did not invite her into my bed.”

“How can I believe you after what I just saw and heard?”

He pointed to his chest. “Because you know me.”

As if that were the lamest answer he could have ever come up with, Suzanne rolled her eyes. “Did you touch her breast, or not?” she asked once more.

His silence spoke volumes.

Suzanne marched from the room.

He nearly tripped over his feet trying to catch up to her. For the life of him, he couldn’t fathom how he always seemed to get himself into these messes. “Shelly let that woman in the house last night after I told her not to,” Joe finished just as Suzanne reached the front door. “When I woke up this morning, she was in my bed.”

Suzanne paused, her hand nestled around the knob as she waited for an answer to her question.

“Yes,” he finally said regretfully, “I touched her breast. I thought it was yours.”

Suzanne growled, threw the door open, smacking his toe in the process. She marched to the curbside, unlocked her Mercedes, and slid into the driver’s seat.

Joe glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t you go anywhere,” he told Shelly. Then he shut the door and limped after Suzanne.

The car engine came alive.

Suzanne rolled the window down a crack and said, “You must really think I’m gullible.”

He rested his head against the cold metal frame of her car door, his bare feet already numb. “I was asleep, Suzanne, having fabulous dreams about you...and when I—”

“You were dreaming of me?”

“Only you.”

Her mouth tightened into a straight line. “Well, keep on dreaming because I never want to see you again.”

Joe jumped back and watched her drive off. Damn. He limped back inside.

He heard voices. Shelly and Alexandra were talking in the kitchen. Just as well, since he wasn’t ready to deal with them. As he made his way back up the stairs to his room, he shook his head. He entered his bedroom and closed the door behind him. Suddenly the whole crazy scene struck a chord inside of him. He found himself chuckling at the thought of how stupid he must have looked, standing before Suzanne, half naked and fully expecting her to believe him. Hell, he could hardly believe it himself.

Although he knew it shouldn’t strike him as funny, he felt a strange sense of relief wash over him, as if a huge weight had miraculously lifted from his shoulders the moment Suzanne told him she never wanted to see him again. Her parents carried a fair amount of social clout in New York, and for the past five months her parents had been pushing for him and Suzanne to marry. He didn’t like the pressure, the expectations, the idea of being tied to one woman for the rest of his life.

He caught his reflection in the mirror, and realized he hadn’t seen himself smile in a very long time. He liked Suzanne, but he wasn’t interested in setting up house with her...or anybody else. He was used to being alone. In fact, he preferred it that way. His research kept him busy enough. Besides, above all else, he liked peace and quiet.

Leaning over the sink, he splashed cool water onto his face. When he looked back into the mirror, he saw Alexandra standing there, staring back at him.

His shoulders tensed. “What now?”