McKnight in Shining Armor (17 page)

She smiled at him and shook her head in disbelief at her body’s response to him. “Where are we going?” she asked, resigning herself to the fact that Alec almost always managed to get his own way.

“La Croix House—a very special, very private inn that overlooks the Ste. Croix river. You’ll love it.”

“What should I pack? Ski clothes?”

“No.” He smiled secretively.

“Evening clothes?”

“No.” His smile widened. By rights, Kelsie thought, there should have been canary feathers sticking to his chin.

“What, then?”

“Remember that briefcase you brought to my office the day we met?” He bobbed his eyebrows at her as she blushed in remembrance of the lacy underthings in the attaché. “Bring that.”

“What else?” she asked, fighting a losing battle against embarrassment.

Alec went right on grinning. “Your toothbrush.”

   La Croix House was everything Alec had told her and then some, Kelsie thought as they turned in at the gate and started up the long, winding drive way. The early dusk of Minnesota winter was falling on the snow-blanketed fields, but amber lights cast a welcoming glow in the tall windows of the inn. The house was an enormous Greek revival style mansion, white with neat black shutters. Four Dorian columns rose gracefully to the top of the second story to support the wide roof of the portico. The main entrance boasted oak double doors with a wreath on each and a huge fanlight above them. In the spirit of the season, red ribbon and evergreen roping adorned the post where the sign hung welcoming them to La Croix House. Behind the house the land rose sharply into wooded hills that were black now in the gloom of twilight. The lawn in front of the
house gradually sloped downhill. The frozen expanse of the Ste. Croix River lay below.

Alec parked the car, shut off the engine, and turned to give Kelsie an expectant smile. “Well?”

“It’s beautiful, Alec,” she murmured, feeling suddenly choked up because no one had ever taken her to such a special place. She tried humor to keep her tears at bay. “What can I say except you’d better not be considered a regular here.”

He chuckled, not missing the sparkle of tears Kelsie had hastily blinked away. Reaching out to tuck a stray strand of blond hair behind her ear, he said, “I have been here exactly once. Post-divorce R and R,” he explained. “It was just me, my skis, and a stack of Agatha Christie novels.”

Kelsie leaned over and kissed him. “Let’s go in before we freeze.”

“I can think of several ways for us to stay warm,” Alec said, his voice eager with suggestion.

“Hold those thoughts until we get to our room, will you?”

They were greeted in the foyer by a woman who was short and plump and had a smile that lit up her whole face.

“Hi! Welcome back, Alec.” She laughed at the look of astonishment he gave her. “I never forget a name or a recipe for fattening food. The one trait comes in handy, the other goes straight to my hips,” she said with a rueful smile. Reaching out to shake Kelsie’s hand, she said, “You must be Kelsie. I’m Ann Lancaster. Welcome to La Croix House.”

“Thank you,” Kelsie said, liking the woman instantly. “The house is beautiful.”

“Thank you. We’re very proud of it. My husband and son and I have done most of the restoration work ourselves. I’ll give you a mini tour, then take you up to your room.”

The tour of the house would have been worth paying admission for. Each room had been lovingly restored, from the polished wood floors to the ornate moldings and plasterwork on the high ceilings. Oriental rugs graced the floors. The furnishings were antiques. All of the first floor rooms that were open to guests—the two parlors, library, and large dining room—had been decorated for Christmas with evergreen bows and sprigs of holly, wreaths, baskets of pine cones, and velvet and taffeta ribbons.

The seven guest rooms, Mrs. Lancaster explained as they climbed the curving staircase, had been decorated with luxury in mind ahead of historical accuracy. The furnishings were still antiques, but the floors were covered with lush carpeting and each room had its own Jacuzzi.

On the door to the room Alec had reserved for them, a small hand-lettered sign read:

When the door closed behind them, Alec set the suitcases down, sighed, and stretched his arms and shoulders, ready to relax. Conversely, Kelsie seemed to tense up. Not that she’d been overly relaxed on the drive. She had fidgeted and chewed her lip the whole way. She hadn’t said a word about it, but Alec knew something about this weekend was bothering her. She was as easy to read as a billboard.

“Would you care to discuss it?” he asked, watching her prowl around the room.

Her head jerked around in his direction. “What?”

Alec gave her a tiny smile. “Whatever it is that’s making you so nervous when you’re supposed to be unwinding.”

“Oh,” she said in a small voice. Why did she have to be as transparent as plastic wrap, she wondered. At least she didn’t have to lie to him. There were a dozen things making her nervous; all she had to do was pick one that didn’t involve him. She shrugged, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “It’s just that… I’ve never left the kids for a whole weekend before, and…” As she dodged Alec’s penetrating gaze, her eyes landed on the telephone sitting beside a thriving Boston fern on a pine dry sink. “Maybe I should call to make sure—”

Alec shook his head, smiling indulgently. He came forward to gently brush her hair back from her face and press a sweet kiss to her lips. “Natalie has this number. She’ll call if anything really important happens, such as terrorists taking them hostage or a nuclear bomb hitting your house.”

“I know. But Elizabeth had a dentist appointment today.”

Alec frowned. “Drilling? Filling? Pulling?”

“Just a checkup,” she said, feeling ridiculous.

To his credit, Alec didn’t laugh, but he tried to get Kelsie to. “That ranks somewhere below a neo-Nazi uprising. Close, mind you, but not quite as bad.”

She cracked a pathetic excuse for a smile.

“Honey, they’ll be fine,” he assured her, taking her in his arms.

Kelsie’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Yeah.” She sighed, giving in to the urge to put her arms around Alec’s lean waist and snuggle against him.

It helped to be closer to him, but it didn’t chase away the hollow sense of panic inside her. She shouldn’t have come here with him. She should never have let him talk her into it. Of course, it would have been easier to walk to the moon than resist Alec’s powers of persuasion. All her hard-won independence became as soft as Silly Putty when she went up against Alec’s granite-willed, velvet-cloaked determination.

She was becoming dependent on him. That was
the bottom line. That was what really scared her. He had worked his way into her life and made himself indispensable. He was always there for her in times of crisis, her knight in shining armor, inviting her to lean on him. How could she deny him anything?

Why did love have to be so complicated? She couldn’t give in to the temptation of becoming emotionally dependent on him. She had been totally dependent on Jack and it had nearly destroyed her. She would never forget the raw terror that had permeated ever fiber of her being when she had realized Jack was never going to be there for her again, that she was essentially alone. No one would ever know the struggle she had gone through to become self-sufficient, to take charge of her life. If she had to go through it again, she wasn’t so sure she would survive.

Why did love have to be so complicated? She loved Alec, but could she make him understand she had to have a life outside their relationship? He’d been doing everything he could to invade every corner of her existence. How was he going to react when she asked him to back off? She
knew he wouldn’t take it well. She didn’t want to lose him, she just needed some space.

Why did love have to be so complicated?

“Come here,” he said, stepping out of her embrace and drawing her with him toward the tall window, where a plump lavender velvet cushion beckoned them to make use of the window seat.

“We should get ready for dinner,” Kelsie protested.

“It can wait,” he said softly, sitting with his back against the wall of the alcove, one leg drawn up on the seat, the other foot on the floor. He pulled her down to sit in the vee of his legs with her back to his chest, and wrapped his arms around her. “Isn’t this nice?”

She nodded automatically, not bothering to ask if he was referring to the room or the view or the quiet or them sitting together. Letting her gaze take in the details of their surroundings, she said, “This is like my all-time fantasy bedroom. Have you been reading my mind, Alec McKnight?”

He chuckled devilishly. “I’ll never tell.”

The room was light and larger than any two bedrooms in Kelsie’s house. Dainty violet flowers
and green vines entwined on the white background of the wallpaper. The carpet and drapes were silver-gray. There were actually two levels to the room. On the lower level, thick lavender towels sat in a wicker basket beside the gray marble Jacuzzi. Two delicate rosewood chairs and a small table covered in white lace sat not far from the window seat, where the morning sun and the view of the river would provide a lovely setting for an intimate breakfast. Several carpeted steps led up to a specious loft, where an ornate brass bed situated beneath a skylight was the main attraction and two comfortable-looking overstuffed chairs flanked a brass floor lamp.

Special touches added warmth and homeyness to both levels: dishes of sweet-smelling potpourri, lush green plants in hand-thrown pottery, satin and lace pillows, framed needlework, and wreaths made of baby’s breath and grapevine adorning the walls.

It was a perfect haven. Kelsie felt guilty she hadn’t been enjoying it and resolved not to let her brooding ruin their time here. She turned her gaze out the window to the moon-silvered evening, the
ethereal glow of ice on the river, the pristine whiteness of snow on the fields.

“Too bad I don’t know how to ski,” she said, looking over her shoulder at Alec. “I bet they have some lovely cross-country trails here.”

“They do, but you wouldn’t have gotten to see them,” he said, a smile threatening to spread across his face.

“Why not?”

“Because, sweetheart, I have no intention of letting you out of this room until checkout time.” His true intentions burned like dark fires in his eyes.

Kelsie felt her body react immediately. It never ceased to amaze her how in tune they were physically. One look, one word from him, and everything inside her went into meltdown. “Alec,” she whispered, arching back against him like a wanton cat, “you are wicked.”

“Thoroughly,” he agreed, lowering his mouth to hers for a deep, leisurely kiss.

He had no intention of making use of the elegant dining room downstairs. They had seen all of the rest of the inn they were going to see on the tour. Their dinner was delivered to their door,
announced by a discreet ring of a small bell, and left in the hall on a serving cart.

“I arranged for all our meals to be brought to our room,” he said, wheeling the cart to the table.

“Al-ec!” Kelsie said, mortified. “What will the Lancasters think? They’ll think we came here only for—for—”

“We did,” he said with a grin, dimples flashing as he pulled her into his arms. She had begun to change clothes to go downstairs, so her oversized chambray shirt was hanging loose and unbuttoned, revealing the top half of a lace-edged royal blue teddy. Alec dropped one knee to the seat of a chair and bent his head to nuzzle her barely concealed breast.

Kelsie melted into the heat of his mouth and reprimanded him all at once. “Alec, stop that. If we get sidetracked now, we’ll never eat this meal, and the innkeepers will know why.”

“Honey, I’m sure they have better things to do than wonder about the sexual habits of all their guests,” he said, staring fascinated at the way her hardened nipple peeked at him through the lace of her teddy. “Why should it bother you anyway? We’re consenting adults.”

“Because,” she said primly, “good Norwegian Lutheran girls aren’t raised to run off with men for hanky-panky.”

“Oh, really?” he asked dryly. He slipped the tip of his tongue inside the edge of her teddy and flicked it across the taught tip of her breast. “Then what are you doing here?”

She gasped. Of its own volition, one hand lifted to bare her breast for his sensual ministrations, and cup it to give him better access. Breathlessly she replied, “We’re not immune to temptation.”

“Praise be.” Alec groaned against her soft, hot skin. He sucked her breast until she was moaning and withering in his arms, then he lifted his head and stood up, announcing in a cheery tone, “Dinnertime!”

Kelsie gave him a look that managed to combine disbelief, desperation, and a trace of humor. She shook a finger at him. “Just you wait, Alexander McKnight.”

The devil himself couldn’t have come up with a more suggestive smile than the one Alec gave her. “I am,” he said, catching her hand and drawing it to the straining front of his jeans.

A thrill shot through Kelsie. He was denying them both for the moment, so their anticipation could build. If hers built much more, she was going to explode, she thought as she slumped down on the chair.

Dinner conversation was minimal, provided mainly by the occasional monologue of the radio announcer between segments of music on the classical station. Kelsie and Alec were too busy concentrating on each other and the sweet, hot tension thickening the air around them.

She found her attention drawn to his hands. They were well tended. Elegant. They were so finely shaped, they were nearly feminine. An artist’s hands. Or a musician’s. Thoughts of the beautiful music they could make on her body sent a rush of heat through her.

Alec couldn’t take his eyes off her mouth. He could never get over how soft it looked—how soft it was. It was beautifully sculpted, not too wide or too small or too full or too thin. In short, it was the most kissable mouth he knew. Thoughts of how giving it was when he kissed it, how pliant and welcoming and warm and sweet it was beneath
his, had him shifting uncomfortably on his chair.