Seductive Knight (18 page)

“Why didn’t you tell me we’re having company? I don’t look presentable. And we just did the…you know in the car.” Alex scrunched her nose at him.

“You look fine. Besides, my family wouldn’t care if you’re wearing grass.”

“
I
care. And we didn’t clean up the house before we left. I think the plates and coffee mugs are still on the counter because you were in a hurry to leave.”

“Stop worrying. Hey, smile.” He laughed when Alex gave him a scowl instead. “Brat.”

He opened the car door, but Alex stopped him. “Yeah?”

“Would they know?”

“Know what?”

“That, that we’ve been intimate.” Alex’s cheeks turned bright red.

He thought about lying to her, but it would be best if he laid it out for her. Otherwise, she would just keep thinking about it and make herself sick from worrying. “Yes, they would know.”

“What? How?”

“Because they are Knights.”

“No. They would know if you tell them. Gawain, they might think I’m a loose woman. I’m not supposed to behave like a wanton. And I just got here.”

Gawain sighed. “They wouldn’t think any less of you even if they found out, baby. Stop worrying.” He leaned close to Alex and gave her a deep kiss. When he ended the kiss, Alex’s color was so deep red one would think she was running a fever.

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re not supposed to be kissing. They’re watching, Gawain.”

Gawain looked at his family. Sure enough, all of them had the silly grin on their faces. “All right. Let’s get out of this car before I do more than kiss you.”

“You wouldn’t dare. Gawain, I don’t think I can face them.”

Alex reminded Gawain of the time when he took Kirsten to the dentist. Afraid. Unsure. “They’re my family, love.”

“Still.” Alex whined. “I can’t imagine what they’re thinking right now.”

“Alex?”

“What?”

“I…” He was so close to saying the three-letter word. The hell.

“I what?”

“I’m so proud of you, love. And they’ll be, too once they heard that you passed your knowledge test so easily.”

“Oh, my God. The car. They’re looking at the car,” Alex whimpered.

Gawain laughed. Shit, he wanted to kiss her again just to annoy her further. “Ready to properly meet my sisters-in-law?”

“I guess so.”

The moment they got out of the car, his family stopped talking.

“Good to see you, guys. Didn’t know you were coming.”

“Hi Alex.” Kirsten ran to Alex and gave her a hug. “I can’t believe I’m looking at you.”

* * * *

“Me, too.” Alex’s tears blurred her vision. Although they didn’t hang out when they were children, it was still wonderful to see her. “You’re so grown up and beautiful. Like a celebrity.”

“Jeez, please. Why are you crying?” Kirsten wiped her tears. “Now I’m crying, too. I missed you, you know.”

Both women laughed.

Alex waved at Taylor and Julie.

Kirsten’s sisters-at-heart were both stunning. Julie had red hair and freckles. Taylor’s hair was dark brown with gold highlights. Both stood like models and oozed with sensuality Alex bet they didn’t even realize they possessed.

Julie and Taylor gave Alex hugs.

“Gosh, your skin tone is amazing. Been out in the sun a lot?” Taylor asked.

“Yes. You could say I’m a beach bum.”

“If I sit out in the sun, I end up looking like a cooked lobster.

“I turned into a one big freckle,” Julie piped in.

“What the hell happened to your car, puny?” Bors pointed his finger at the mirror. “The fuck, bro. Did you drive while the seat is tilted back and your dick—”

“Bors!” Kirsten stopped her brother. “Shut your potty mouth. Please.”

Alex’s cheeks heated. Of course, they would want to know what happened to the car. “I, I caused the damages on the car.” She stopped when she heard her own thick accent. Swallowing, she shoved her embarrassment down to her toes and looked at the Knights staring at her. “I drove the car and hit all kinds of things on the road. It was my first time driving.”

“Really,” Bors drawled.

“Yes. I’m not making excuses, it’s just—”

“You did fine for a first timer,” Bors interrupted her.

“You think so?”

“Believe me. You did fine. Kirsten plowed all the cars on Mom and Dad’s driveway the first time she drove a car. Guess who her instructor was?”

“Princess has a lead foot. Not my fault.” Gawain practically snarled at Bors. His brother, however, just laughed.

“I tried driving my dad’s car while inside the garage. Instead of going forward, I went back and put a big hole on the wall,” Taylor said with a smile. She looked proud, too.

“You still do that, love,” Bors teased.

“I do not.”

Bors winked at his wife. “Yes, you do.”

“I failed my driving test two times. The old guy who rode with me in the car nearly had a heart attack because I couldn’t stay in the middle of the road.”

“Because he was hitting on you, sweetheart.” Tristan grinned at Julie.

“Darling, he was old and smelled like dirt. He wasn’t hitting on me. I was flirting with him, hoping he’d let me pass my driving test.”

“Did you pass?” Alex asked.

“No. Because Tristan scowled at him until he started having an asthma attack.”

They laughed.

“Ladies, if we don’t go inside now, I’ll start drinking this soup.”

“Bors, you’re such a garbage disposal. You just ate two burgers in the car.”

“And who ate all the fries?”

“Whatever. Let’s go inside, everyone, before the slug eats all the food.”

Alex looked at Gawain. He winked. She sighed. He was right. She shouldn’t worry about his family. They had already made her feel accepted and welcomed by telling their own driving stories. She bet they did it on purpose to make her feel better about Gawain’s car.

Kirsten and Bors continued to bicker as they walked inside the house.

Gawain pulled Alex to his side. “Baby, remember Tristan?”

Tristan. Oh, dear.
Memories of the few times they’d met came back.
How could I forget this Knight.
“Of course. Glad to see you again, Tristan.” To Gawain, she said, “We’ve met a couple times.” She smiled at Tristan. “Both times you were reading. I don’t know if you remember.”

“I remember.”

“You’re not supposed to remember,” she whispered.

Gawain’s brow arched high. “What’s this? Did I miss something?”

“Alex and I met while I was busy reading. She asked me what I was reading. I told her it was a medicinal textbook. She wanted to see it. I said later. And then she snatched the book, ripping the page.”

Alex groaned. God, she wished she were a turtle so she could hide in her shell.

“Did she apologize?” asked Gawain.

“No. She blamed me instead. Then she walked away with her head held high. She surprised me though when she turned around and smiled at me. What she said next made me laugh.”

“And what did she say?”

Alex bit her lower lip. She remembered exactly what she said that day.
Someday, you’ll be my brother-in-law. So be nice to me.

“I can’t remember.” Tristan smiled. “Here.” He handed her a red paper bag. “I put most of Lucan’s DVDs in there. Nemo is great. I could tell you everything about it including the colors. I dream about it sometimes.”

Alex laughed. “You watched it too many times.”

“Too many. Check out this one.” He took a DVD from the bag. “The family suggested that you’d enjoy this one.
Brave.
I bought a copy. Lucan is too young to understand it.”

“Thank you. You didn’t have to buy this.” Alex glanced at Gawain who took the bag from Tristan.

“You’re right. I didn’t have to.” He snatched the DVD from Alex’s hand, then started to walk away.

“Wait!”

Laughing, Tristan gave her back the DVD. “I’m just kidding. Let’s go eat. I’m starved.”

Alex started for the door, but Gawain caught her by the elbow. Slowly, he pulled her against him. “They’re waiting for us.”

“They’re not. Believe me, they are already halfway done with their food. So what did you say to Tristan?”

“Do I have to tell you?”

“No. But it’ll bug me. I won’t be able to sleep, eat, and think. I’ll probably go back to work with my mind off somewhere and have an accident.”

“Yeah, right.”

“So what did you say?”

Alex sighed. “Okay. I told him that someday he’d become my brother-in-law. So he should be nice to me.”

Gawain pulled her even tighter, almost lifting her off the ground. “And what did he say?”

“He said,
that would be nice.
He winked and then went back to reading his book. Remember, I was just a child and I already proposed to you. So it wasn’t really a surpri—”

Gawain wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her. He planted a kiss on her lips. It was a quick one, but not enough. She cupped his cheeks for a longer kiss.

Alex could feel his arousal against the top of her pubic mound. Her body started singing again when Bors came back out the porch.

“Lovebirds, if you don’t come in now, there won’t be any food left for you.”

“Oh, dear.” Alex was too embarrassed to look at Bors. Gawain, however, was grinning from ear to ear.

Slowly, he let her body slide down until her feet touched the ground. Feeling his hard body against her was delicious. It would have been better if they were both naked.

Alex shook her head. She must tamp down these naughty thoughts.

With their fingers laced together, they followed Bors in the house and all the way to the kitchen where the rest of the Knights passed around the boxes of Chinese food. It was amazing to watch them. Kirsten picked up all the squid from the Chow Mein with her chopsticks and dropped them on Bors’s plate. Bors split the veggies between Taylor and Kirsten. Tristan picked the shrimp that he could find and gave them to Julie. They all ate as if they’d never seen food before.

“Barbarians. All of them,” whispered Gawain, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Bors raised a fist with his middle finger straight up. The others just laughed.

“They may be barbarians, but you love them to death.”

“To death,” he repeated.

Chapter Twelve

The next few days, Gawain spent teaching Alex how to drive and taking her to different restaurants although she protested each time because food was so expensive. They spent their time laughing, making love, talking, and dreaming, like honeymooners building their future. It had been the best days of his life.

In such a short time, he and Alex became so intimate in a way he’d never been with any other woman. He wanted her with such intensity, like air in his lungs. And the thing of it was, he believed Alex felt the same way.

She hadn’t said a thing about her past, hadn’t talked with an accent, and she’d been as carefree as anyone lucky without dark memories.

He knew, though, it was only a matter of time before Alex faced the past again—to solve the mystery clouding the Roses. And that time came too soon.

Bors and Kirsten were coming, but he hadn’t told Alex yet.

“Popcorn, hon. Just as you like it. With lots of butter.”

“Yum! Do you think I’ll be as fat as a cow when I go back to the Philippines?” Alex popped another Hershey kiss in her mouth. “Oh, my God! This is so good!” she said with her mouth full.

“Man, what happened to my baby? You were so sweet and demure when you arrived. Now you eat like my family.”

“Like a barbarian?”

“Yes. Look at you, drooling all over your shirt.”

“What?”

As soon as she looked down, Gawain tapped her nose. “Just kidding.”

“The movie is starting.” Alex practically squeaked.

Gawain placed the popcorn on Alex’s lap. He didn’t tell her, but he’d seen the movie at least three times when Kirsten had begged to watch it with him.

They shared the popcorn, laughing when both of them dipped their hands in the bowl, grabbing each other’s fingers instead. By the time the movie ended, his stomach was full of candies, popcorn, and beer. He decided to lie down on the couch with Alex’s lap pillowing his head.

“That was a good movie. I could watch it over and over.” Alex reached for the box of Kleenex and wiped her hands.

Seconds later, her fingers ran through his hair. He closed his eyes and savored the good feeling.

“Thanks for taking me shopping earlier and for buying the shirts and slippers, Gawain.”

“No problem. I wish you’d let me buy you—”

“No. It’s enough that you let me stay here, feeding me, showing me around. Buying me more than what I need would be too much. God, did you see the prices? Just one pair of jeans would cost you forty dollars.”

“I have money, love. I can buy you—”

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

It would have had been a long debate at the mall if he’d insisted on buying her anything. He did, however, get a chance to buy something for her at
Victoria’s Secret
while she oohed and ahhed at Granny’s Candy Store. They had a nice trip to the mall, but he didn’t like that Alex got too much attention from men. When they walked in at the Victoria Secret’s store, the sales associates thought she was one of the models who came to visit. It was incredible. Kind of cool that he was mistaken for a model as well. Alex thought it funny to tell everyone that he was single and looking.

“I’ll probably use a tube of toothpaste tonight to clean my teeth.” She unwrapped another candy kiss. “Do you want one?”

Gawain opened his eyes. “If you can spare an extra.”

“Of course. You bought three huge bags of these suckers.”

“It was on the list.”

“I know. I should have added Sour Skittles.”

“We can do that.”

“Graham crackers?”

“That, too.”

“Thank you! Here,” she said as she unwrapped one kiss.

Gawain opened his mouth. Alex popped the candy in, then he grabbed her hand, and licked her fingers. “Yup. Tastes great.”

Alex, however, was too busy savoring her candies to notice his innuendo. She licked the same fingers.