One Magic Moment(37)
Author: Lynn Kurland

 

“It doesn’t sound so taxing that you couldn’t patronize a National Trust site in the morning,” he said thoughtfully, “if you had sauce-stirring aid in the evening.” He paused. “Knole House?”

 

She took a deep breath. “If you like.”

 

“I’m more interested in what you would like.”

 

“Accommodating tonight, aren’t you?”

 

“You should probably take advantage of it.”

 

“I love Knole House,” she said with a smile. “It’s a very luxurious place.”

 

“They had no idea how luxurious, I’m sure,” he muttered under his breath. He opened the door, squeezed her hand, then released it and walked out onto the top step. He continued down to the courtyard before he turned and looked up at her. He thought keeping those steps between them was a very circumspect thing to do, though it left her rather farther out of reach than he cared for. He put his coat on, then jammed his hands in his pockets. “I’ll pick you up at ten.”

 

She leaned against the doorframe. “All right.”

 

He nodded, then paused. “Can I trust you would tell me to shove off if you didn’t want to see me again?” He cleared his throat. “I haven’t given you much choice about it in the past, just showing up as I have uninvited.”

 

She wrapped her arms around herself. He could only hope that was because she would have preferred to wrap her arms around him but was being discreet.

 

“I would tell you.”

 

He nodded, then shooed her inside. “Bolt the door, Tess. I want to hear you do it.”

 

“How have I lived here so safely this long without you to make sure I locked the doors?” she asked lightly.

 

“I’ve only been here since the end of summer,” he said seriously. “I would have come sooner if I’d known.”

 

“That I needed my doors checked?”

 

“That, too.”

 

She caught her breath, then managed a smile. “Go home, you awful man.”

 

Perhaps she was not as unaffected as he feared. “Am I bothering you?”

 

She rolled her eyes, then stepped back inside. “Thank you for the dancing and the rescue. Now, go away.”

 

He kept his hands in his pockets and his feet on her courtyard, because it was safer that way. He waited until she’d shut the door, listened for the bolt to be thrown home, then turned and walked slowly across her courtyard. He didn’t dare take as many deep breaths as he might have wanted to at another time, because he feared he might begin to hyperventilate if he did. So he simply walked slowly and ignored all the reasons that dating Tess Alexander was a very bad idea indeed.

 

If she had any idea who he was, she would—

 

He stopped in mid-step as the hair on the back of his neck stood up.

 

He looked up, but there were no lads on the battlements, no glint of sword or spear in the moonlight, no beeping of a watch or mobile phone. He was tempted to go back inside and insist that he would be sleeping on Tess’s floor, but he supposed that would only frighten the lady of the house unnecessarily.

 

He walked around the courtyard just the same, until he was sure it was empty.

 

It was late and his imagination was running away with him.

 

He had a final look about, glanced at the front door to make sure it was still locked, then took himself through the barbican gate and across the bridge. He continued to look about himself casually, but saw nothing untoward.

 

There were no additional cars in the car park and no modern torches flickering in the forest. Tess was behind impenetrable walls, and he was no more than a phone call away.

 

He took a deep breath, put his unease behind him, and walked out to the car park. It was empty save his Vanquish and Tess’s little red Ford.

 

Still ...

 

He took a deep breath and shrugged aside his unease. Tess’s doors were all locked, and hopefully she would have the good sense to lock her bedchamber door. She would be safe enough for the night.

 

And he would be there perhaps earlier than he’d intended to on the morrow, just to see if there might be something inadvertently left behind that might explain his unease.

 

If not, Tess might find herself having an extra houseguest for the foreseeable future.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 11

 

 

 

Tess had always wondered what it had felt like to be in a pitched battle. She’d just never expected to learn while standing on her own property.

 

She clasped her hands behind her back, realizing only as she did so that it was what John did when he was trying to be unassuming. She was surprised to find she wished he were standing next to her at the moment. Not even Mrs. Tippets could possibly be immune to his charming smile.

 

Mrs. Tippets, however, was apparently not finding anything overly charming about her smile.

 

“Mr. Beagle,” Mrs. Tippets said stiffly, “is the gentlest of beasts. He is beloved by all the young people in my neighborhood.”

 

Tess looked at the small terrier baring his fangs and looking at her ankles as if he’d just bellied up to a tasty Texas barbeque. She looked at Mrs. Tippets and put on her best deal-with-crotchety-tenured-professors voice.

 

“I can see that,” she said soothingly, “and I’m sure he’s very loving in his home environment. I’m afraid, though, that here he might be less than comfortable.”

 

“What can you possibly mean?” Mrs. Tippets demanded.

 

“He’s chasing off customers,” Tess said as politely as she could. “He does seem to like children, but not their parents. I’m having complaints about rips in trousers and stockings.”

 

“Perhaps they’re lingering a bit too long, looking at my wares,” Mrs. Tippets said, her back ramrod straight. “I don’t like lingerers.”

 

Tess took a deep breath and waded into the breach, because she had no choice. “Mrs. Tippets, the truth is, these wares are meant to be sold. It’s how I help keep the castle in the black. Mr. Beagle is getting in the way of that, so I must insist that you either keep him crated during your time here or leave him at home. I’m going to be faced with a lawsuit one of these days, or a hefty bill for emergency stitching and rabies shots.”

 

“He does not have rabies!”