A Knight in Central Park(61)
“Me? What could possibly be wrong with me? One moment I’m driving down Fifth Street, minding my own business, and suddenly I’ve got a medieval woman in my house. Before I can blink, that same woman whisks me back in time, knocks me unconscious, and drags me through the wilderness so I can rescue her sister from a crazy medieval lord.” Joe rubbed his jaw, then saw Rebecca staring at him with that wide-eyed look of hers. “And to top it all off,” he added, unable to stop the frustration that had been building ever since he realized leaving her wouldn’t be so easy, after all.
“Go on,” Alexandra said as if they were discussing the possibility of a coming storm.
“Okay, I will. On top of everything else, you expect me to escort those kids...” He jabbed a hand toward her sisters. “To safety.” He lowered his voice. “In case you haven’t noticed, they need help—therapy at the very least. You’ve got a little sister who can’t talk, or should I say won’t talk. And another sister,” he added, gesturing toward Susan who was now plucking feathers from the dead pheasant as if the her very life depended on getting the job done in sixty seconds flat, “who is trying so hard to please everybody that she’s going to work herself into an early grave. Let’s not forget your brother who has a chip on his shoulder the size of Mt. Rushmore, and,” he added, throwing his arms in a wide arc, “I can’t even begin to imagine what your other sister’s problems might include. I am afraid to find out.”
Alexandra maintained a calm, reserved demeanor as she crossed her arms against her chest. “Surely you’re not finished? Verily you would not want to leave me out of your rambling tirade.”
He shook his head. “I’m tired. I’m done.” He looked around for his things. “Let’s go.”
“Ah...afraid to open up fully, Sir Joe? Afraid to tell me what you are thinking for fear that I might conclude you have feelings after all? Is that why you are so upset?”
His jaw tightened.
“Silence does not make you stronger,” she said, fixing him with a level stare, “nor does it make you superior to those of us who wear our emotions on our sleeves.”
He moved close enough to smell the lavender still lingering in her hair. “Do you want to know what I think about you Alexandra? Do you really want to know?”
“Aye,” she said, “or are you afraid to admit that you feel anything more than casual indifference?”
He let out a short caustic laugh.
She snorted.
This was his chance, he reminded himself, to cut all intimacy between them. Nip it in the bud before it was too late. “I respect you,” he said, “and I am glad we have become friends.”
He saw her stiffen.
He kept his voice low as he leaned closer. “Alexandra,” he said with a sigh, “you can’t say I didn’t warn you. You wanted intimacy, but you got much more than you bargained for, didn’t you?”
“Are you saying you feel naught for me but friendship?”
His breathing grew less steady as he felt a great temptation to brush his lips against her hair. His gut wrenched. “That’s right. We can still be friends, can’t we?” His voice came out as a hoarse whisper and even while he said the words he knew that what he felt for her was anything but casual indifference. What he felt for her was so raw he refused to think about it, because doing so frightened him more than seeing Harig come out of that farmhouse dressed in full armor, more than the sound of a giant snake hissing at his ear, and much more than the thought of coming face to face with Sir Richard and his army of men.
The idea that he might have found the one person in the world he might want to spend the rest of his life with, grow old with, made a sickening wave of terror well within. Because he couldn’t have her. After all these years, he was discovering that love might truly exist. And yet to claim it, would mean giving up everything he’d ever worked for, everything he’d ever wanted.
A cough and a rustling of leaves caused him to turn and see that Susan had packed their things, neat and tidy, everything ready to go. Even Garrett had quietly reappeared and now leaned casually against an oak, waiting.
Susan had even gone so far as to move Precious near a log so he could easily mount the animal.
Without another word, Alexandra walked away.
Sighing, Joe headed toward Susan, making her gasp when he grabbed hold of her waist and lifted her high, plunking her into the saddle instead. Next he picked up Rebecca and deposited her onto Susan’s lap. As always, Rebecca didn’t say a word, merely held tightly to her pathetic looking doll.