Her McKnight in Shining Armour. Teresa Southwick
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of a lady’s chair, she thought as he did just that. “A man who’s funny. Handsome. And smart enough to engage me in conversation to distract me from my objective.”
“Which is?”
Her goal had been to leave, but now it was changing, she realized. Right now she was concentrating very hard to not notice how close his fingers were to her shoulder. The cap sleeve of her lavender chiffon full-skirted dress didn’t offer a lot of protection from the warmth of his hand. Tension coiled in her stomach, and her breath caught as she waited to feel his touch.
“I really need to go.”
Just then the music started up again as the DJ announced there would be dancing until the wee hours. Couples drifted onto the temporary wooden floor in the center of the wedding tent.
“How about one dance, then I’ll walk you home?” Alex held out his hand.
Ellie stared at him. Cinderella escaped from Prince Charming after one dance at the ball, then her magic spell fell apart when the coach turned back into a pumpkin. The thought should have strengthened her resolve to go now, but it didn’t. She told herself giving in was the better part of valor.
“All right.” She put her hand into his and he tugged her to her feet.
Alex settled his palm on her lower back as he guided her to the dance floor. Then he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her loosely against him. She put one hand on his shoulder as he folded her other hand in his and rested them on his chest. It was such an intimate gesture that all her female hormones squealed with excitement. They moved easily together in time to the music, as if it wasn’t their first time.
“You’re a good dancer.” His breath stirred wisps of hair on her forehead.
“So are you.”
Along with handsome, funny and smart, she added graceful to his positive adjectives list. It was an effort to keep her breathing normal when she was feeling incredibly breathless. She would bet her favorite pair of sexy stilettos that any woman he took to bed would, for the rest of her life, remember and compare the experience to every one that followed.
Good Lord, where did that thought come from? Duh. It was impossible to be in his arms and not notice the broad shoulders and muscular chest. He made her feel fragile and feminine. How could she not wonder what his bare skin would feel like against her own?
Good heavens, it was hot in here.
Mercifully the song ended before she embarrassed herself. Alex didn’t let her go as the next one started, clearly intending to take the inch she’d given him and stretch it into a mile.
Ellie slid out of his arms. “I have to go.”
“I can’t talk you out of it?”
It would have been pathetically easy, but she forced herself to say no. “’Fraid not.”
“Okay. I’ll walk you.”
“That’s really not necessary. I don’t have far to go. What could happen?”
“In Blackwater Lake? Most likely nothing. But McKnight men don’t leave ladies to see themselves home.”
“How chivalrous.”
His shrug said it was no big deal, but she didn’t agree. She also didn’t trust. Once burned, twice shy.
“I’ll just get my purse.”
She walked back to the table, where several guests were drinking coffee and nibbling cake. She slid the short-looped handle of her silver beaded bag over her wrist and said good-night. Since the bride and groom were in a romantic world of their own on the dance floor, she decided not to disturb them. She lived upstairs from the couple and would have an opportunity to say her thank-you at a more convenient time.
Outside the June air was cool and the sky bright with a full moon that reflected a silver path on the lake. Could there be a more romantic setting? She could see the dock stretching into the water and boats tied up there.
“Which one is yours?” The words were out of her mouth before she realized the question had formed.
“It’s in the slip at the end, where the water is deeper.”
She didn’t know anything about watercraft but it was impossible not to notice that it was the biggest one in the marina. Probably a bigger boat needed the deepest water.
“Looks like a beauty.” She angled right toward the covered porch of the house where the stairs beside the newlyweds’ front door led up to her apartment.
Alex put his hand on her arm. “Want to see her?”
“The boat?” Stupid question and it was nothing more than a stall. Ellie knew he wasn’t talking about a woman.
“Yeah.”
It wasn’t only the warmth of his fingers that tempted her to say yes, but the fact that she was also curious. She’d never been on a boat before. Her father and brothers were into airplanes.
“I would like to see her,” she agreed. “A quick tour, then I have to call it a night.”
“Okay.”
She liked the way he put his hand on her lower back. It was protective and gallant. In the moonlight with several glasses of wine humming through her, it was hard to remember why it was so important for him to be off-limits. She would tidy up her priorities in just a few minutes.
After the relative silence of moving through the grass, the dull sound of their footsteps on the wooden dock filled the quiet night. There was an almost imperceptible movement on the walkway, reminding her it was floating. They passed several rows of moored boats before he guided her down the last one and to the very end.
“This is the Independence,” he said proudly.
There was a narrow walk space around the slip that encompassed and protected the watercraft. In the middle was an enclosed space for whoever was driving the thing. Behind it in the back was a place for passengers to sit and probably sunbathe. If she had to guess about the material it was made of, she’d pick fiberglass.
He gracefully stepped on board, then reached over and settled his hands at her waist, easily lifting her from dock to deck while she held on to his shoulders.
“Thanks.” Her voice was a smidge breathless, and it had nothing to do with the walk.
He didn’t seem to notice, just took her hand and showed her around the deck. He pointed out where the captain sat behind the wheel and the cushions on the back where passengers could relax and sunbathe.
“I’ll take you below,” he said. “Let me go down the ladder first.”
“You’re the captain.”
In seconds the deck seemed to swallow him up, then a light went on. “Okay.”
She turned as he’d done then grabbed the handrails and put the toe of her high-heeled shoe on the slat. Nothing about her descent was as graceful as his had been. There was only one step to go when her four-inch-heel caught in the chiffon hem of her dress and she lost her balance. Strong arms caught her and set her on her feet. With his hands on her waist and hers on his chest, they were facing each other and she saw the exact moment when the humor in his eyes turned to hunger.
There was only a split second of hesitation before his lips lowered to hers. After a nanosecond of shock, she gave in to the amazing turn-on of feeling his mouth devour hers, the fantastic sensation of his body pressed against her. She couldn’t get enough. He teased and taunted her with his tongue and tasted like beer and red velvet cake.
Backing her against the wall, Alex barely grazed his hips to hers and set off a firestorm of desire that swept through her. He dragged off his suit coat, then loosened his tie and yanked it over his head without untying it. Ellie tugged the dress shirt from the waistband of his pants, but before she could do another thing he turned her and unzipped her dress.