Her McKnight in Shining Armour

If she’d been prone to having the vapors, this was certainly a vapors-worthy moment. In his dark suit, gray dress shirt, silver-and-black-striped tie, he could stop the world. Hers at least, darn it all.

His short, dark hair was neatly combed. Intensely brown eyes were fringed by dark lashes that made her think of hot kisses under a black velvet sky full of stars. She’d seen him at the end of a long day, several hours after five-o’clock shadow had set in, but no scruff was there now. His lean cheeks and strong jaw looked freshly shaven. She had the most absurd desire to touch his face, see if the skin was as smooth as it looked.

“Ellie?”

He was waiting for an answer to his question.

“Hi, Alex.” She forced herself to smile at him. “No, this seat is free.”

“Not anymore.” He sat beside her and his jacket sleeve brushed her bare arm. Any second she expected sparks to flash between them. He leaned close and said, “You didn’t have far to go for this shindig.”

“Just downstairs.” His breath tickled Ellie’s ear, and the spicy scent of his cologne had her willpower waving the white flag of surrender. After that first day he hadn’t treated her any differently from the rest of the crew. In fact, one of the carpenters was a woman, which had made her feel foolish for her declaration of independence. “I really think they invited me so I wouldn’t make trouble with the local law when the party gets noisy.”

He laughed, and his gaze traveled over her from the top of her head to the pink-painted toes peeking out of her silver high-heeled sandals. “You look beautiful tonight.”

“Thanks. Y’all clean up pretty nice yourself.” That was an understatement. Part of her wanted to call him on the compliment, but they weren’t at work and she needed to lighten up. “So, are you a friend of the bride or groom?”

“Both. Adam and I got to be friends when we were on the committee for the clinic expansion. He and my brother were determined to add on and upgrade equipment to better service the medical needs of the community. He’s a good guy. I know Jill because I keep my boat at her marina.”

“I’m guessing it’s not a rowboat.”

“You’d be right. It doesn’t fit on top of the car.” He grinned. “I take her to the other side of the lake on weekends when I really want to get away from it all. No cell reception.”

“So, you pitch a tent over there?” she asked.

“Nope. The boat has a cabin.”

With a bed? she wanted to ask. Fortunately the words stayed safely in her head, and he couldn’t hear the crash bang of her heart that followed the racy thought.

Just then the trio of musicians began to play a soft wedding march. Everyone turned to the aisle, which was covered by a white runner and ran between the two groups of folding chairs. Moments later the blonde flower girl and dark-haired ring bearer walked by, followed closely by matron of honor, Maggie Potter. Then Jill, wearing a strapless, cream-colored satin-and-lace gown, walked by holding the hand of her seven-year-old son, who was giving her away. She was a stunning redhead, and C.J. took after her. He looked especially cute in his tuxedo.

Ellie glanced at the groom, waiting under a rose-covered arbor with his brother and the minister. Adam’s expression said he was equal parts dazzled and in love as his bride stopped in front of him.

“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” the reverend asked.

“I do.” C.J.’s voice was loud and clear. “Adam’s gonna be my dad for real now.”

Ellie’s throat clogged with emotion and tears filled her eyes. What was it about weddings that made her so emotional? She hardly knew these people, but the setting was beautiful and romantic. And the three of them were officially beginning their journey as a family. She felt a tear slide down her cheek. Then another. She brushed them away, hoping no one would notice, but a second later Alex was holding out a folded white handkerchief.

He leaned close and said, “I always carry one for weddings.”

She smiled when he pressed it into her hand and moments later was especially glad to have it. The vows and a spectacular kiss had her sniveling like a baby. Immediately after the ceremony, the wedding party disappeared with the photographer for pictures. Guests stood and milled around on the grass or headed to the decorated tent nearby, set up with tables for dinner.

“Thanks. I’ll return this after it’s washed.” Ellie held up the handkerchief. “For the record, I’m glad you were packin’.”

“I always cry at weddings.”

“Right.” She laughed. “I’m completely mortified. You must think I’m a big baby. But I just couldn’t help myself. It was such a beautiful wedding.”

“Don’t apologize. It was beautiful and nice to know some people get a happy ending.” His tone was either wistful or bitter, and it was hard to tell which.

Feeling the way she did about him made personal questions a slippery slope straight into the fires of hell, but she couldn’t keep the words in her head this time. “Who broke your heart?”

“What makes you think someone did?” After they stood, he put his hand on her elbow to guide her over the uneven grass.

The touch of his warm fingers threatened to short-circuit her thoughts. “What you said about happy endings implies that you didn’t get one.”

“I didn’t. Mine failed in a fairly spectacular way.”

She looked up expectantly but he didn’t say more. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“Not really.” But a devilish gleam slid into those smoky eyes and burned the shadows away. “Although I could be persuaded to. If you have that drink with me.”

She wanted to. Technically it wouldn’t be abandoning her principles about getting involved with a man at work because they weren’t at work. “Okay.”

They walked into the tent, where a bar was set up just inside the entrance. Alex ordered white wine for her and a beer for himself, then guided her to an unoccupied white-cloth-covered table in a secluded corner. Small white lights and flower arrangements of roses, orchids and star lilies transformed the interior into something magical.

As the setting and wine worked their magic on her, Ellie began to relax. He pulled out a chair for her, and when they sat and faced each other their knees brushed.

“So, tell me about your spectacular failure,” she said.

“I was married.”

Past tense. She appreciated the straightforward honesty. It was information the jerk at her very first job had kept from her. Just to be sure, she asked, “‘Was’?”

“Divorced.” He took a long drink from his beer, and there was something so masculine about the way his neck muscles moved as he swallowed.

“How did you meet her?”

“On the job.”

Wasn’t that always the way? It was why she was ultra cautious now. The only problem with not trusting was the intense loneliness. Touching Alex even a little made her miss having a man hold her, kiss her. Love her.

“Was this in college?”

“Nope. I was the boss and needed an executive assistant. She was qualified. And beautiful. It turned into more.” Even the dim lighting couldn’t hide the way his mouth pulled tight. “Then she told me she was pregnant.”

“So you married her.”

“And convinced her to move to Blackwater Lake because it’s a great place to raise kids.”

“She didn’t like it here?”

“Partly. Mostly she didn’t like me all that much.”

“Idiot.”

He smiled. “I appreciate that.”

Ellie was aware that she wasn’t a poster girl for great instincts where the opposite sex was concerned, but she’d seen how Alex handled the people who worked for him with amazing fairness. They’d move heaven and earth if he asked. You didn’t get that kind of loyalty by being a jerk.

“So you weren’t the one to end it,” she said.

“No. As it turned out, instead of proposing marriage when she said she was pregnant, the question I should have asked was ‘Who’s the father?’”

The meaning of his words sank in. “Oh, no—she let you believe you—”

“Yeah. I enjoyed having a son while it lasted.” There was raw bitterness in his voice now. “Dylan was almost a year old when she said she wanted his real father to raise him.”

She could see the truth on his face. “Y’all loved that little boy.”

“I sure did.”

“I’m sorry, Alex—”

“Don’t be.”

“It’s not pity,” she protested. “I’m sorry for that child because his mother is a moron. Y’all are probably better off, except that you miss that baby.”

“He’s not a baby anymore. It’s been two and a half years.”

“I shouldn’t have made you talk about it. Especially on such a happy occasion.” She looked around and saw that the tables were filling up with people ready to celebrate another couple’s love.

“I’m not sorry.” He tapped his bottle against her glass. “Got you to have a drink with me.”

“That’s true.” Got her to soften a little toward him, too. Maybe more than a little, and that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. She finished off her wine and stood. Applause erupted when the bride and groom, hand in hand, walked in with the wedding party trailing behind them. “I need to go find a table.”

“Stay.” Alex reached out and loosely encircled her wrist in his strong fingers. There was surprise in his eyes now, and he didn’t look particularly happy about saying it, but he also didn’t let her go. “I bared my soul. Isn’t that worth a drink and dinner?”

Again, the touch felt so good. The warmth peeled back several layers of protection that hid her loneliness from the rest of the world. It had been so long since a man had touched her, casually or any other way. And nearly as long since she’d allowed herself to consider having dinner with a man. She simply couldn’t make herself pull free.

Sitting back down, she said, “That would be nice.”

If she hadn’t really wanted to stay, it would have been easy to walk away. But she couldn’t walk away and just hoped everything would be fine.

Chapter Two

The reception was just as beautiful as the wedding had been. Adam and Jill had their first dance as husband and wife. His brother, who was the best man, had made a toast to the happy couple. Maggie Potter, the matron of honor, had wished them a lifetime of happiness, and her words were particularly poignant because her own happily-ever-after had been cut short when her husband was killed in Afghanistan.

Dinner was delicious and the red velvet cake cut without incident by the newlyweds, as in no icing had ended up where it shouldn’t have been. Servers were distributing pieces to the seated guests, and Ellie had taken a bite because it would have been bad luck not to. This was an excellent time for her to slip away. She needed to go because of how badly she wanted to stay, and that was all Alex’s fault.

She looked at him as he chewed the last bite of his cake. “It’s been a lot of fun—”

“Don’t say it,” he warned.

“What?”

“That you’re leaving.”

“Maybe I was going to tell you that this is the best wedding I’ve ever been to.”

“No.” He shook his head.

“I could have been planning to say that I was late for plate-spinning practice.”

The corners of his mouth curved up in a heart-stopping smile. “I have a feeling you’re not the plate-spinning type. No, your tone clearly leaned toward preparing for a quick getaway.”

“I had no idea y’all were so perceptive.”

“Well, I am. Lesson number one in not judging a book by its cover.”

“And just how did I do that?”

“You thought I was just another pretty face.”

That made her smile, because she just couldn’t help herself. “Now you’re fishing for compliments, Mr. McKnight. Y’all are attempting to get me to list all the reasons I know you’re an intelligent man.”

His brown eyes sparkled with interest. “You think I’m smart?”

“I know so.” No one would accuse her of exemplary judgment where men were concerned, but she’d worked with him long enough to know he was no dummy. “Y’all handle construction crews with a firm, fair hand. Your budget is running five percent under the estimate, and no one in Blackwater Lake has a single thing to say about your personal life.” And she’d done her subtle, yet level best to pry information out of the crew, but more than one person said there was nothing to tell.

“Maybe I don’t have a personal life.”

“Now you’re underestimating me.” She laughed. “Of course a man like you has one. It’s just not here in town.”

“I’m impressed.” The statement neither confirmed nor denied. “But what do you mean a man like me?”

The kind who slides his arm across the back 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. She let it slide to her ankles. They were on his boat and she wasn’t sure if she was light-headed from his drugging kisses or dizzy from the slight rocking.

She wasn’t wearing a bra, and when Alex reached around and took her bare breasts in his hands, she could have been on a rocket ship to the moon. The way she felt right this minute left no doubt that she was participating in probably the best foreplay of her life.

Ellie turned and threaded her fingers in his hair when he took the peak of her breast in his mouth. She held him where he was, to keep him doing what he was doing. But when he stopped, she braced her hands on his hips and pulled him to her. “Alex, I want you—”

His gaze burned into hers. “I know how you feel—”

“Now. Please.”

“Not here. The bedroom—”

“It’s too far.”

Grinning, he said, “That’s where you’re wrong.”

He moved her a step to the side and into a room—cabin—that felt like wall-to-wall bed. He yanked down the coverlet then scooped her into his arms and settled her in the center of the firm mattress. Ellie kicked off her high-heeled shoes and slid out of her panties while he removed the rest of his clothes, pulled a square packet from his wallet then joined her on the bed.

She saw him tear open the condom and cover himself then could barely catch her breath as he nudged her legs apart and covered her body with his. Gently he entered her, and just like dancing, this didn’t feel like the first time. She accepted him easily and found his rhythm. He moved inside her, building tension until she could hardly bear it. When he reached between their bodies and caressed the bundle of nerve endings at the juncture of her thighs, the instantaneous explosion of sensation stopped her world. Her breath came in ragged gasps.

Alex held her and whispered words she couldn’t comprehend in her pleasure-drenched state. When she could think again, she wrapped her legs around his hips and urged him to his own release, using her body to tell him what she wanted to give. In a matter of seconds, he groaned and went still, holding her tightly as he found his own release.

Ellie had no idea how long they stayed wrapped in each other’s arms before he rolled away and disappeared. A minute later he returned to the bed and pulled her against him.

With her head on his shoulder she said sleepily, “Y’all are pretty...awesome.”

“Back at you, El.” The words dripped with weariness and it felt as if he wasn’t giving her a nickname as much as too tired to say her whole name.

She knew how he felt. She was too tired to keep her eyes open, so she didn’t. Before falling asleep, her last thought was that she really should go to her own place.

* * *

Alex opened one eye when he heard a gasp beside him in the bed. It only took him a second to figure out that Ellie knew where she was, who she was with, what they’d done and that she was still naked. Dawn was just starting to peek through the window above the bed and her expression was easy to read.

He raised onto his elbow and looked down at her. “Hi.”

“Good morning.” She pulled the sheet up to her neck.

Her hair was spread out like brown silk on the pillow and looked sexier than hell. He badly wanted to run his fingers through it again. This probably wasn’t the time to tell her that the whole sheet-to-her-neck thing was as much of a turn-on as seeing her stark naked. Her body was outlined and he could make out every one of the slender curves he’d very much enjoyed exploring the night before.

“What’s wrong?” He knew something was bothering her by the way she chewed nervously on her bottom lip. He’d had a taste of it himself last night and wouldn’t have minded another of that, either.

“I suppose we have to talk about this.” Her expression said she’d rather walk barefoot on hot coals. “Like a bad cliché, I actually hate myself in the morning.”