Seductive Knight (3 page)

She wished she still had the sign Ema made for her. The darn thing had disappeared somewhere between here and Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Well, she’d just have to keep her eyes open.

With little information as to why she would be in town, in their last letter, Baskerville insisted that she stay with him and his wife. No questions asked.

You are going to stay with us.
Those were his words written with big smiley faces at the bottom of the paper. As a postscript, he asked for a cell phone number that he could use to contact her, or email address. She had neither one of those. Baskerville knew she’d be arriving today, but if anything changed with the plans, she wouldn’t have a way of finding out. Lord, he didn’t forget she’d be here today, did he?

Well, Ema said to use the payphone if necessary. Nanni had neatly placed a five-dollar bill in her purse to be used in case of an emergency. She didn’t know where and how Nanni got the money, but it looked like the bill had been in someone’s wallet for years because its crease looked permanent. Right now, she wasn’t facing an emergency situation yet. She’d give Baskerville another half hour and then she’d make the call.

Alex thought about her dad. Three weeks after they left their home, her mom found out online that her dad died on a plane crash. It was a hard blow. Mom’s spirit went down and stayed low. No amount of island hopping or activities helped to cheer her up. And she died that way—sad, with a broken heart.

How come Dad hadn’t followed them to Palawan? No notes, no letters, no telegrams? He simply poofed out of their lives.

What happened to the letter Mom said she’d left for Dad to find? Did he ever find it and just threw away? Oh, she would find out why a man so loving like her father simply turned this back on them. Or had he? Gah, she really wanted to start finding out the answers now.

“Dad loved us, Alex. I know it. Something happened. When the right time comes, go home. Learn the truth for yourself and then whisper it to me. Dad loved us. I know.”
Those were her mom’s words.

It wasn’t her mother’s fault that she did what she did that horrible night, that it was imperative that they flee and wait for Dad on the island away from the authorities so he could hear everything first—to make him understand.

God, she would never forget that night.

Alex had been having a tea party with her Barbie dolls and Tully, wearing her mom’s jewelry, when she heard voices. Thinking that her dad was home early from his business trip, she jumped out of her bed and went downstairs. Instead, she found a half-naked man sprawled at the bottom of the steps. Blood pooled around his head and her mom stood beside him with a poker on her hand. Scared, she ran back to her room and hid under the sheets. She promised to tell her dad what she saw, but she didn’t get a chance. Her mom dragged her out of the house in a hurry.

At the time, she didn’t understand what had happened. Only when she turned eighteen did she find out why the man was lying on the floor. Still, she had no idea who he was or why he had come to their house. Even Mom was clueless as to why.

Now, Alex was here, to find answers to so many questions that had plagued her mom for years. It would be hard, for sure, and this trip might be a failure, but she would try.

For her mom. And then she’d go back to Palawan—to Nanni, Ema, to her friends and neighbors, to her home. Then she’d move on.

She took the piece of paper from her pocket and read it again for the hundredth time. Her mom had made her memorize the address when she was little. Mom said every child should know it so they could find their way home. Based on their address, Baskerville lived not too far from her old house.

Despite what Baskerville had told them, she decided to clue-in Luke about her trip and her past. He’d been a good friend and an American like her. Luke had given her his phone number. It was good to have it, kind of like holding a lifeline. For sure he wouldn’t hesitate to help if she asked.

Alex closed her eyes. With her fingers, she made circling motions on her temple. Lack of sleep, anxiety, and nervousness contributed to her now worsening headache.

It had been eleven years since she and her mom left. She might have been born in US, but she grew up in the Philippines. Technically, she was a stranger in this strange place. Pretty scary thought.

Alex’s mind was so preoccupied, she didn’t hear the man approach her. She barely caught his last words.

“…if you are. I’m here to pick you up.”

Alex looked up. She blinked. Her mouth went slack. The man was so beautiful, he looked like a mannequin she once saw at the mall. His light brown wavy short hair was neatly cut, but still long enough to touch his collar. Clean shaven, teeth shiny white, and most of all he looked so breathtakingly handsome in his blue long-sleeved shirt with its front tucked in his faded blue jeans. To top his eye-candy image, he had the friendliest pale blue eyes she’d ever seen.       

“Are you?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I asked if you are Alexandria Rose.”

“Oh,” she said, embarrassed at having been caught musing. The man grinned at her. Alex tried to smile back. Remembering her manners, she stood up, adjusted her hat, smoothed her wrinkled skirt, and then clasped her hands. “I am Alexandria Rose. Did you say you’re here to pick me up?”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

“No. Not really.”
What about Baskerville?
She looked around the man and scanned the waiting area for Baskerville, but did not see him.

“Expecting someone else?” he asked.

“No. Well, yes. Someone is coming to pick me up. Bearded man, with big belly, and jolly smiling eyes.”

“You’re waiting for Santa Claus?”

Alex was almost blinded by the man’s sly smile. “He does look like Santa.”

“You’re talking about Baskerville.”

“Yes. I’m sure you’re not him.”

“No. I’m not him. But I am your ride.”

* * * *

Edmund raised a brow. He was told that Alexandria—Alex, an American, would be coming in from the flight in the Philippines. Yes, she looked Caucasian with her gold hair, amazing sun kissed skin, straight nose, and well, he couldn’t quite see her eyes because of her hat, but her sexy accent told him differently. She spoke as if English was her second language.

So this was Alex Rose. The skinny girl who’d followed Gawain like a shadow, with skinned knees, running around like a wild creature, the one who sent him a marriage proposal, and the girl he called Imp. Edmund laughed to himself. The Knights were in for a big surprise.

Alex stood in front of him with her hands clasped and feet together. She looked so demure except…her shoes were missing. Edmund took a second look. What the fuck! Where were her shoes? He wanted to ask but unsure how to say it without embarrassing her.

The fuck! Did she come here without shoes? No, no. Airlines will not allow that.
He made a quick sweep behind her and spotted a pair of old shoes under the chair. Good. “Sorry, I’m a few minutes late.”

Alex nodded. She’d been pulling down her brown hat on her head three times until now he could hardly see her eyes.

Instead of asking her about the accent, which so intrigued him, he offered his hand. “My name is Edmund McAbee.” He waited for Alex to take his hand, but her mind seemed to be preoccupied. He could see that she was thinking of something—no, debating, maybe.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. McAbee.”

Clasping Alex’s hand, he said, “You can call me Edmund.”

“And you can call me Alex. It is nice meeting you, Edmund, but what happened with Baskerville?”

“Ben and his wife, Susan, came down with a flu.”

“Flu?”

“Yes. The couple are sick, so they are not here.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” She laced her fingers together again.

“Baskerville would have told you himself, but he has no way of contacting you.”

“I had thought of that, but I don’t have a cell phone.”

“It’s no biggie.”

“Am I still going to stay with him?”

“No.” He noticed how her shoulders sagged, though he couldn’t tell if she was relieved or sad by it. “They didn’t want you to catch whatever they got.”

“I see.”

“How was the flight?”

“Long and very tiring. I sat by a nice gentleman. His name is Lars. He’s funny. He gave me his home address and cell number. He said to just give him a call and he’ll come and get me.”

With a face like Alex’s, Edmund was sure she’d receive more offers like that. “At least you didn’t get bored. Anyway, I didn’t really talk to Baskerville. Three hands passed you down on me. Welcome back to the US.”

“Thank you.” Alex smiled.

Damn. Edmund couldn’t stop staring at her. “Airline food is horrible. You must be hungry. I know a place close by. It’s called The Flying Dragon.”

“Flying Dragon? I remember a Chinese restaurant with that name. Mom and Dad took me there when we came home from our trip to Europe. That was long time ago.”

“Probably the same one. Want to go?”

Alex sighed. “No, thank you. I’m not that hungry, but I am very tired.”

“I can imagine. You flew half across the globe.”

“Kind of nerve wracking, too. Lars tried to calm my nerves by carrying on a conversation. He kept me awake, too. Not that I’d be able to sleep on the plane anyway. And he kept chewing peppermints and drinking orange juice that he mixed with drinks from the tiny bottles.”

“Booze.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Alcohol.”

“Ah. No wonder each time he finished a bottle, he got louder and louder.”

Edmund noticed that her accent suddenly disappeared. Listening to her now, no one would know that she’d been outside the country for eleven years. She stopped pulling down her hat, too. She seemed to relax a bit. She was still standing like a soldier, though. He wondered what she considered her second language. From what little information Baskerville gave him, Alex was only ten when she and her mother disappeared. He bent down a bit to see her eyes. “You’ve been hiding.”

“Oh, I’m sorry” Alex said, and then she took off her hat.

Edmund was suddenly speechless. Good fucking God. Women would die to have her hair and her eyes…they were so green. Like the edge of the forest. So breathtaking. There were dark shadows beneath them, though. Yeah, she looked tired.

“My hair is a mess.” She undid her hair tie. Her golden hair cascaded down her shoulders, flowing and with big curls.

Edmund thought he was looking at the goddess of Olympus. Damn. “You look…great. Don’t worry about your hair.” Jesus. What a beauty. He noticed the attention she got from the male passengers. Even the airport staff were staring. If she were his girlfriend, he’d probably have to guard her all the time. Alex didn’t seem to notice the attention she was getting, though. “As I have said, the Baskervilles are sick. So, for the meantime, you’ll be staying with a buddy. A friend of mine.”

“Sounds like I’m such an imposition.”

“No. No. It’s just Baskerville didn’t give us enough warning.”

“Please thank your friend for me, but he doesn’t have to receive me. I have a friend. I could stay with him.”

Receive? Man, that’s old, he thought. “I can’t let you do that. My instruction is to make sure I deliver you safely.”

“Safely?”

“In one piece.”

“Am I in danger?”

“No. Bringing you home in one piece is just an idiom or a phrase.”

“I see. Your friend, does he know that I will be staying with him?” She put her droopy smashed-on-her-head hat on again. She clasped her hands and stood in front of him so prim and proper, so demure, like some kind of an English royalty wearing an old hat. Edmund noticed her thick accent was back again.
She seems to show her accent when nervous, but loses it when relaxed. Interesting.
“He’s a good man. Don’t worry about him.” He didn’t really answer her question and was glad when Alex didn’t say anything. She just nodded.

“He’ll be happy to see you.” That part, he’d been told was true. Gawain would be surprised to see a friend he had lost.

Edmund grinned. This young woman would make any man’s heart go wild. He’d bet his medical license Gawain’s head would spin when he saw her again. After all, this was not the same imp who’d followed him around.

Alex was so interesting and had a unique beauty, the kind the Knights would find irresistible. And damn it to heaven, her sexy accented voice could thicken a man’s dick. If he weren’t in love, his might, too. Mentally, he reminded himself to call on his buddy, Tristan, to tell him that the Knights’ assessment of Alex was far off. She wasn’t the gangly ten-year-old they remembered her to be. He wouldn’t be surprised if Gawain failed to recognize her. Edmund laughed inwardly. This would be fun.

“How long will I be staying with…your friend?”

“Two weeks. Three at the most.”

“What’s his name?”

“Gawain, his name is Gawain Knight.” He didn’t have to wait long to see Alex’s reaction to Gawain’s name. He thought he saw her big green eyes grew even bigger, if that was even possible. And did she suck in her breath? “Why are you shaking your head?”

“Gawain Knight?” Alex croaked.

“Yes.”

“Does he have brothers and a sister name Kirsten?”

“Yes.”

“I know him.”

“I was told that. So you remember him?”

“Of course. He likes ugly girls.”

Edmund let out a guffaw.

* * * *

She tried to convince herself of other ways that the person she would be staying with could be a very different Gawain with handsome brothers and a beautiful sister from the one she knew eleven years ago—the young man she’d secretly admired, longed for, and the one she asked to marry her. Edmund must be talking about a different Gawain.

“There must have been a gazillion—if there is such a word—Gawain Knights in America. Could it be that you’re talking about a different—”

Edmund shook his head, his eyes bright with laughter. “I know we’re talking about the same Gawain.”

Oh, Lord. I asked him to marry me!