Forbidden Knight

by Bartlett, Jecca

The little boy nodded solemnly, "Yes, I've practiced evvy day, just like you told me."

  "Evvy day, huh?" Justus laughed and ruffled the little boy's hair. "Show me what you've got then kid." And with that the little boy took off, skating forward and back, while Justus set up orange cones for drills.

  He loved this part of his life. It was completely secret, no one knew about it except the guy he paid to rent the rink, and Danny's mom.

  "Hey Lilly, how's it going?' he said skating to the boards at the edge of the rink and greeting Danny's mother.

  "Oh, good. You know, he misses his dad, but he's trying to do his best to be brave. Same as all of us I guess. Skating definitely keeps his mind on other things."

  Justus nodded, "Yep, we all miss him. It's too much to think about," Justus blinked back the emotion. Chad had been his best friend and helping Danny learn to skate was the least he could do while Chad served overseas.

  Justus watched Danny skate in and out of the cones, then he began some drills, backward, forward, dodging the puck. Danny's joy was obvious. Justus loved to see it because it brought back to him his own love of skating. It was like flying, and Danny didn't have to worry about points, or assists, or rules, or bad calls. All he had to do was skate, no wonder he was having fun.

  While Justus skated, Eva drove around the little town, recalling her childhood. Some things were still the same, the old crooked cemetery, the elementary school where Mrs. Sawyer had drummed her times tables into her. In other places, there were signs of change, which Eva wasn't sure could be called progress.

  She was headed out of town when she drove past the old rink. She blinked as she saw Justus's car there. Could he really be practicing now? Is that why he had dodged her this morning? Only one way to find out, she thought as she parked in the stone filled lot.

  The doors to the arena looked exactly as she had remembered them, and she slipped in quietly. There was no one around, but she could see some activity on the ice. Not wanting to disturb anyone, in case it wasn't him, she tiptoed up the side stairs and out into the seating area.

  There on the ice was Justus, he really was breathtaking. So sure of himself, so at home on those blades. And with him was a small blond bundle of little boy energy. Justus went down on one knee in front of him and was explaining something, then the little boy skated away, turned, skated backwards, then skated forwards again showering Justus in a spray of ice as he practiced his hockey stop.

  They both laughed and Justus patted him on the helmet, then sent him off to do it again.

  Well, this was a shocker. Justus with a kid. Whatever the hell? He was really a surprise a minute. So, who's kid was it, she wondered. It couldn't be his, right? Or could it. Scanning the seats she spotted a young woman at the boards, near the penalty box. Must be the mom.

  And what? His girlfriend? Did he have a secret wife and child? Shit, she wished she had done more homework on him other than attending one game. Well, if they were married she didn't blame the chick. He was just...delicious.

  But damn, it looked like he must be taken. She shrunk down in her seat, trying to be invisible while the lesson continued. Finally, the little boy was clearly tired, and Justus called it a day. he skated over to the mom and reached out for a hug. They held tightly for a few moments, and then he kissed her cheek.

  Eva needed time to think. What the hell was going on here? As long as she knew he was safe she decided to slip outside and make her getaway before he knew she'd been spying on him. She imagined that wouldn't be a fun conversation.

  She walked to the doors and slipped out of them again, closing them quietly behind her. She could hear the little boy and his mom as they left, and she waited until the echoes of his excited voice had died down. Then she slipped down the stairs and out the door.

  And there he was. Leaning on the roof of her car, well his car. Obviously he would have recognized it. Seriously, keeping track of that ding-a-ling starlet had been much easier, she was going to have to up her game to stay on top of Justus.

  "Good morning, I see you found the keys."

  "I was going to have a rental delivered, but I thought as long as you had a few at your disposal, I should take one. Since I'm your fiancée and all."

  "Right, fiancée."

  "Or, is she your fiancée? Your wife? Your girl? Who's that little boy? He has your hair, is he yours?"

  "What?! God, no." Justus laughed. Do you think I could keep a kid a secret around here?"

  "I don't know, could you?"

  "Get in, follow me home, we'll talk."

  Eva did as she was told, because, what else was there to do really?

  *******************

  Once back at the house Justus led the way inside. He opened the door and sighed to himself. He loved being home. The travel was beginning to get to him he wasn't as young as he used to be. Maybe, or maybe he just liked home. He shrugged inwardly, whatever. Eva was the more pressing problem at the moment.

  She followed him in and flung herself on the sofa.

  "So, what was up in there?"

  "First of all, you're my pretend girlfriend."

  "Fiancée"

  "Right, fiancée, so you should know it really isn't your business. But I'm gonna tell you anyway. Don't ask me why. I have no idea myself. But I'd ask that you keep it private. Can you do that?"

  "Yeah, I can. I mean, I've kept clients secrets before. You're not the first."

  "Thanks for making me feel special," he winked at her.

  Eva blushed, "I didn't mean,"... she broke off.

  "It's fine," he waved her off, "anyway," he continued sitting next to her on the sofa, "that was Danny. His dad and I grew up together. His mom is great, a good mom and partner to Chad. Chad's over in Iraq, and his kid and his wife are here, so, I'm helping. That's all it is. Danny is a good kid, and a good skater and he loves having one on one time with me. So, I do it. But I don't want any publicity. We're just buds. You know?"

  Eva nodded.

  "He comes up here a lot, helps me mow the lawn. Well, I mow he falls asleep. He sleeps over. I'm taking them to a game next season, gonna fix them up with box seats."

  "Wow, okay. Well, that's not sinister at all."

  "No, no it's not. But it's not for public consumption either. It's mine, ok? Just for me, something I do just because I want to. Got it?"

  "Yeah, I do. I get it. I won't tell. I'm not horrible, you know?"

  "I know, it's just, you're my keeper, and so I can't completely trust you. I kind of wish I could, I'd like to."

  "Would you?"

  "Yeah, I mean," he picked at the fabric of a sofa pillow "we could probably enjoy each other under different circumstances. Unless, well, what about you? Who's waiting at home for you?"

  Eva laughed, "No one, not anymore."

  "Not anymore?"

  "Yeah, we were a couple, but now we're not. He, um, he had another girl, and by accident he streamed me a live feed of them having sex, and well, I'm tolerant but hell, that was too much even for me!"

  "Whoa, you got to watch? That's awful. I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh but..." he started to laugh and had a hard time stopping. "It's not that it's funny, I'm just imagining being him, holy shit!"

  "He didn't seem to think it was all that funny either. He tried to call me after, like 1000 times, but I left town."

  "So you're in hiding now?"

  "I prefer to think of it as avoiding him. The close up of his ass was terrifying anyway, put me right off him," she smiled.

  "I bet. It doesn't sound like it was that much fun for him either."

  "Maybe not, I don't know. I just hate being lied to, you know? Which is funny because in this business my clients like to me pretty regularly. Like it's their job. But it's not really. We both want the same thing, for your career to go well, for your team to win."

  "I know, we do, but I really don't need a keeper, minder, whatever you call yourself."

  "I understand, but the team thinks otherwise, and honestly, if you just
cooperate for a couple of weeks, then I'll be out of your hair and we can go our separate ways."

  "Appealing, kind of."

  "Kind of?"

  "Yeah, kind of. You're the prettiest babysitter I've had in a long time."

  "Thanks, I guess," she narrowed her eyes at him, "what are you getting at, anyway, this is really awkward."

  "I know, I'm sorry. I want to hate you, not have you around. But I keep remembering when we were kids, how you baked for me and made sure I ate something. And after they were divorced, I went to all your ice shows."

  "Everyone else was in them too."

  "Yeah, but I was there to see you. And then the other night, sleeping with you in the same bunk was crazy. I mean, I wanted you, and it was hard to keep my hands to myself. I keep thinking about how smooth your legs were when.." He leaned toward her, "This is wrong, right? But I just need to break the ice here. "

  His lips on hers were gentle at first. Eva was surprised by the kiss, but she liked it. She reached up and slid her fingers through his hair, pulling his face closer to hers. It was like electricity was coursing through her now, starting at her mouth and riding the pathways of her nerves right down to warm the spot between her legs.

  He pressed her against the sofa and lifted his head away to take a breath. With his hands on either side of her head, he kissed her again, more insistent this time. His tongue pressed to hers, he put his hand on her breast, and she jumped as if shocked.

  "Is this okay?" he asked.

  "Yes, she breathed. I mean, no, it shouldn't be, but...yeah it's ok."

  "Mixed signals. Is it okay or not?"

  "Yes it's...kiss me again."

  Again he kissed her, and this time she melted into it.

  His hands on her were magic. Everywhere he touched her came alive, she forced herself not to think about this. He was a client and her former stepbrother. Forbidden did not even begin to describe what was happening here.

  It was the answer to a long ago prayer, the longing of a young woman. She had idolized him, and it turned out he remembered her and had watched her even though they were apart.

  Eva arched her back into him as his hands traveled along her shirt, the flat of his palm gently massaging the nub that was her stiffening nipple. It was every bit as good as she had thought it would be all those years ago.

  Suddenly she heard a noise and pushed away from him to listen. He had heard it too.

  "Someone's here." He rose to look out the window to the driveway.

  "They won't be coming inside, it's the gardener. Sorry about that. Where were we?"

  "Justus, I don't think...I just," she stood and smoothed her shirt. " I have to do some shopping, excuse me, I'll see you later." With that, she was gone.

  He couldn't believe she had just left like that, "Hey, Eva! Hey! Come back here," he called as he followed her to her room."

  "What?" Eva turned and his chest was inches from her face. "What? You know as well as I do we can't start anything. We can't be a 'we', we can't allow our feelings to get in the way here. We have different lives, I don't live here, we don't know each other..."

  "Whoa, whoa, baby! Shhhhh, settle down. I kissed you, I didn't ask you to marry me."

  "I know, I know, I don't mean to jump to conclusions, but I've just, I've never forgotten you and if this is just a fling, if I'm just the girl between girls, it will break my heart, I swear. And I can't take that now, I've had enough heartbreak for this year."

  Justus fell back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. How to tell her what he was thinking? Did he have intentions other than to make her the girl of the week? Did he mean to make her more to him than just another girl? Damn it.

  "Complicated. You always were complicated. Can't we just, you know...?"

  "No, Justus we can't. I mean, there's a place for that in the world, don't get me wrong, but no, I can't take it right now."

  He took her face in his hands and kissed her on the nose. "Overthinkers anonymous meets Thursdays at the church on the square. Downstairs. I hear they have coffee." And with that he walked away. "Keys are yours if you want them, I'm heading to the shop for a while. I won't leave the property, I swear if you want to get some shopping done. I'll be right here when you get back.

  She hated to do it, to leave him. And not just because she wanted to keep kissing him, but also because she was worried she'd lose this job. She needed some fresh air, needed to get away, just as much as she needed some clothes to see her through this gig.

  "Ok, I'm going to go then. Thank you for the use of the car. I'll be home...uh back in a few hours. Want me to pick up something for dinner?"

  "No, thanks, Rosie will handle it. See you later."

  And with that he was gone.

  What have I done? Eva thought to herself. What have I done? Shaking her head she walked to the living room and grabbed her purse, slid into the car and quietly drove away. She felt like she was driving away from her future, but that couldn't be right, could it?

  Justus didn't know what had hit him. That woman. Damn! She was hot, hotter than hot. But not in the same way the puck bunnies were. Sure they were hotties, but no substance there. Eva was sexy exactly because she wasn't like them. She was smart and thoughtful and could make her own way in the world. Was that it? Since she didn't need him he wanted her that much more?

  Whatever. He needed to shake this. Back to the rink, he had to skate. He would park around back this time. No one would see him, he could just work off some of this steam.

  The SUV purred to life and he steered it on the familiar path to the rink. Parking in the back he slipped in the back door and made his way to the team locker room where he kept his gear.

  Once he was laced up he took to the ice. Stroking around the rink, harder and faster, the wind in his hair. Gotta forget, gotta forget.

  Eva stowed her purchases in the trunk of the car and headed back to town. It hadn't taken very long, just some tops, lingerie, casual skirts. She already had her jeans and standard little black dress. Never leave home without it. Her special errand had been surprisingly quick, and now she was headed back.

  She slid the car into a space at the rink and slipped in the front door again. Just like before the place was quiet and empty. She sat on one of the benches and laced up the skates she had just gotten at the used sporting goods store. They were gorgeous, not unusual in a town where there were half a dozen skating clubs. People aged out of their boots pretty quickly here.

  Once the skates were laced she headed for the ice, just to blow off some steam. As she stepped through the double doors she saw a figure leaving the ice, just glimpsed his boots as he turned the corner.

  Great, she was alone. She stroked to the center of the ice and stood for a moment. Then she skated forward around the rink a few times to get her skating legs back. Once she felt warm she began to practice her footwork, Forward and backward crossovers, three turns, small spins. She was thrilled with how fast it seemed to be coming back to her. She hadn't really been on the ice in years.

  Back to center ice she wondered how much of her favorite dance, the Paso Doble, she'd recall. She began, hearing the music in her head, long sweeping curves turning to this side and that, really feeling the imaginary tune.

  Suddenly there he was, next to her, skating alongside in his hockey skates. He glided in behind her and put his right hand on her waist, and his left in hers. She had no idea how the hell he knew how to ice dance, but he seemed to.

  They fell into the pattern of the quick stepping dance. How in the hell did he know how to do that?

  ************

  Seeing her on the ice was breathtaking. She took some warm up strokes and then tried out her edges, swaying this way and that into the curves she carved onto the ice. She did some turns and a spin or two then headed back to center ice. She stopped, put her toe pick in and then stood up straighter arms above her head as if she were going to do a program.

  Once she started it he recognized it, and almost
without thinking he skated to the rink to partner her.

  Putting his hand on her waist he joined in, skating alongside her, the routine he supposed he'd forgotten coming to him with every move. There were a lot of slip steps, which were okay on hockey blades and intricate footwork, which really was not. He hoped he wouldn't cut her as they swung in and out of the rolls required of the dance.

  At the conclusion, he was down on one knee and she was above him, arm extended, eyes shining, her smile as big as all outdoors.

  "How. Did. You. Learn. That?" She asked, breathless.