5. Knox #3
“You’ll have to tuck me in. Because I don’t think I can get my boots off.” She giggled. “You’ll have to tug real hard to get them off me. I have wide feet like a duck, but you can’t make fun of them.”
“I’m sure they’re lovely feet.” Like the rest of you.
When we reached her cabin, I helped her up the stairs to the small porch.
“Do you have your key?” I asked.
“I dunno. Maybe. I think it’s in my coat.” She looked up at me from under the porch light. “Check the pockets.”
“Um, you’re wearing your coat.”
She giggled again. “Duh. Right.” She dug her hands into both pockets and came out with the key. “Here it is.”
I unlocked the door and gently guided her inside.
“Ivy loses her keys all the time. Did you know that?” Madeleine asked as she sank into the leather chair by the unlit fireplace.
“Jack mentioned she’s kind of scattered at times.”
“She’s overcome so much.” Madeleine’s voice cracked. “So much. And she’s such a fine person. It’s not an act, you know. She’s really that nice. Which is weird that she’s friends with me, right?” She straightened her legs. “Here’s my boots. You have to tug hard. You can’t be afraid to hurt me.”
I hung my hat on the back of the chair and knelt on the floor next to her.
She was right. It took some major tugging, but I pulled one boot off and then the other.
Her feet were encased in socks, but she’d been accurate in her description.
They were wide and kind of flat. “How do you wear heels with these feet?” I asked, setting the boots aside.
“It’s torture. Every day. But I have to look the part.”
I was still on the floor. She was still on the chair. But she planted both feet on the floor on either side of me and sat up straight. “Do you want to know a secret?”
“Not really,” I said.
“I’m going to tell you anyway because you need to know.” She leaned closer, her breath smelling sweet. Her full, pouty mouth was enough to drive me into a long, slow spiral of trouble. “I want you to kiss me. Really bad.”
I swallowed and told myself to get up but somehow I remained, knowing that if leaned forward another two inches she’d kiss me, and what would come afterward, when she sobered up, was too awful to contemplate further. She would wake up hating herself and me.
I placed both hands on her shoulders. “I don’t think tonight is the night for that.”
Her expression immediately went dark. “How come?”
“You’ve had a lot to drink and maybe that’s clouding your judgment.”
“How sensible.” Her mouth tightened and she yanked herself away.
“It’s not that I don’t want to,” I said quickly. “But that’s not how I roll.”
I’ve got a lot of flaws. I’ll cop to most of them. But I do not take advantage of women who’ve had too much to drink, offering something she would surely regret in the morning.
“Let’s get you into bed. Doesn’t that sound nice? Cozy and warm?” I stood, pulling her to her feet and steering her to sit on the edge of the bed.
She immediately flopped onto her back and unbuttoned her pants. “These jeans have to go. They’re eating into my flesh.”
That made me laugh, even though my hands shook as I tugged her jeans off one inch at a time. Finally, I had the jeans off, leaving them for the moment as a clump on the floor. Now it was only long, shapely legs before me.
She sat up, as if freed from heavy chains and ripped her sweater over her head. “I feel kind of dizzy.”
Lord have mercy, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I averted my eyes from this gorgeous woman in nothing but a matching set of bra and panties. But not before I saw how splendidly God had made her.
She rolled to her side, curling up into a fetal position and closed her eyes. And then, she snored. One ladylike snort and then nothing. Asleep. Now I just needed to get her under the covers, as it was way too cold to sleep without them.
I pulled the covers back on the other side of the bed, then folded them over her. There was a thick throw on the chair, so I put that on her too. I filled a glass with water and put two painkillers I found in the bathroom next to it on the bedside table. She would have them there when she woke.
I moved the chair closer to the bed and sat, not at all sure what to do.
It didn’t seem right to leave her. What if she woke sick and couldn’t get to the bathroom.
People died that way. I’d stay, I decided.
Keep watch over her for a few hours. I turned off all the lights except a lamp and then went back to the chair.
I must have fallen asleep myself because I woke at four a.m. stiff and sore from sitting in the cold room on a chair.
Madeleine was in the same position I’d left her earlier.
I went to the side of the bed, just to check if she was still breathing.
She was. In the light shed from the lamp, she looked young and peaceful.
I ached to touch her cheek, but I kept my hands to myself.
“You’re okay now,” I whispered, pulling the blanket up and over her shoulders.
I let myself out, locking the door behind me and then headed to my own cabin, wondering if the whole night had just been a dream. But no, it was real. What it meant was a whole different question.