Page 40 of Falling for the King

‘Okay, this way please.’ He winced again, now he sounded like a tour guide. He cleared his throat walking next to her through the foyer and along the corridor to the southern wing. ‘The retreat is three hundred years old and was built primarily as a hunting lodge. These rooms were used to entertain before and after the hunts, hence the displays.’ He tried to be impersonal although he’d always found the décor and history gloomy and macabre.

‘It’s very,’ she paused and threw out a hand acknowledging the wood panelled walls decorated with animal heads and assorted weaponry alongside paintings and tapestries depicting hunting scenes, ‘catch and kill.’

He laughed and felt a shift in the grey that surrounded the day, him, and any reservations he’d had about showing her around dissipated. He’d taken into account her feedback from the other night and weighed it up. Which was why he suggested showing her around during the day. Also, he’d reasoned he’d give any important guest, especially a member of the family, a tour. And she’d been given the option to decline twice, which she hadn’t.

‘The lodge hasn’t been used for that purpose since my grandfath—’

‘Farfar?’ she clarified.

His breath caught; she’d remembered. He’d never shared that affectionate name with anyone else and she wouldn’t have heard it from Max, he hadn’t known him. Max had been a baby when he’d died.

‘Farfar’s time,’ he agreed liking using his nickname again.

‘You’re not into hunting?’ She ran a hand over her hair.

‘Never been my thing.’

She opened her mouth then closed it like she was going to ask him something and decided against it.

‘Has it changed much since then? It looks very original,’ she asked a few minutes later.

‘It’s pretty much as it was with the exception of the installation of electricity, somewhat erratic heating, hence the reliance on the fireplaces, and modern plumbing.’

Calling out features of interest they weaved through the ground floor rooms all featuring wooden chandeliers, dark heavy furniture, thick drapes and the never-ending weaponry.

‘I wanted to show you this.’ He stopped next to a faded tapestry that hung from ceiling to floor in the library, the room at the end of the southern wing, closest to the forest.

She frowned. ‘Oh really!’

Fair point, it was no different to the numerous they’d seen in the other rooms, until he pushed aside one edge.

‘A hidden door?’ Kat gasped. ‘It’s like something out of a movie.’

Still holding the tapestry Xavier pulled out a set of keys from his zipped jacket pocket.

‘Here, I’ve got it.’ She stepped forward and held the tapestry as he struggled to juggle both, something he’d usually manage without a problem. Standing close her scent washed over him transporting him to meadows on summer days, the polar opposite of their musty surrounds.

‘Thanks,’ he said fumbling with the key and despite the chill a bead of sweat broke out at the back of his neck. He paused collecting himself and finally the latch clicked. Using his shoulder to open the creaking door he flicked on his phone torch shining it through the darkness.

‘A tunnel! It really is like a movie. Where does it lead?’

Kat’s breath tickled the back of his neck and raced down his spine making his body quiver, tighten. He shifted slightly to his right to give her a better view of the empty tunnel and to control his wayward senses.

‘That’s something I’d like to show you,’ he said before he changed his mind, unusually second-guessing himself that this was a good idea.

‘Show me, not tell me?’

‘Yes, it’s a surprise.’

He felt her hesitate like it was a concept she wasn’t familiar with. ‘A surprise? For me?’

He wasn’t one to do surprises, he couldn’t remember the last time, if ever, he had. Everything in his life was structured, regimented. But their discussion yesterday had triggered a memory about this place and an overriding urge to surprise her, like he’d had on his first visit.

‘That’s right. It’s perfectly safe but if you’d prefer not to proceed, I understand. The tunnel doesn’t get any smaller, you’ll be able to walk the whole way and then there are some stairs, quite a few in fact.’ He turned his head the same time she did. For a heartbeat their gazes meshed until she blinked and tucked an imaginary strand of hair behind her ear.

‘Okay, I’m in.’

His shoulders relaxed and some of the tension he’d been holding eased. He stepped forward, shrugged off his backpack and pulled out two high powered torches, handing her one.