Page 50 of Christmas Magic

Chapter Nine

Cora smiled. “I’ve really liked having your help this morning.”

As Lucian strolled with her along the Boardwalk overlooking the waves of Cat’s Paw Cove, he smiled back. He couldn’t help it. Elation rushed through him every time their gazes met, which over the past few hours, had been often.

While he was tired of shopping—truth be told, he didn’t enjoy it—he liked seeing Cora happy. It had meant a lot to her that he’d accompany her and carry her bags. Some of them had been a bit heavy, so they’d loaded them in the back of her car—a gleaming Cadillac—before heading to the Boardwalk. Yet, in managing her parcels, he’d done no more than any knight would do for a lady in need.

Still, he couldn’t shake the sense of wrong-ness that scratched like a nesting rodent in his mind. Also, he couldn’t stop his thoughts from straying now and again to the young woman named Molly. How puzzling. She was just a friend.

Aye, they shared a home—although he couldn’t remember how they’d come to that arrangement—but he wasn’t romantically attracted to her. Now and always, he adored his lovely Cora.

Perhaps Molly was jealous of his and Cora’s relationship? His mind might be telling him to beware. Each time he tried to recall more about Molly, though, his mind responded with a wall of blankness.

Why?

The breeze, tinged with the briny smell of saltwater, tugged at his hair and clothes as Cora steered him toward one of the boutiques offering an array of brightly colored trinkets: Souvenirs. Several other women were browsing inside. “I need to go into this shop. They might have restocked their models of the Guinevere.”

Lucian recalled the Guinevere. Moments ago, he and Cora had passed the ship rocking gently on the water. The vessel had hit a coral reef and sunk off an island on the outskirts of the cove in the seventeenth century. The boat had been raised from the ocean floor, restored by the Cat’s Paw Cove Historical Society, and turned into the popular shipwreck museum.

He also knew the founders of the town had come from England, from whence his family had originated.

Cora pulled her arm free from his. Immediately he missed her touch.

“Will you come into the boutique with me, Lucian?”

He fought the entreaty in her gaze. “Fair Maiden, I shall wait here. Stand guard.”

“Again?”

At her disbelieving tone, he fought a stab of guilt. Preserving his wits was important, too. He’d seriously go mad if he had to browse one more shop. “A grave threat could be lurking close by.” He gestured down the Boardwalk but happened to point to a stack of pool floats: ridiculous-looking sharks and alligators. Hardly threatening at all.

Cora chuckled. “You men are all the same. You hate shopping.”

You men? How many others had she taken shopping? Jealousy stirred, but he tamped it down. He’d prove to her that he was the only man she needed, now and evermore.

Of course, the others might not have been knights. With them, she might not have been so brazenly flaunting her wealth.

“Forgive me, Fair Maiden, if my instinct to protect you seems rather vigorous.”

“Vigorous?” Her lips formed a saucy grin.

He fought not to frown. Protecting her was a serious matter, not one to jest about.

“You are wearing a lot of expensive jewels.”

“Cat’s Paw Cove is a very safe place—”

“I will not be swayed. I will do my duty.”

“Vigorously.”

“Aye. I aim for perfection. ’Tis the only way I fulfill my duties.”

“Oh, my.” Her bejeweled hand fluttered to her throat, and then she rolled her eyes. “Fine. Stand watch, then. It is kind of cute.”

Cute? Knights were not cute.

She trailed her fingers along his shirt sleeve. “I will try not to be too long.”