“So is sewing you back up.”
He ran his hand over her hair until he came to the cloth-covered band she used to tie it back. He worked it off, freeing her hair to fall down to her shoulders.
“It’s tradition that a knight going into battle carries a token from his lady,” he told her, tucking the band inside his jacket, in his shirt pocket. “Will you give me a kiss as well, if I promise to be back just after sunrise?”
“I’d prefer to give you a gun,” she said, reaching her arms around his neck. “So you won
’t have to get close enough to need stitches again.”
“Aye. But where’s the sport in that?” he whispered, leaning down to capture her mouth as she reached up to kiss him.
Their meeting was gentle, more sweet than needy. Catherine savored the soft, warm taste of his lips, only to realize that kissing Robbie MacBain was becoming as much of a habit as sewing him up was.
But oh, what a pleasant habit.
The man felt like granite covered with flannel, as solid as a mountain cloaked in sensuous heat. She tightened her arms around his neck, canting her head to get more of his taste, pressing her breasts against him until she could feel the strong beat of his heart.
It was happening again, the magic of his touch wooing her into wanting more. It had been years since she’d truly thought to want a man, to feel her fingers dig into hard, warm flesh and make him respond. Catherine’s insides clenched as images danced through her mind of them naked, in bed, exploring each other’s body.
He broke the kiss and tucked her head under his chin, holding her tightly as he took a shuddering breath. “Aye,” he whispered. “This is much better than leaving with anger between us.” He kissed the top of her head. “But as I’m tempted to stay and see just how brave you’ve become, little Cat, I have to go now.”
He lifted her chin and gave her another quick, chaste kiss, then slowly pulled her arms from around his neck, lifted her off his lap, and stood her back on the ground.
“If you have any problems with the boys or anything else you can’t handle, call my father,” he told her. “And if it should happen that I’m not back by noon tomorrow, tell him to go find the priest.”
He leaned down and covered her mouth with his finger before she could speak. “Don’t worry, Catherine. Iwill be back.” He straightened, gave her a sassy wink, and spurred his horse toward the pasture. “Sleep well, little Cat,” he called over his shoulder with a wave.
Mary lifted off the fence rail and followed.
Catherine stood staring after them, her finger covering her lips where his had been, the breeze blowing her loose hair across her face.
How foolishly romantic that he wanted to take a token from her into battle. How… how crazy. The guy spoke of duty and calling and ancient traditions, and owned a sword and dressed in a Scottish plaid. Either Robbie MacBain was weird, or she was, because she was beginning to accept his strange behavior as almost normal.
It certainly didn’t stop her from wanting to kiss him.
But that didn’t mean her trust was blind. Robbie finally rode out of sight, and Catherine ran into the barn and down the length of the aisle, looking in each of the stalls.
One stall door had a note pinned to it, for Davis, the man who came every morning and evening to tend the horses, that said the horse in this stall, named Boots, had a loose shoe.
Catherine moved on to the next stall and found the horse Gunter had been riding the night she’d been rescued off the mountain. The plate on the door said his name was Sprocket.
She hooked Sprocket in the cross-ties, went into the tack room, chose one of the saddles, pulled Sprocket’s bridle off the peg, and headed back down the aisle.
In ten minutes, Catherine had him saddled up. She ran to the house, got her backpack, brought it out and tied it to the saddle. She was doing a final check of her equipment when she heard the boys arrive home.
She ran out to greet them just as the school bus stopped at the end of the driveway.
“Gunter,” she called as the four boys started down the driveway to meet Nathan and Nora.
Gunter walked back to her while the others continued on.
“Can you watch Nathan and Nora for me tonight?” she asked when he stopped in front of her. “I’m going out for the evening and wondered if you could babysit.”
“Out?” he asked, clearly surprised. “Where?”
“Ah… I’m going up to the old cabin where you found us,” she told him, waving toward TarStone.
That surprised him even more. “What for?”
“For a night off,” she said, realizing she hadn’t completely thought out her excuse.
“I… ah… I asked Robbie if I could use the cabin. I’m bringing a book to read as a little vacation from cooking and cleaning.”
Gunter frowned. “But why the cabin? It’s a drafty old place, and you shouldn’t be up there alone.” He suddenly stiffened and got the strangest look in his eye, turning toward Robbie’s Suburban and then looking back at her. “Where’s the boss man?”
“Ah… he’s gone out for the night. That’s why I need you to watch the kids. They can get themselves ready for bed, if I’m not back in time. And you can still take them out for ice cream tonight. I left some money on the table.”
That strange look turned into a gleam, and Gunter canted his head at her. “O-kay,” he said slowly, breaking into a smile. “We’ll watch Nathan and Nora. You just go on up to the cabin, and don’t worry about anything here. We’ll take good care of the squirts.”
“And you’ll all stay out of trouble,” Catherine added, fighting the blush she felt rising up her neck. Lord, Gunter thought she was going to meet Robbie!
“Don’t worry about a thing,” Gunter assured her, walking with her to meet her children.
“Mommy, Cody told me Gunter’s going to teach him how to defend himself,” Nathan said, leaving Cody behind to run up to her. “Can I learn, too?”
Catherine looked at Gunter, only to have the young man shrug in response and tuck his hands in his pockets. She looked back at her son. “Gunter’s going to wait until Mr.
MacBain gives his approval first, Nathan,” she said, ruffling his hair.
“When are we going for ice cream, Mommy?” Nora asked. “Now?”
“No, sweetie. After supper,” Catherine told her, squatting down to her level. “And Gunter and the boys are going to babysit you guys tonight,” she added. She looked over to include Nathan. “So I want you to be good for them and do what they tell you.”
“But where are you going?” Nathan asked.
“Up to the cabin we stayed at. I probably won’t be back by the time you go to bed, but I’
ll be right here in the morning when you wake up.”
Nora clutched Catherine’s hand. “I want to go with you.”
“No, sweetie. I’ll just be sitting around and reading the whole time. It wouldn’t be any fun for you. Certainly not as much fun as going for ice cream and hanging out with the boys for the evening.”
Nathan tugged on Nora’s sleeve to get her attention. “Come on, sis. It’ll be fun,” he told her, obviously eager to be rid of his mother and be one of the boys. “Remember when Rita used to babysit us? We made popcorn and always got to stay up late.”
Gunter reached down and swept Nora into his arms. “We’ll rent a movie,” he offered.
“Ever seeThe Little Mermaid?”
Peter’s groan quickly turned into a smile when Gunter glared at him over Nora’s shoulder. “I loveThe Little Mermaid,” Peter gritted through clenched teeth.
Catherine straightened and started to the house. “Supper’s in the crockpot, and there’s salad in the fridge. Nora, you can sleep in Nathan’s room tonight, if you don’t want to go to bed alone in our room.”
“Yeah, squirt,” Rick interjected, holding the door open as Gunter carried Nora inside. “I’
ll make the popcorn.”
Nora was suddenly done with her worry. “I like it with lots of melted butter,” she told Rick over Gunter’s shoulder, smiling now. She looked at her mom. “I’m gonna sleep upstairs with the big kids,” she proclaimed.