Joker's Wild Read Online Free PDF Page A

looked helplessly around, and turned back to the man sitting on the other side of the table. “Would you please bring me my crutches? I’m afraid I can’t get far without them.”
    “No problem, Beauty, I’ll take you up. I need to close the other bedroom doors.”
    “Why?”
    Joker swung her up into his arms and started up the stairs. “So that the attic fan will pull cool air through your bedroom windows.”
    “That’s not what I meant. I mean, why do you insist on carrying me?”
    “You’re too tired to be steady on those crutchestonight. If you have to go some place during the next few days, I’ll carry you—until you can walk there on your own.”
    “You’ll do no such thing. You’re not an orderly or my houseboy. I appreciate your kindness, but I need to practice being on my own.”
    “And I told you that we’re going to be friends, Allison Josey. A friend never turns his back on another friend. And I have a very strong back. I won’t let you fall.”
    He was doing it again, creating a kind of still, secret calm with his touch. He made her feel warm and peaceful at the same time her senses were reeling. She’d felt this same sort of frozen excitement before, just before she stepped onto the ice at a skating competition.
    “Did my grandmother truly give you permission to stay in the carriage house?” Allison was forced to put her arms around his neck. His beard brushed her cheek, and his muscles quivered beneath her fingertips.
    Joker felt how thin she was, and his concern grew. Her fighting spirit was still strong, but she might be physically incapable of coping with being alone. Her breast brushed against his elbow, and she jerked away. She wasn’t as unaware of him as she pretended. He saw her studying his face and he smiled.
    “Yes, ma’am. Miss Lenice took me in, she did, as I expect she’ll tell you tomorrow. I’ll take you for a visit.”
    “Visit? Oh, no. I can’t go out yet. I’ll call her. I don’t want her … anyone to see me on crutches.”
    He reached her bedroom door, walked straight through to the bathroom, deposited Allison on theclosed toilet seat, and turned on the water in the tub.
    “You should take a hot bath and soak a while. I’ll bring you a nightgown.”
    Allison stood quickly, groaned, and sank back to her seat, grimacing. “Please, Joker, go away, I’ll manage on my own. I have to learn how—sooner or later.”
    “Later,” he agreed and disappeared into the bedroom. In seconds he was back, holding a long cotton gown in a tiny pink rosebud pattern that had ruffles around the yoke and hem. “Tonight you have … a maid.”
    “A male maid?” Allison shook her head, taking the nightgown from his grasp. “I don’t think so. For months I’ve had people dressing and undressing me, putting me to bed, and getting me up. I’ll manage.”
    Joker saw the shadows under her eyes. She was exhausted, in pain, and uncertain of his motives, but she wasn’t giving in. She had nowhere to turn, and he was overwhelming her. He hadn’t meant to make her uncomfortable. The last thing he ever wanted to do was add to her pain. He took a step back, touched his fingertips to his lips, and blew her a kiss.
    “All right. Good night, Beauty. I’ll raise the drawbridge and feed the crocs in the moat. Sleep well.” He turned and pulled the door closed behind him, leaving a confused expression on the face of the woman of his fantasies.
    “Good night,” she whispered, catching a glimpse of the rosy-faced woman in the mirror before her. Suddenly she realized that the woman was herself. She was tired, but she looked … alive. Listening toJoker’s receding footsteps, she took off her clothes and stepped into the steamy water.
    He was entirely too male. Nothing like the strong, graceful skaters she knew, this man was solidly in touch with the earth. Yet there was a mythical quality about him that reached out and found that tiny sliver of enchantment hidden deep inside her