McKnight in Shining Armor Read Online Free PDF Page B

to hold her head up on hershoulders, a task that seemed not unlike balancing a bowling ball on a thumbtack.
    “I had no idea those lingerie parties got so wild,” Alec said, piloting his car down the dark, quiet streets of Hopkins toward the suburb of Eden Prairie, where Kelsie lived. “How long have you been selling?”
    “Three years. Since my divorce.” Now, why had she mentioned that, she wondered. Before he could jump on the opportunity to make personal conversation, she rushed on. “They usually don’t get this crazy, but I went to one in Bloomington once that was raided by a church group. It was pretty exciting, because the minister’s wife was modeling a pair of baby doll pajamas when they stormed in.”
    “Divorced three years with two kids to raise. Must be kind of tough.”
    “I manage.” If he wanted the gory details, he was going to have to resort to torture. She wasn’t going to discuss her private life with him even if there were very tempting notes of empathy and sympathy in his voice. She didn’t want to get into any deep conversations with Alec McKnight, conversationsabout things like why he had driven to Hopkins to deliver something he could have stuck in the mail. In fact, she decided, the less she said the better. If she kept her mouth shut, he couldn’t very well talk her into going out with him—that was assuming he was still interested in her after all that had happened.
    So she didn’t want to talk about her divorce, Alec mused. He could relate to that. Maybe once they knew each other better, they could swap horror stories.
If
she allowed them to get to know each other better, he added silently.
    “How long have you had Monkey Business going?”
    “Two years.”
    “Do you enjoy it?”
    “Very much.”
    “It must be interesting work.”
    “Yes, very.”
    The car rolled to a halt at a red light. In the soft glow of the dashboard lights, Alec turned a slow grin on Kelsie that had her wanting to turn down the car’s heater. “Are you ever going to answer me with more than two words?”
    “Probably not,” she said, fighting a smile in spite of her headache. She stared down at her feet, afraid if she went on looking at him she would keel over on the seat.
    He kept his smile firmly in place as the car pulled away from the intersection. “Are you going to go out with me tomorrow night?”
    Kelsie’s breath bolted out of her. Her one good eye widened in surprise. “I don’t think so,” she managed to say.
    “That was more than two words,” he pointed out with a chuckle. He wasn’t terribly put out by her rejection. She wasn’t refusing because she wasn’t interested. He knew chemistry when he saw it and felt it. She just needed some coaxing. “I was hoping for ‘I am.’”
    “I can’t.”
    “Close, but no cigar,” Alec said, pulling up in front of her house.
    “It’s nothing personal, Alec,” she explained. “I just don’t have the time to date.”
    They got out of the car as the tall policeman drove up in Kelsie’s Blazer with his partner following behind in the squad car. Still holding onehand to her throbbing head, Kelsie glanced up and down the street, hoping none of her neighbors happened to be looking out their windows. Her menagerie hadn’t exactly endeared her to a couple of them. She hated to think what they’d say if they saw her coming home at midnight with a police escort.
    She and Alec both thanked the officers for being so accommodating.
    “No problem,” Officer Johnson, the taller one, said.
    “You bet,” said Officer Baines, grinning. “It’s kinda nice to have something weird break up a guy’s shift.”
    After the police had driven away, Alec walked Kelsie to the front door.
    “Don’t take this the wrong way, Kelsie,” he said, huddling into his bomber jacket as they stood under her front porch light. His breath silvered the October night air. “But you seem to have a real knack for being at the center of bizarre situations. I’ve