McKnight in Shining Armor by Tami Hoag Read Free Book Online Page B

modeling, a guy with a decided weakness for lovely ladies in need.
    McKnight in shining armor, he thought and scowled.
    Vena had taken gross advantage of his weakness, using him to get her break. Personally he thought she’d missed her calling. She was the consummate actress. But modeling was less work. That was Vena; she took as much as she could get for the least amount of effort.
    At least she hadn’t managed to totally corrupt his attitude toward women. He was wiser, warier, but he was no misogynist. He hadn’t been tempted into any long-term relationship since Vena, but that was because he was enjoying his second chance at bachelorhood. He was enjoying keeping his own schedule, keeping his town house the way he liked it—immaculate—he liked going out when he wanted and with whom he wanted.
    Which brought him back to Kelsie Connors. His attraction to her had been instantaneous, and it has grown stronger despite her seeming reluctance—or, perhaps, because of it. Whichever it was, he certainly wasn’t going to let it stand in his way, he thought, grinning as he drove toward home.
    There were three things Alec McKnight had never been able to resist: A mystery, a challenge,and a pretty lady in distress. Kelsie Connors qualified on all counts. He’d find a way to get around her “no dating” rule, and he’d be doing her a favor. By the sound of things, she needed rescuing, and he was just the McKnight for the job.
       Back in Eden Prairie, Kelsie pulled another waffle out of the iron and scolded herself for thinking about Alec. If he’d ridden up the front steps on a white charger, she couldn’t have gone out with him. She was just too busy.
    “Mom? Mom.
Mom!”
Elizabeth finally yanked on her mother’s sleeve. “You’re waffling a potholder!”
    “What?” Kelsie snapped out of her trance.
    Black smoke rolled out of the waffle iron. With a little gasp she pulled the thing open and peeled the smoldering potholder off the iron with a fork.
    One more thing to add to her list of things to do. One more reason to add to her list of reasons she couldn’t go out with Alec McKnight. She had to clean the melted fabric shreds out of the waffle iron.
    Heaving a sigh, she slid down on her chair and stared at her waffle. She had no appetite for it. The only thing she would have considered appetizing was a pound of Fanny Farmer chocolates. Or Godiva chocolates. Or a big stack of plain Hershey bars. A waffle held no magic for her this morning. The only thing that made her gag it down was the thought of how much it had cost to make it. Bisquick didn’t grow on trees. There was probably a penny’s worth of electricity spent, too, and a new potholder would set her back a buck and a half. It all added up.
    She watched Jeff sop up half a quart of syrup with his waffle. He ate with great enthusiasm, savoring every spongy little square, pausing only to gulp down some milk every so often. Elizabeth, on the other hand, had picked her breakfast apart until it resembled a pile of crumbled foam rubber.
    “Are you going to eat that or just torment it some more?” Kelsie asked.
    Elizabeth took a guilty bite and said nothing.
    “You’d better get a move on if you’re going to be ready to go by the time your dad gets here.”
    “If
he gets here,” Elizabeth muttered, earning herself a furious glare from her mother.
    Kelsie glanced at her son. Jeffrey was busy sneaking toast crusts to the cats under the table.
    Neither of her children had any illusions about their father. They knew Jack was undependable, that he took little or no interest in their lives most of the time. But Jeffrey still had hope. He wanted very badly for his father to love him and want him and want to do all the father-son things other kids’ dads did. It would never happen, Kelsie knew, but she didn’t have the heart to burst Jeffrey’s bubble. It was like letting him believe in Santa Claus. Sooner or later he would find out for himself, and she’d be