Her Knight at the Museum

Chapter Six

Six

No! Emily’s heart lurched. A car squealed to a stop as two screams ripped through the air—hers and the driver’s.

Griffin’s eyes widened, staring at the bumper touching his shins and then up at the woman behind the wheel, who clutched her chest in relief, staring back at him. She punched the horn, a brief scolding blast that made Griffin jump.

“Come back!” Emily hollered to him, gesturing frantically. With a relieved shake of his head, he jogged back over to her side.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry.” Her heart was still pounding. “See that light up there, with the red hand?” She pointed. “That means we can’t cross yet.”

He gave a solemn nod. The walk sign changed, and he shot Emily a questioning look that made her give a shaky laugh. “See, that’s a person walking. That means we can go.”

They crossed the intersection and walked under the tracks for the “L.” The rumble of the approaching elevated train made Griffin look up. As the sound grew louder, he grabbed her by the waist and hustled her to the other side.

“It’s okay! Look!” She pointed up. “It’s a train. It’s taking lots of people where they want to go.”

He watched as it disappeared. “It moves so fast.”

She slipped out of his hold to face him. “ You were on a van and a private jet to get to this country. The jet was even faster.”

“What is a jet?”

“Um, an airplane? It’s like a…big steel carriage in the sky.”

“I’ve heard of them.” His face looked, well, stony. “I was wrapped in cloths and could not see.”

Her heart ached for him all over again. She gave him a tight hug. Because of his suit of armor, it was kind of like hugging a truck, but his smile made it worth it.

“I’ll show you later on a map where you are,” she said. Keen interest came into his eyes. “You’re pretty far away from home.”

“Am I?” He gazed at her as if, on the crowded sidewalk next to a busy street, they were the only two people in the world. “Or have I finally arrived?”

He had to stop saying things like that. And looking at her like that.

She gulped. “Well. I hope you like it here.”

They passed the historic Palmer House Hotel on the other side of the street, its grand entrance protected by a bronze canopy and lit up with a hundred lights. A slim blond bride in a white gown with elbow-length sleeves and a full skirt stepped out, smiling and looking up and down the street.

Griffin stared at her, and Emily ignored a twinge of misgiving. When the woman disappeared back into the hotel’s opulent lobby, Griffin turned back to Emily.

“Her manner of dress was almost like that of a noblewoman of my time.”

“She’s a bride. A lot of women dress like that on their wedding day.”

“Truly?” he asked as they walked on again. “Though not oft in white, I daresay.”

Was he slut-shaming modern women? No, not at all, she realized. “Most brides wear white these days. But in your time, they wore bright colors, right?”

“Aye, mostly blue, for constancy, but sometimes red or gold or green, or Tyrian purple. If I myself had wed, my bride would’ve worn green, the color of my house.” He looked wistful at that, but then asked, “How do you know so much about my time?”

She felt a hint of smugness. “It’s my job.” Who would’ve guessed that all those studies would pay off in a conversation with a man from the 1400s?

He glanced back at the hotel again. “Did you wear such a white gown, my lady, when you were wed?”

“Yes.” She swallowed. “But I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Then nor do I, sweet bird,” he said, so gently that it made gratitude well up inside her.

It wasn’t all the money that both she and Tom and her parents had spent on the wedding—although it had been a lot, which sickened her now—or all her meticulous plans and Pinterest boards for the event. It was the hope and happiness she’d felt on her wedding day, and all her delirious plans for a happy ever after, that pained her whenever she thought about it now.

“Anyway,” she said, turning the corner to walk to the Red Line stop, “we’re going to get on a train ourselves now.”

“Like the…” He pointed back at the “L,” and she nodded.

He cleared his throat. “?’Tis a fine day, and if it pleases you, my lady, I prefer to walk.”

Awww. The train had to be daunting to someone used to walking and riding horses.

“Sorry, but it would take hours to walk there. Which I don’t think you’d enjoy in that armor.” He inclined his head, acknowledging that point. “And I need to go back to work.”

Reality hit her. She needed to get Griffin settled. Who knew what he would do with himself in the long term, but in the short term, he needed clothes, food, a place to sleep, and probably, a lot of discussion about all he’d been through and about the modern world.

She was not going back to work today.

“Actually, forget that. I’ll text my boss. But I take the train home every day. It’ll be fine.”

He nodded. She pulled up her Outlook app and sent an email to Jason with the subject line, Personal Emergency , since that was what she’d said to Terrence. The email itself was vague: unavoidable, time-sensitive matter, so sorry.

She flinched inwardly as she hit send . It was the first time in her life she’d left work without warning, and it sounded, well, suspicious. But what else could she say? She couldn’t claim illness or a family emergency, when Terrence had seen her running through the galleries after a jubilant knight.

They reached the Monroe station. “This way,” she said, leading him down the stairs.

An old man sat at the bottom, holding a sign that read, Homeless. Anything Helps. Emily reached in the front pocket of her purse, where she kept dollar bills just for this reason, and deposited a couple of them in his plastic bucket.

“Thank you. God bless you,” the man said.

“You, too.”

Griffin nodded at the man, and as he followed Emily out to the platform, he murmured, “You are generous and kind, my lady, but this I already knew.”

She shrugged. “I don’t give every time, but I do at least once a day.”

Griffin looked up at the arched ceiling above. “We are under the streets of the city?”

“That’s right.”

He noticed a man staring at him and raised his hand with a smile. “Good day, sir.”

“How ya doin’,” the guy responded with an amiable nod.

Should she tell Griffin that he didn’t need to say hello to strangers? There was nothing wrong with saying good morning, though. After the terrible isolation he’d endured, of course he wanted to connect with people. He was a grown man; he could figure out for himself how he wanted to interact with the world. Besides, other people on the platform were smiling at him.

They boarded the train and Emily slid into a seat. Griffin adjusted himself with some difficulty into the seat next to her, his leg clanking when it bumped into a steel pole. The train moved forward, and Griffin gripped the pole with one hand and the seat with the other as it accelerated; he was staring at the columns flying past the windows. He closed his eyes, and his face had gone pale.

Emily leaned close to him to murmur, “Are you all right? Do you feel sick?” He might be more susceptible to motion sickness, for all she knew. The man in the seat across from them stood up and walked halfway down the car to another seat.

“Ah…” His brow creased as if considering the question. “Nay, my lady.”

He was just scared. Of course. Nothing in his experience had prepared him for hurtling down a tunnel like this. The train slowed for the next stop, and he opened his eyes.

“Have we arrived?” he asked hopefully.

Emily pressed her lips together to hide a smile. “No, we’ve got several stops like this to go.”

He watched a couple of people get off the train. “I see.” When the train moved forward again, he kept his eyes open. “What propels it forward, when there are no horses?”

“Something called electricity. It’s complicated.”

He managed a smile. “You do this every day, my lady? What an exciting way to travel.”

On public transit, it was very bad when things got exciting. She considered herself fortunate that her rides had always been merely boring and dreary. Outside the windows, the tunnel walls gave way to sunlight.

“Ha!” Griffin exclaimed aloud. “We emerge from the earth again.” Apparently feeling braver, he leaned nearer to her to look out the window at the brick apartment buildings they passed.

Seeing him experience this like they were on a thrilling Disney ride somehow made it seem not so boring, after all. He made her feel…well, alive , more so than before.

Emily took out her phone to check for a response from her boss and found several texts from Rose.

EMILY

Someone just asked me about a stunt thing??

For the medieval exhibit?

With a KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR

DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS

?!?!?

In spite of her worry, Emily laughed. Griffin was peering at the screen, and she moved it so he could see.

“Messages from Rose,” she explained. “They just came ten minutes ago.” While he processed that, she texted back.

I kissed him.

Griffin gave her a pleased sidelong glance. Rose’s response appeared on the screen.

AND?!?!

Emily texted back.

It worked.

After a few seconds’ pause, in which Emily could almost see Rose’s mouth hanging open, little dots bounced on the screen, indicating she was replying.

OMG OMG OMG

Where are you now?

Emily answered, I’m taking him to my place.

“What is…O-M-G?” Griffin asked.

“Hey, knight in shining armor. What’s your name?”

Emily and Griffin both looked over at the young woman sitting a couple of seats away. She had short black hair and big brown eyes with lush false eyelashes. A teasing smile played at her full lips. Griffin looked over to her and returned her smile with a roguish one of his own. Emily found herself casually scooching just a fraction of an inch closer to him.

“Griffin de Beauford, my lady. I am honored to meet you.”

He’d said the exact same thing to Terrence, so why should Emily mind? But surely, she wasn’t imagining the way he’d perked up when he laid eyes on this stranger?

“I’m Melissa. You know, I’ve seen some wild things on the Red Line, but this is the first time I’ve seen a knight.”

“Then we both have cause for astonishment, my lady, for this is the first time I’ve ridden a train.”

“So I noticed,” Melissa said with a laugh. She was flirting with Griffin as if Emily wasn’t right there. “Maybe we could grab a coffee sometime.” Not only flirting, but asking him out.

Griffin said, “Gramercy, my lady, but no. I am going with Lady Emily to her home, for she has kindly invited me to stay the night.” One of the other passengers, a beefy white man with a buzz cut, smirked.

Melissa said good-naturedly, “Well, all right, then.” Not appearing the least bit put out, she returned her attention to her phone.

Emily’s face burned. Did Griffin know the woman had more than coffee in mind? And was he expecting more than food and shelter once they got to Emily’s apartment? Given their very hot shared dream, he might have been. She wasn’t the least bit nervous that he might get pushy if she said no, but it could be awkward.

Real sex was out of the question. Their whole situation was all so…well, shocking didn’t even cover it. They needed time to adjust. Maybe they’d get involved, and maybe they wouldn’t.

Maybe he’d quickly lose interest in her. He’d been alive for less than an hour, and already a pretty woman had hit on him. Emily didn’t even have the right to object. Griffin didn’t belong to her. He wasn’t a stray she’d adopted, like Andy War-Howl.

Yes, she had a huge, huge crush-to-end-all-crushes on him. Who wouldn’t? And yes, he returned that crush…but that was because she was the first woman he’d kissed in hundreds of years, and because he was grateful. Gratitude was a terrible foundation for a relationship. It wouldn’t last.

Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to take advantage of Griffin’s situation. She’d had too much power over him. And at least for the short term, she still did.

He needed so much, and he’d been through so much. She could help him. No matter what happened, it would be an amazing experience to help a medieval man find his way in the modern world. And he would be a wonderful friend.

She looked down at her phone again, angling it now so Griffin couldn’t see it. He seemed transfixed by the passing scenery, anyway.

Rose had texted, Can I come over??

As starved as Griffin was for human connection, he’d probably enjoy talking to Rose. Nobody other than her parents had even been to her apartment, which suddenly struck her as a little sad. Still, she hesitated, searching her brain for a reason to delay the visit.

Griffin sucked in a breath. Emily looked up to see him staring at the train barreling toward them on the adjacent set of tracks.

She put a hand on his steel-bound arm. “It’s fine. They just pass each other.” He visibly exhaled as the Purple Line rushed right past them.

Her friend sent another text. Or do you want to keep him all to yourself?

Maybe Emily did. Who wouldn’t want her very own knight in shining armor?

He couldn’t stay in the armor, though.

A lovely vision appeared in her mind: him wandering around in her apartment nude.

With an inward shake of her head, she texted to Rose, I was just thinking where I could get him some clothes.

I can steal a few things from my brother , Rose suggested. He’s about his size.

Well, that decided that. Her desire for one-on-one time with this swoony man wasn’t more important than meeting his basic needs.

That would be great! She texted the address.

Rose asked, When should I come by? I don’t want to interrupt anything.

Emily glanced over at Griffin again to find his gaze intent on her. His expression of astonishment had burned away to something more serious, something that made her insides quake.

He was thinking about certain other basic needs, and she could hardly blame him. But for her, it was too dangerous. She wasn’t freewheeling like Melissa over there. Especially not where this walking miracle of a man was concerned. He was the kind of person everyone fell in love with, and maybe—probably—she was the kind no one stayed in love with for long.

Emily answered Rose. You won’t interrupt anything.