Knightless in Seattle (6 page)

Lance felt the anxiety level in the room go up several
notches. People shifted from foot to foot, exchanging apprehensive
glances.

"Your table is fine," Jackie explained in a patient tone. "I
wrapped each piece in a moving blanket, so it is totally protected.
And your office was the only place big enough to put it. I'll put
everything back just the way it was when we are done today."

Lance tamped down growing irritation as he watched the
exchange. Protective instincts he didn't know he possessed urged
him to grab the douchebag by the throat and choke some manners
into him. He mentally counted to five. He had to hand it to Jackie, she
kept her cool like a pro.

Fred closed his eyes and dramatically took several deep
breaths, inhaling through his nose, and then blowing out through his
mouth in a parody of yoga-like control.

Lance wondered how often he bothered. Fortunately for
him, Jackie's boss managed to find enough self-control to drop the
subject for the moment.

"Fine," he said, and rolled his shoulders in an exaggerated
gesture of forced relaxation. "But you and I are going to have a
serious talk later about following simple instructions." Turning his
attention back to the group, he clapped his hands. "Okay people, let's
get started. I'm going to turn things over to our guest, Lance
Masters."

Lance glanced at Jackie as he stepped past her to take Fred's
place in the center of the room. The confused hurt on her face made
him want to kill something, or at least beat it to a pulp. Preferably
Fred.

"Good morning, everyone." Lance reminded himself that he
was here to teach a class. He would straighten out Jackie's boss later
on his own time. "My name is Lance and I'm a certified instructor in
European Martial Arts, which is basically the art of fighting as
practiced by the European knights of the Holy Roman Empire. Today
we're going to do a little team-building by learning some basic attack
and defense techniques using a short blade, or dagger." He held up a
fourteen-inch, double-edged knife made from a darkened metal, very
pointed and very sharp-looking.

And just like that, he had everyone's complete
attention.

"Wow, that is
not
what I would call a short blade,"
Henry said. "Are you sure about this?"

Lance chuckled. "Don't worry, you'll only get foam blades to
practice with."

Murmurs of relief rippled through the group.

This was Lance's favorite part of his job, teaching. It had
long ago become a luxury, since most of his time was sucked up with
the business end of starting, building up, and then selling a series of
successful studios. Now that he was free of all of them, he had been
taking a little time to think about what he wanted to do next.

The obvious answer hit him now, smack between the eyes,
as he stood in the middle of a Seattle conference room covered in red
floor mats, and looking at the beautiful woman watching him with
her heart in her eyes. He knew exactly what he wanted, and who he
wanted it with. But for now, he had this class to teach.

In short order he had everyone involved and having fun.
Enlisting Jackie's aid, he demonstrated a series of simple moves that
soon transformed the group from skittish observers to confident
participants. He moved around the room and dispensed pointers and
encouragement as everyone brandished the foam daggers he had
supplied them in choreographed attacks and feints.

Jackie's boss, Fred, stood apart from the group, taking a post
beside the doughnut table. Arms crossed, feet apart, he observed the
action with a critical eye. Lance sighed inwardly. Apparently Fred
was one of those leaders who thought themselves above the team
they were trying to build.

"Okay, I need everyone's attention, please." Lance stepped
into the center of the room once more. Everyone stopped mid-lunge,
or whatever they were in the middle of, and turned to face him
expectantly.

"You've now mastered a couple of the basic moves for
attacking and defending. I'm going to ask Jackie's help once more to
demonstrate how to not only defend yourself, but how to turn one of
the defenses I showed you into an attack."

"Wow! This is awful! Where'd you get it, the dumpster?"
Everyone's attention turned to Fred as he spat a bite of doughnut
into a napkin. His features were contorted into a grimace of distaste.
"If this is the best you can do, Jackie, the next time I've got an event I
need planned, I'll just put the cleaning lady in charge of it."

Jackie whirled to face her boss, hands fisted at her sides.
Lance could almost hear her counting silently to ten. His guess was
that this was not the first time. The thousand-and-first time was
probably about right.

General foot shuffling erupted into low murmurs around the
room. Fred was getting close to crossing the too-far line with these
people.

Lance put his hands on Jackie's shoulders, giving her a quick
squeeze of support. "You know," he said over her head, "I think it
would be great if Fred would come out here and help demonstrate
this next tactic."

He smiled at Jackie when she turned a startled look toward
him. "Yesterday I vanquished my enemy," he murmured into her ear.
"Today's your turn."

He started clapping, urging the group to join him. "C'mon
everybody, let's give Fred a big hand for helping."

Visibly preening at the applause, Fred strode out to join
Lance and Jackie on the mats.

Lance smiled. He was going to enjoy this.

After handing Fred a foam dagger, he instructed Fred and
Jackie to stand about ten feet apart on the mats. Jackie shot Lance a
questioning glance. He knew his answering nod was all she needed
to prepare for what was coming next.

"Okay," Lance took several big steps back from the pair. "On
my go, Fred, I want you to rush at Jackie and attack her with your
dagger."

Fred arched a questioning brow at Lance. The smirk that
played around his lips told Lance that the man would be more than
happy to oblige the instruction to attack his unarmed female
employee. Lance pushed down the urge to punch him in the
face.

Everyone was watching them, except for Henry, who had
covered his face.

Lance was pretty sure nobody was breathing. He shot a
meaningful glance at Jackie.

"A-a-and go!"

Holding the faux-weapon overhand at about eye-level, Fred
rushed at Jackie.

Jackie tensed, ready for him. Balanced, with her feet at
shoulder width, she watched Fred close the distance between them
in the same move she and Lance had rehearsed for over an hour the
previous evening. She would have felt sorry for Fred if she'd had
time to, and if he wasn't being such a grade-A jerk.

Lips drawn back in a feral snarl and a manic glint in his eye,
Fred slashed the blade downward when he came within striking
range. An audible gasp went up from the sidelines.

But Jackie kept her focus. Lunging forward to meet him, she
got her hand under his elbow and pushed up hard, grabbing his
dagger-wielding hand by the wrist at the same time. Still pushing
against his elbow, she mercilessly twisted his hand down and behind
his back as his momentum carried him past her. Just like in practice,
her opponent's nerveless fingers released his weapon, making it easy
business for her to grab it and stab it into the back of his neck as he
bent forward under the pressure on his arm and wrist.

"Ha!" she cried, as she released her hold. She leapt back to
wave the foam blade over her head in victory. God, it felt good to
win!

"And that, everyone, is an excellent demonstration of how to
turn an attacker's own weapon against him, even if you are
unarmed." Lance turned a warm smile on Jackie. "Well done, milady,"
he said with a bow.

Fred straightened, rubbing his wrist. Red faced, he glowered
at Jackie with a look that normally turned her knees to jelly. But right
now, still tingling with the rush of her victory, she refused to back
down. Instead she nodded to Lance in acknowledgement, and then
turned back to her boss with a smile. Curiously missing was the
self-preservation--okay, fear--that usually prompted her to apologize for
bruising his tender, over-inflated ego.

"You know, I don't know why I've put up with your rude
treatment for so long, but I'm done with it. And I'm done with you,
right here, right now."

She turned to Lance. "I never realized just how disrespectful
and unprofessional he actually was until he insulted me in front of
you. Nobody should put up with that kind of treatment. And I won't
anymore."

"That's my girl," said Lance.

"That's it," Fred snarled. "You just bought your ticket out of
here. Pack up your desk and be gone by the end of the day."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jackie said sweetly. "Wasn't I clear enough
for you? I just quit. Good luck getting the cleaning lady to work late
nights and weekends for all your 'emergencies'."

"See you at lunch, sweetie," she said to Lance, and stood on
tiptoe to press a kiss to his lips.

Lance returned it warmly and she smiled at the pride she
read in his eyes. She knew it wasn't nice, but it was kind of satisfying
when Fred flinched as she brushed past him on her way out.

She headed for her desk to pick up the few personal things
she kept there. Freedom winked at her from the other side of the
office doors and her heart lifted in anticipation. She felt like she had
just gotten out of out of school for the summer. Or out of prison.

"So, I hear you might be available to consider new job
offers." She turned to find Lance behind her.

Taking his outstretched hands as he stopped in front of her,
she smiled up into his eyes. Even in the dull fluorescent office lights,
he looked every inch the golden hero. "Well, that depends," she said,
like she had any intention of not being available to him. "What have
you got in mind?"

"How about working for me? Or rather with me. I need
someone to run the logistics side of my new studio in Seattle so I can
focus on the teaching. I could really use your know-how. Starting
with helping me find the perfect location." He smiled, producing his
trademark, knee-melting dimple. "What do you say? I know you
would be the perfect partner for me."

Jackie's heart did a little happy dance in her chest. It took
every ounce of self-control she had to not jump up and down and
scream "yes."

Instead she placed a finger on her lips and did her best to
look pensive. "Hmm. Sounds like a pretty good offer, but there is a
condition."

"Name it."

Not that she would ever tell him, but she had no intention of
turning down such an amazing opportunity. Truth was, with that
smile she couldn't have refused him if he'd asked her strip naked and
paint herself purple.

"You have to wear your chain mail at least once a week." She
stuck out her hand for his answering handshake. "Deal?"

"Sounds fair to me," Lance replied, and pulled her into his
arms by her outstretched hand. "As long as you'll wear that corset
for me."

Happily pressed against his hard body from breast to thigh,
Jackie tried and failed to squash the smile that spread across her
face. "Looks like I get to keep my knight-in-shining-armor on
contract after all," she murmured, as she raised her lips to meet his
kiss.

I hope you enjoyed reading Knightless in Seattle. I know I
enjoyed writing it. More Knit Witchery Tales are coming soon which
will tell the stories of how Nichole's magical knitted gifts cause her
friends to find the love of their life.

Please consider leaving a review of Knightless in Seattle at
the site where you purchased it. Reviews are the best way for other
readers to discover new books and I'd love it if you would like to
share your thoughts. All honest reviews are welcome.

You can find me at www.JillJaynes.com, on Facebook at
JillJaynesRomance, and on Twitter @jill_jaynes, to learn more about
me and my stories, as well as to post your thoughts and
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Jill Jaynes began her love affair with romance when she was
a teenager growing up in Southern California, spending many a
late-night under the covers with a flashlight and good romance
novel.

This early addiction stuck, and she discovered one day that
telling great stories was even more fun than reading them. Today she
writes stories with happy endings her own way--with a dash of
magic that means anything can happen.

When she's not writing, you can find her (still in Southern
California) occupied with one of the following activities: a)
wine-tasting, hiking or otherwise hanging out with her hot husband, b)
walking her two high-maintenance dogs, c) plotting her next story
with her writer-daughter or d) working at her day job in her spare
time.

* * * *

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• Knightless in Seattle
  
• Author's Note
  
• About the Author