The More I See You (21 page)

Richard carefully lifted the sheaf and put it aside. The next was a two-part drawing, one of the layout of the chapel and the other her conception of how the interior of the chapel would look when viewed from the threshold.

Richard laid that one aside just as carefully after he’d perused it for several minutes. The next drawing was the blueprint for the great hall. She’d put in four fireplaces, two on each side of the hall. Spare rooms would be added between the back of the hall where the dais would be and the perimeter wall. She figured with enough planning, she could get at least a dozen good-sized rooms, most all of them with fireplaces. Since Richard had insisted on stone, there wouldn’t be much danger of fire. Warren had told her how Hugh’s keep had almost burned to the ground because of a stray ember. Richard’s disdain for wood didn’t seem to be such a bad idea with that in mind.

She’d saved the best for last. Richard caught his breath when he saw the drawing and she felt a smile fight its way to her lips. It was something to be proud of. She’d done a front and a side view of the completed hall. It was the side view that had taken her so long, probably because of the windows. She knelt down next to him and gestured to them.

“Once it’s complete, you’ll be able to sit on the dais and look up and see all four,” she said. “The four seasons will be portrayed in stained glass. I don’t know how you want them ordered, but I put them winter, spring, summer, and fall. You said once that you liked autumn, so I thought you’d want that to be the one you could see the best. You can do colored glass, can’t you?”

He nodded, silent.

Jessica clasped her hands. “I don’t know how practical it is. I mean, all it’s going to take is some jerk catapulting through the glass to compromise the security of the hall, but you said the inner bailey wall couldn’t be taken, so I assumed the great hall would be more for pleasure than protection. And,” she added, “you could always retreat to this room if things get too bad. Couldn’t you?”

Richard nodded again. He didn’t move other than that, though. Jessica wiped her hands on the leggings of his she wore.

“Richard?”

He slowly took off his ring, then sat back on his heels. He handed it to her solemnly.

“Start tomorrow. Tell me what materials you’ll need—”

“Oh, Richard.” She laughed, throwing her arms around him and hugging him. “You liked it—”

“I wasn’t finished telling you—”

“Just tell me you like it.” She laughed again, giving him another squeeze. “I’ll worry about the rest later.”

He wasn’t moving. Jessica’s enthusiasm faded in time to leave her with that realization. She released him and sat back.

“Richard?”

He looked so solemn that she started to regret her impulsiveness.

Then he pursed his lips. It wasn’t a smile, but it was close.

“You like it,” she stated.

“’Tis tolerable.”

“Tolerable?”

“I gave you my ring. That will tell the men that you’ve my approval in whatever you choose to do. Isn’t that enough?”

“Whatever I choose to do?”

He muttered a curse. “Aye. And if that isn’t praise enough, you’ll have to suffer. Never in my sorry life have I let a maid be free with my purse.” He rolled his eyes heavenward. “I must be daft to be agreeing to the like now.”

“I won’t be extravagant.”

“If four bloody windows of colored glass isn’t extravagant, I don’t know what is.”

She sat back. “You don’t like them? I just thought—”

“’Tis an extravagance I’ll gladly pay for. The only thing I would change is the number of guest chambers. Once England hears of what you’ve done, people will arrive in droves to gape at it. We may as well plan for your fame from the start.”

She was beginning to acquire a taste for backhanded compliments. Having to sift through his words to find the meaning behind them wasn’t bad at all.

“I just want you to be happy with it.”

“I can see why you felt a debt of gratitude.” He nodded. “I have rescued you numerous times from unsavory encounters.”

She shook her head. “A thank-you would have been enough for that.”

“Would it?”

“It would have. I just did this to please you. No other reason. Now,” she said, “look this over with me. Are you certain there aren’t things you’d change? I’m afraid
I really don’t remember all that much about thirteenth-century architecture. I only went from your descriptions. Do you like the front door?” She knelt down with her elbows on the floor and looked at the drawing. “I think I like the arch, but if it’s outdated, we can change it. I’m still not sure about the roof. I know you don’t want to use wood, but there are definitely going to have to be wooden beams for the frame. I just don’t think using stone shingles is going to cut it, though.” She looked next to her, then over her shoulder at Richard, who hadn’t moved. “What?”

He continued to look at her, his expression unreadable.

“Come down here,” she ordered, waving his ring at him. “We’ve got to talk about these details before I get started on this. Come on, Richard. I’ve got your ring, so you have to do what I say.”

He leaned forward on one hand and she thought he might just obey her.

Then his other hand slid under her chin. He held her in place as he leaned down, turned his head, and pressed his mouth full against hers.

Jessica would have jumped in stunned pleasure, but her knees and elbows seemed to have become permanently attached to the stone floor. Her eyelids came down of their own accord and she trembled. Richard brushed his lips across hers once, twice, maybe half a dozen times. Jessica didn’t have the presence of mind to count. The softness of his mouth on hers and the slight trembling of his fingers beneath her chin disarmed her.

And then, just as suddenly as he’d come, he was gone. Jessica forced her eyes open and looked up. She pushed up to her hands and then sat back slowly. Richard was again sitting on his heels, watching her steadily. Jessica felt the tension between them crackle like a live thing. She’d just shared the second most earth-shattering kiss of her life with this man and now she had no idea what to do.

She wanted to throw herself into his arms and cling to him. She wanted to start talking, wave her arms, jump up
and pace,
anything
to ease the intense pressure she felt. They couldn’t go back and she wasn’t sure she knew how to go forward, or even if that’s what he wanted. Or she wanted, for that matter. At least the last time he’d solved the problem for her by hopping on his horse and riding away. Now they were stuck in the same room together.

She looked at him again and thought she might have seen a few uncomfortable things flash in his eyes. Maybe he was having the same thoughts. But, knowing Richard, she had the feeling he wouldn’t talk first. Maybe he was better at dealing with nerve-stretching tension than she was. She had to break the silence.

“You like the hall,” she said.
Oh, that was scintillating!

“Aye,” he said, his voice a rough whisper.

“Um, great.” She nodded. “That’s great.”

“Aye,” he agreed. “Great.”

“Do you want to look at it some more?” she offered.

He nodded. “Aye.”

They knelt down side by side with their elbows on the floor. Jessica stared at the plan. Richard stared at the plan. Jessica waited for him to say something, but he didn’t.

“Maybe we should go take a walk,” she suggested. Now,
that
was a stroke of inspiration. Running like a coward sounded like a marvelous idea.

“Great,” Richard agreed.

Great
, Jessica thought to herself. Another word inserted into medieval vocabulary with a meaning that wouldn’t be used for who knew how many years. If Richard hadn’t sounded so cute saying it, she might have corrected him.

Then again, with the way things were going, she doubted she could have done much besides smile stupidly up at him.

Richard gathered up the plans and carefully stowed them in his trunk. He locked it, then put the key in the pouch at his belt. He walked to the door and pulled Jessica’s cloak off the peg. Jessica turned her back and let him slip it over her shoulders. She froze when she felt his
fingers digging hesitantly for her hair. Richard stopped, removed his hands, then turned her around. He looked down at her, mute.

“That didn’t hurt,” she managed.

He relaxed. He probably didn’t realize it, but she saw the tension depart from his jaw. He kept his eyes locked with hers as he slid his hands along the sides of her neck and under her hair. He gently pulled it free of the cloak and let it fall. He kept his hands where they were, far longer than was necessary. Jessica didn’t argue. She was too busy falling into the depths of those turquoise-and-silver eyes.

He finally pulled his hands back, trailing them softly over her skin as he did so. He took a step back and reached for the door.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded.

They left the room. Jessica followed Richard up the circular stairs and out onto the circular roof of their bedroom. Men nodded to them as they passed. Richard walked over to the wall and then looked at her. Jessica leaned against the stone and stared out over the sea.

“This is the most beautiful place,” she whispered. “Don’t you love the sea?”

“Aye,” he replied, his deep voice almost as soft as hers. “Aye, ’tis a good place after all.”

He didn’t touch her as they stood together and soon the chill washed away the potency of what she’d felt below. She looked up at Richard as she started to shiver.

“Can we go back? I’m getting cold.”

He nodded and turned with her. She made a side trip to the garderobe, and when she reentered Richard’s room, he was sitting in front of the fire, sharpening his sword.

“I’m going to bed,” she announced.

“A good rest to you,” he replied, not looking up.

So, it was business as usual. She wondered if she should have been disappointed. Somehow, she was just too relieved to have everything back to normal. A simple kiss had knocked her for a loop. Just that small, brief
display of an unguarded Richard had been enough to convince her that the man was a raging inferno inside. She hoped she had cover nearby if he ever exploded, with passion or anger. She had the feeling it would be one of the more memorable events of 1260.

“Shall I wake you before I leave in the morn?” he asked.

Jessica paused at the foot of the bed. She wasn’t a morning person. Richard wasn’t either, if his black humor before ten
A.M.
was any clue, but he was nothing if not disciplined.

“Please,” she answered.

“You’ll want to get an early start.”

“Yes.”

“Autumn is hard upon us. It grows cold this far north in the winter.”

“Cold?”

“Much colder than it is now.”

“Great.”

“Hurry and you’ll have a nice, warm hall to hide in while the snow falls.”

“You don’t want to make any changes on the plans?”

He was silent for some time.

“They’re perfect.”

She couldn’t possibly have asked for a higher compliment than that.

And she fully intended to savor it for a very long time, as she was just certain it wouldn’t be happening again.

Richard dragged his sleeve across his mouth and left the kitchens. Watered-down ale had not been made to quench a man’s thirst. Maybe it had to do more with what he thirsted for—and he suspected that it was not ale. He had no trouble clapping his eyes upon the prize.

She was standing in the middle of his bailey, wearing one of his tunics and the hose she had cut down to her size—with his help of course. The woman couldn’t sew to save her life, but, saints, she could plan a hall! When he’d looked at her drawing the night before, he’d been too shocked to speak. There, before his eyes, had been something straight from his fondest dreams. How she’d managed to reproduce it on paper was still something he couldn’t understand, but he’d stopped questioning it. It was likely something she’d learned in the future.

Aye, he had relented and allowed himself to believe her. Where else would she have latched onto such foolish notions about men and women? And where else could she have learned to heal as she had?

If it were true, then that also meant that she had left behind her a life that she likely longed for a great deal.

And, quite possibly, a man.

Richard unclenched his jaw and turned his thoughts away from that. If she wanted to try to return to her time, she would tell him. Until then, he would keep her close, protect her with his life, and pray his heart didn’t crumble to dust at the very sight of her.

He gave himself a hard shake, then leaned back against his bailey wall. Everything else aside, at least Jessica knew what he wanted to have built. Now the question was: could she build it?

He had the feeling, looking at her with her hands on her hips, surveying her workers, that she could.

Then he noticed she wasn’t having any help. He stood back and watched as she bent and picked up a stray stone, then cast it aside. She picked up another and repeated her motion. Richard frowned. The louts weren’t paying her heed. He strode over to her and stopped with his back to her workers.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

She looked up at him and he blinked in surprise. If he hadn’t known better, he might have suspected that she was thinking of giving up.

“What?” he asked. “What pitiful ailment do you suffer?”

He cursed himself the moment the words left his mouth. If she hadn’t looked close to weeping before, she did now. Nay, not tears! Richard stiffened his spine, praying Jessica would see him and do likewise.

“Tell me,” he said quietly. “I will aid you if I can.”

That, at least, seemed to break up the clouds hovering overhead. Jessica put her shoulders back and seemed to get hold of herself. Richard congratulated himself heartily on avoiding a drenching.

“They won’t help me,” Jessica said.

He wanted to turn around and beat the bloody hell out of each and every male in her garrison of carpenters. Then he watched as Jessica stuck her chin out stubbornly.

“The jerks,” she added.