Time Travel Romances Boxed Set (121 page)

And Viviane felt her cheeks heat.
“Well…”

Barb studied the teapot as though it was a
lot more interesting than it was. “A little trouble in paradise
this morning?” she mused, and Viviane realized their argument had
been overheard.

“
Oh, just a
misunderstanding.” She grinned sunnily as she accepted a mug of
tea. “Everything will work out, I’m sure of it.”

“
Is that right.” Barb shook
her head and took the other seat, looking the younger woman right
in the eye. “Viviane, you do know that men have commitment disease,
don’t you? They fight like tigers whenever they think they might
get snared, and lie like the devil to get loose. Men don’t want to
settle down, get hitched, tie the knot. They avoid it like the
plague - if you’ll forgive the medieval reference - and would
rather jump off the Golden Gate bridge than propose.”

Barb shrugged and pushed to her feet,
heading back to the kettle. “It’s just the way they are and if your
particular catch is trying to bolt into the blue, well, you can’t
be too surprised. The really good looking ones never stick
around.”

Viviane shook her head vigorously, both
impressed by Barb’s protectiveness and anxious to defend Niall.
“No, no, you don’t understand, Barb. Niall’s not like that at all.
Niall wants to get married.”

Barb pivoted, her eyes wide.
“
Married
? Is that some kind of a joke?”

“
He seems very serious
about it. In fact, he was pretty annoyed when I turned him
down.”

Barb frowned at the whistling kettle as
though she didn’t know what to do about it, then unplugged it and
crossed the small room with quick steps.

She folded her arms across her chest and
stared down at Viviane. “So, let me get this straight. He followed
you, you’re glad to see him, and now he wants to marry you? And
that’s a problem?”

“
Well, yes.” Viviane
smiled. “Obviously.”

“
Obviously? Viviane! It’s
pretty remarkable that he’s so ready to get married - I mean this
was the guy who said he wasn’t staying long - and you did keep
saying that everything is
perfect
, never mind that he was
your knight and all that jazz.”

Viviane rolled her eyes. “Well, it would be
perfect, if Niall could stop talking about duty and responsibility
and partnership.” She stuck out her tongue. “It’s not very
romantic, is it?”

“
Uh huh. Fate worse than
death.” Barb leaned back, her assessing gaze fixed on Viviane, and
Viviane tried to explain.

“
Well, it
isn’t
! You
see, he just doesn’t even talk about love and how could I marry a
man who didn’t love me? He says he doesn’t even believe in love,
and well, I can’t even imagine thinking anything like
that!”

“
Love.” Barb sounded a lot
like Niall.

“
Love.” Viviane sighed at
the very thought. “It wouldn’t be so bad if he at least mentioned
love, but he keeps saying that it’s his
duty
to marry me. He
goes on and on about responsibilities and children needing a father
and -” she grimaced then appealed to Barb “- he’s just so practical
about it all!”

“
Duty!” Barb raised her
brows. “He sounds pretty medieval.” She studied Viviane for a long
moment. “Maybe he’s the perfect guy for you,” she said
mildly.

“
Not unless he changes his
thinking! He only wants to marry me so that people don’t question
where he’s a man of honor. It’s all about him and his reputation
and the fathering of his children. That’s not nearly romantic
enough for me.”

Viviane waved one hand. “But don’t worry,
it’s all solved now. You said that men didn’t read romances, so I
gave him mine and he’s agreed to read it. And once he does that,
well, everything will be perfectly obvious and he’ll act like the
knight in the story does.”

Barb seemed to be trying not to laugh,
although Viviane couldn’t imagine why. “Viviane,” she said and
shook her head, her lips quirking. “You are a treat.”

Viviane frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“
No, I know.” Barb shook
her head and folded her arms across her chest. “You see, real live
guys can’t even say the L-word.”

“
What L-word?”

“
Love. The word tangles up
on their tongues and they just can’t spit it out. It gets all
knotted up in there, maybe it’s stuck in their teeth. They know
what it is and they feel it, but they’d rather die than admit
it.”

Viviane blinked. Now, there was a thought.
Maybe Niall really did love her but couldn’t say the word. That was
an interesting possibility! “Really?”

“
Really. Wild horses
couldn’t drag it out of them.” Barb shook a finger across the table
at Viviane. “They usually can’t manage to say marriage either, so
count yourself lucky.” She grinned unexpectedly and pushed her
glasses further up her nose. “Maybe you shouldn’t give up on him
just yet. Sounds like he has some unexpected promise.”

“
Oh, I think so!” Viviane
smiled. “Thanks for your advice. You are so wise.”

“
Mmm.” Barb flicked a
glance across the table. “Well, here’s another bit of advice for
free. Do yourself a favor and get some rubbers. I have a feeling
you’ll be sharing your bed while you decide about this one. Better
safe than sorry.”

Viviane frowned. “Rubbers?”

“
No babies, no std’s.
They’re cheap and effective.” Barb nodded firmly. “Trust me on
this, Viviane, you don’t want to get pregnant before you know
exactly where you stand.”

“
Pregnant? No, that would
only make things worse!” Viviane nodded hastily. If she got
pregnant, she knew Niall definitely wouldn’t take no for an answer
- he’d toss her over his shoulder and go looking for that priest,
whether she was persuaded or not.

And Viviane wanted to be
sure
before
she pledged to remain by a man’s side for all her days and
nights.

“
Rubbers,” she repeated
carefully, so she wouldn’t forget the word, then smiled for Barb.
“I’ll find some today.”

*

“
I have to go and get
rubbers,” the lady occupying Niall’s thoughts announced from the
doorway. He glanced up in surprise, not having heard her on the
stairs, and wondered how he could have forgotten how alluring she
was.

She was wearing another of those short
kirtles that drove him mad, this one adorned with yellow flowers on
a black ground. Her arms were bare and her hair loose, that cursed
pendant fairly glowing against her fair skin. She reached for a
jacket hung inside the door, hauled it on and shoved her hands into
its deep pockets. “Maybe we could get something to eat on the
way.”

“
I have coin now so there
is no need for you to pay,” Niall agreed, getting quickly to his
feet and brushing off his hands. He laid his tools carefully aside,
well aware that kissing Derek’s chemise and short chausses were in
need of a wash.

And return.

He would have asked Viviane for guidance on
acquiring new garb, but she suddenly gasped. She strode across the
floor to snatch up the brush he had been using. “What are you doing
with this?”

“
I clean my mail. ’Tis a
most useful implement indeed, for the taint of the salt water is
fiercely difficult to work from the links…”

Viviane shook it at him. “Do you know what
this is?”

He guessed, despite the dawning sense that
he was wrong. “A useful implement for cleaning mail?”

“
A toothbrush. It’s a
toothbrush, my toothbrush.”

Niall’s eyes narrowed. “Teeth have no hair
to be brushed.”

Viviane laughed and shook the brush at him.
“That’s what I thought. People clean them here, with this.” She
leaned closer. “So their breath smells sweeter.” And she exhaled
slightly, the scent of mint filling Niall’s nostrils.

He did not dare imagine how his breath
smelled, for he had never conceived of brushing his teeth with
mint. He kept his mouth resolutely closed. “I shall return it to
you, duly cleaned.”

Viviane grimaced at the state of the brush
he had used, her expression and the twinkle in her eyes making her
look most appealing. “No. I’ll just buy another one. And one for
you too.”

Niall, as always, was concerned about
frugality. “Are such tools of great expense?”

“
No. A dollar or
so.”

Niall considered this, reviewed the money
reputedly entrusted to the bankers in his name, then decided to
stock up. “’Tis a paltry expense for such usefulness. I shall
acquire a quantity for future use.”

After all, he wanted to ensure he looked his
best at all times for Viviane. Though ’twas curious that a time
with no use for mail developed the perfect tool for its
maintenance.

“
And what are these
rubbers?” he demanded. “Are they of small expense as well? What
purpose do they serve?”

“
I don’t know how much they
cost, but I
have
to have them.” Viviane turned to the door
once more, as though avoiding Niall’s gaze. “Barb said they would
keep me from getting pregnant.”

Niall started and stared, unable to hide his
astonishment. “Why should you avoid that?”

His lady tossed her hair in a way that did
not bode well for the presence of good sense. “That way you won’t
have to worry about planting your seed, which means you won’t have
to marry me after all.”

Niall was appalled by the very suggestion.
“Viviane, what is done is done and my obligation to you unchanged,
regardless of whether you acquire these rubbers or not. ’Tis
unnatural to tamper with the course of God.”

She folded her arms across her chest and
lifted her chin, her eyes snapping with defiance. “Well, I’m not
persuaded
that we should be married.”

Niall smiled slowly, infinitely reassured by
her choice of words. He reached out and captured her hand, tracing
a circle on its back with his thumb. “Then I shall have to be more
persuasive.” He bent and brushed his lips across her knuckles,
smiling against her skin when she shivered. “Perhaps, there is no
need for haste in seeking a meal,” he murmured.

The lady snatched her hand away, but not
quickly enough to hide her response from Niall. “Did you read my
book?”

“
Nay, Viviane, a
responsible man does not mark his leisure before his labor is
done.”

Instead of being impressed by this,
Viviane’s eyes flashed. “Leisure? Learning about love isn’t
leisure!”

“
Viviane! I mean to show
you that I am a man who can be relied upon! I fulfill my
obligations first, I heed my responsibilities first, I tend my
duties first.” He took a step closer, having no intention of
putting his persuasiveness aside. “I would do well by you, Viviane,
and indeed, there is many a man who would treat you with less than
your due.”

She backed into the wall, but her eyes were
wide, her lips parted, her wisp of a dress driving Niall to
distraction. He leaned over her and heard her breath catch in a way
that fired his own blood.

“
Viviane,” he whispered,
touching her chin with one fingertip and tipping her face to his.
“Let me persuade you of the good sense of this.”

She leaned towards him, her eyelids
fluttering closed and Niall smiled in anticipation as he dipped his
head. But his lips barely brushed across hers before the lady
darted away, ducking under his arm, then wrenching open the
door.

“
I need rubbers,” she
insisted anxiously. “
Now
.” She shook a finger at Niall when
he might have argued the case. “No rubbers, no
persuasion.”

Well, if she was going to put matters like
that, Niall had no choice.

The lady would have her rubbers. He ran a
tongue across his teeth and wondered if ’twas his unminted breath
she found troublesome.

That, too, could be resolved with all
haste.

*

Monty waited until Romeo and Juliet were out
of sight and earshot, then darted into Barb’s shop. Barb was
sitting at the counter, frowning at a ledger, and barely glanced up
at his arrival.

“
Psst, Barb!” Monty looked
over his shoulder. “Where’s he taking her this time?”

“
What’s it to
you?”

“
Come on, Barb!” Monty
crossed the room to make his appeal, but Barb kept adding the
columns. “You and I go ’way back, you ought to like
know
when I’m hurting.”

That made her glance up. “You owe me eight
hundred and ninety-four dollars and sixteen cents. Ante up.”

“
Man!” Monty pushed a hand
through his hair in exasperation. This wasn’t going to make things
any easier, but then, Barb never did. “Come on, Barb, we’re in this
together. We could have been an item, if you’d like been interested
at all…”

She gave him a withering glance. “An
item?”

“
Yeah, you know, you and
me, it would have been perfect and it’s not like I haven’t
tried…”

Her eyebrows lifted. “To empty my shop
without paying for anything you took.”

“
Hey, that’s like an
assault on my character! I’ve sincerely tried to woo you for years
but…”

Barb pointed in the general direction of her
kitchen. “See that red rubber thingy hanging over the counter?”

Monty looked. It was a flat circle and had
some pizza joint’s logo printed on it. “Yeah. What is it?”

“
A jar opener. It’s the
mark of an officially single woman, a woman who needs a man like a
fish needs a bicycle.”