Bewitching the Knight: (A Medieval Time Travel Romance) Read Free Page A

An extremely good fighter, by all accounts he was a hard man to best. Sneaky and sly had been applied to his character, and while he’d been both those things, he’d been intelligent. Not the type to steal from the hand that fed him.
    Watching her grandfather read her notes, she sat back, and waited for his verdict. He read for ten more minutes, and then slowly took off his glasses. “When do you leave for Scotland? Why aren’t you already on an airplane?”
    She laughed, hugged him, and kissed his cheek. “I leave tomorrow. We have that fundraiser at the university tonight. I have a fancy black dress and everything. I have to show up to win friends and influence people. If I don’t, I’m fired. My boss was clear on that.”
    He waved the folder in the air. “They can’t fire you. You dig up the crown and they wouldn’t dare. They’ll be kissing your feet for the prestige, grants, and donations it’ll bring to the university. Everyone likes to back a winner.”
    “If I dig up the crown.”
    Eyes as sharp as ever—and interested, thank goodness—he studied her face, and then nodded slowly. “You’re right. Nothing is ever certain. 750 years is a long time. If it really was there, it could be long gone, melted down and turned into anything.”
    “I’ve asked for time off starting tomorrow. I have so much leave accrued they didn’t dare turn me down. I’m actually going tonight, right after the fundraiser.”
    Visibly tired, Grandpa leaned back against the pillows again. “Oh, Digger, how I envy you.”
    Samantha smiled at the old nickname, given to her when she’d accompanied him on her first dig to Asia Minor at the age of nine and promptly gotten to work.
    He smiled. “I’m proud of you, you know?”
    Her chest tightened. “I know.”
    “Try and meet someone, will you? I don’t want you to be alone after I’m gone. What happened to that nice young man you were seeing?”
    “It didn’t work out.” It never did. She just wasn’t the sort of girl that guys went for. Too straightforward, too obsessed with her work, too out of touch with modern culture, she supposed.
    “Don’t you worry. You’ll find someone. But try and find someone living, eh?” He lifted her notes. “This attachment you have to Ian MacGregor won’t get you a husband and children.”
    She laughed, and felt her face warming. “He’s a lot more interesting than most of the guys I’ve dated.”
    “Wily is the word I’d use. But don’t you worry. You’ll find someone in the here and now. You’re too beautiful and hardworking not to.”
    She leaned back in her chair. “Too bad you’re the only one who sees me that way.”
    “You’re the last of our line. You have to find someone sometime. It’s your duty. You say you’re leaving tonight?”
    “I’m already packed and have all the permits. We start digging in three days.” She paused. Swallowed hard. “You’ll wait for me, won’t you?”
    He drew in a deep breath, then let it out as he stared at the blank TV across the room. “I’m not sure, Digger.”
    She gulped and sudden tears flooded her eyes as she realized that with the advice he’d been giving, he’d been saying goodbye. “But—”
    “I’m ready to go.” His brown-eyed gaze met hers. “I think it’s time, don’t you?”
    “But what about the crown? It’s the find of a lifetime. If you’re not here when I get back...” More tears filled her eyes and she sniffed. “Maybe I should wait.”
    He laughed softly. “As if I’d let you.” After a long moment in which neither of them spoke, he sighed. “You’re so much trouble. Too smart for your own good. I never should have taken you in. After your parents died, I should have placed you with some nice family and given you young parents. If I had, you’d be married with two kids, not traipsing around the world, and worrying about me. I ruined you. You should have been playing with dolls, not digging up bodies.”
    She laughed through her