Page 40 of Robin and Marian
“Robin,” she said. “Why’d you do it?”
“There wasn’t another way.”
He’d been so brave, so noble, so stupid. And he’d lied—the trickster was alive and well in him. He was just as reckless as she had thought. He nudged her face up with his chin to kiss her again, and she felt that passion behind his lips. She’d get swept away if she wasn’t careful. His hand found her fingers, and he twined them through his.
She pulled away, still holding to him. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
He let out an unrepentant chuckle and tugged her back against his chest. “I wasn’t planning on telling younow.”
“Robin!” She felt the strong beat of his heart against hers—she was the only one who knew his secret—she was as tied up in this as he was. The danger of that wasn’t lost on her. “Promise me! Don’t you ever keep anything from me again.”
He let go of her fingers to slip his hand into her hair, gently brushing his lips against her cheek, his eyes closed. “Okay. My heart is beating really fast, my hands are clammy—I can’t keep away from you.”
“No…” But she laughed anyway. He’d love her with no inhibition, and she knew that she’d have to be more careful than he was. “Stop it! You’ll make me lose my head.”
His eyes cracked open and so did his mouth. It curved into a delighted grin. “Really? Does that mean I can call youmyMaid Marian?”
“Call me anything you want to.” She startled at her own words.She shouldn’t have said that.
“Anything?” He looked pleased and drew back to meet her eyes.
“Within reason, Robin! Within reason!” It was the best way to tell him that she was giving him the chance that he’d asked for, even if it scared her to death.
“Hey!” Little John’s voice echoed up to them. “Come on out, you lovebirds. The sheriff’s gone.”
Her heart quickened as the reality of everything that had happened between them settled into her mind. Had John heard Robin’s confession? Or non-confession? Poking her head around the storage containers, she studied John’s face as he stood on the warehouse floor below them. He still looked annoyed with Robin, with widened eyes that could’ve been caused by his encounter with the sheriff.
“Okay, Robin,” he said. “Let’s get you back to your stupid rich-people games.”
No, he had no idea.
Chapter 11
They crowded into the cab of John’s truck while Robin tried to process what had happened. Marian knew his secret. He’d told no one. Absolutely no one. Tuck had guessed it, but that was the crazy way his brain worked.
Robin stole a glance at Marian, and she scooted closer to him on the bench seat. He was the one who was flushing and trying to look away, only because she might get mad if he laughed. But how could he not? His heart felt like it would burst at the joy of her knowing. If being honest with Marian always felt this good, his every secret was hers to keep.
He put his arm around her, almost knocking Little John in the head. John glared at him while he started his engine. “I’ll give you a ride back to the mansion,” he said as it sputtered to life. “I’ll drop off the maypole with you while I’m at it. It’s got to be back by, when, three?”
Was John going for the prize? Robin approved. “2:30,” he said.
They turned to the clock. It was already 2:10 and it was a thirty minute drive. “I’ll drive fast.” Little John peeled from the driveway.
“You know what the prize is for that?” Robin asked.
Little John nodded. “Yeah, and you can bet they wouldn’t give it to me—I’m not one of the players in this game. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’d rather Sherwood Forest be in your possession than Guy’s. That’s saying something.”
Robin wouldn’t accept it, except he was definitely with Little John on this one. There was no telling what Guy would do with Sherwood Forest. “Are you in debt to him?”
“Mind your own business,” John growled back. And then, as if he couldn’t help it, he began to spill his story in angry spurts. “After you left, everyone was in pretty bad shape. You’d think the city council would give us a break, but you know what they did? They decided to tax residential property at 5.12%. Commercial Property went for even more. Who does that? You don’t even get those rates in Manchester.”
“No one could pay it?” Robin guessed.
“That wasn’t the half of it. The tax assessor cranked the value of our property way above market value. That made our bills astronomical, so yeah, no one could pay.”
“Who’s on city council?” Marian asked.
“A bunch of low-lifes. We tried to vote them out last election, but I don’t know what happened; it didn’t work. They’ve caused so much damage. And there we were, drowning in fines and penalties, and along comes our great hero, Guy King. He buys up everyone’s debts in the tax lien sale on our properties, and we think, finally, a break!”
