The Perfect Temptation (30 page)

sound of several wildly barking
dogs. Apparently unaware

of it, he went on. "I
suppose there's a refreshing lack

of pretension about it. And Lord
knows that it's not the least

predictable or boring." He
drew her to a halt and, blindly using

the door knocker, smiled broadly
as he added, "Now that

I think about it, it's a lot like
you."

Her cheeks flooded with heat but
she resisted the impulse

to hastily assure him that she
hadn't been in search of either

a compliment or a declaration of
his feelings. Any sort of

protest-however brief or
spirited--couldn't help but be

painfully awkward. Better, she
knew, to let
it
pass
as though

unnoticed. But the silence
stretching between them was

becoming noticeable and she felt
a need to fill it before it

could become strained.

"How many dogs do your
friends have?" she asked,

grateful to the raucous beasts
for the timely diversion.

He looked at her as though
puzzled by the question and

then turned his head to stare at
the door, seeming to have

suddenly become aware of the commotion
on the other side.

"Six, but they took two of
them along to Egypt." He reached

for the latch, saying,
"Sawyer probably can't hear us knocking

over the welcome committee.
Either that or he can't get

past them to open the door."

He pushed the door wide. Straight
ahead of them, in the

center of the foyer, was a large
round table centered with a

crystal vase holding a lush
arrangement of exotic, freshly

cut flowers.
It
was the
perfect welcome, a serene island whispering

of perfect hospitality. The rest of
the foyer, however,

was bedlam in progress.

"Good God Almighty,
Sawyer!" Aiden shouted over the

din of the dogs as he advanced
into the chaos.

"My apologies for not
letting you in, sir," Sawyer called

back from atop a ladder teetering
in front of heavily draped
,

windows. "As you can see I'm
putting down a rebellion in the

zoo."

A zoo? Well, yes. Four good-sized
dogs leaping, barking,

their tongues lolling and their
tails wagging furiously would

have surely qualified. But adding
in the cat and the five kittens-

all of them perched on the
valance, puffed up, hissing

and spitting-took the pandemonium
well beyond anything

Alex had ever seen. She glanced
back over her shoulder,

afraid that Mohan would be
frightened by the anarchy. His

eyes were wide; almost but not
quite as wide as his grin.

Preeya was clearly just as
amused. Her concerns allayed,

Alex turned back to consider
Sawyer and how she might

help in bringing matters under
some semblance of control.

Aiden spared her the effort.
''Well, the cats might come

down
if
the dogs
weren't threatening
to
eat them," he advised,

taking the ladder in his hands
and steadying it. "Climb down

off there before you're knocked
off and let's impose some

order."

'
'The
dogs were confined but broke loose just as I had the

first blasted kitten in hand:'
the butler explained over the din

as he carefully inched his way
toward the floor. Once safely

there, he tugged his suit into
place,
lifted
his chin, and slipped

into his official role.
"Welcome to Haven House, Miss Radford."

"Hello, Sawyer," she
replied. Half turning and gesturing,

she added, ''This is Mohan Singh,
my ward. And our housekeeper,

Preeya."

"A pleasure, Master Singh.
Madam," he said with a perfunctory

bow.
It
was to
Preeya that he said,
"If
you would excuse

me for just a few moments while I
incarcerate--once

again-the hounds of hell."

"I'll get Lucy and Tippy for
you," Aiden volunteered,

snagging the heavy leather collar
of one of the beasts as it

charged the window. A second
later he had another one in

hand and was hauling them both
toward the opposite doorway

and the hall beyond. The cat
hissed and howled epithets

after them. The kittens sang the
chorus. It took Sawyer a bit

longer to apprehend his pair of
culprits, but eventually he

too moved off, his departure
noted with additional commen
tary

from the still outraged cat.

"I like this house, Miss
Alex
,
"
her ward said
in
Hindi.

"Might we have some animals
of our own?"

"We have peacocks," she
pointed out, remembering her

conversation with Aiden about
Mohan's general state of

boredom and, specifically, his
lack of pets.

"I meant an animal that
could live
in
the house with us

and provide for our
entertainment. A cat. Or a dog. Or perhaps

several of each."

"It's you who provide for
them, Mohan," she cautioned.

"Yes, they can make one feel
better and laugh. But animals

are also a responsibility. One
that can't be taken lightly or

forsaken once the commitment is
made."

"I will be a good caretaker
and a kind friend."

Not Preeya, she noticed. Just
days ago
it
wouldn't have

occurred to him to assume the
obligation himself. At least

not without having first
attempted to pass it off to someone

else. "I'm willing to
consider the proposal," she ceded, assessing

the little fur balls lined up
along the high ground.

"Perhaps Sawyer knows where
we can acquire a cat of

our own," Mohan mused.

If
she were inclined to wager, she'd put a few
'
crowns on

which cats Sawyer would suggest
they take home with them.

"Perhaps," she
countered, "he might need to be convinced

of your willingness to be
responsible and caring before he

would offer his advice in that
regard. Do you suppose that

coaxing the cats down off the
valance might be a way of

demonstrating those
qualities?"

To his great credit, he didn't
hesitate.
"If
you and Preeya

would steady the ladder for me,
please."

Neither she nor Preeya said a
word as they took up their

stations on opposite sides of the
ladder and Mohan scampered

up the steps
.
But then,
words weren't the least bit necessary,

Alex realized. They were both thinking
the same

thing: Mohan had become a
different, far happier, and more

likable child in the last few
days. Since the day that Aiden

Terrell had been drawn into their
lives.
In
the larger scheme

of things, adopting a family of
cats was a very small reward

for the very significant changes
Mohan had willingly undergone.

She could only hope that Aiden
wasn't one of those

sorts who got near a cat and
sneezed.

"Since they apparently were
able to slide the bolt on the

pantry door," Sawyer said
from behind him, "I think they'd

best be placed outside in their
kennel, sir."

Aiden nodded and continued past
the pantry door and out

the back of the house. With their
wrought-iron enclosure in

sight, the dogs strained to race
him there and he released

them, allowing them to run the
last measure of yard. He'd no

sooner done so than the other two
bolted past him, dashing

to catch up, vying to be the
first inside.

"Where did the kittens come
from?" he asked, closing the

kennel gate and drawing the chain
around to secure it. "They

weren't here the last time I
was."

"Actually, they were,
sir," Sawyer corrected, giving the

chain a good yank to be sure it
would hold.
"In
the carriage

house. But when the snow started
falling, the mother cat

brought them to the rear door and
demanded warmer shelter."

Aiden grinned, stuffed his hands
in his pockets, and leaned

his shoulder against a bar.
"And you couldn't refuse."

"Of course not, sir."
He cleared his throat softly. "Although

I did attempt to confine them to
a well-appointed box

in Miss Beatrice's room. As a
strategy, it worked well enough

until Mrs. Blaylock inadvertently
failed to fully close the

door after feeding them this
morning."

"Then all hell broke
loose."

"Yes." He cocked a
silver brow as he
'
added
dryly, "But

not until after she'd left for
her day out, of course."

Yes, it was a good plan. Sawyer
was the perfect solution.

"How would you like a chance
to avoid all this for a while?"

The silver brow moved slightly
higher. "Are you suggesting

that I take a holiday, sir? How
very kind of you."

"Well, it would be something
like a holiday."

Sawyer's brows came together as
he lowered his chin.

"Do go on, Mr.
Terrell."

He knew how
to
play
Sawyer. Leading with the trump card

always did it. 'This
morning," he said coolly, matter-of-factly,

"two thugs came into the
Blue Elephant and attempted to kidnap

Alex at knife point."

As Aiden expected, Sawyer
started, blanched, and glanced

back toward the house. Just as
predictably, the man blinked

twice, then straightened his shoulders,
turned back, cleared

his throat and said,
"Obviously, and most thankfully, they

failed to do
so."

Aiden nodded. 'That's because I
shot them both dead."