Leslie Lafoy by The Perfect Seduction

Author:The Perfect Seduction [Seduction, The Perfect]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

Sera stopped in the kitchen doorway, lamp in hand, not at all certain what she should do. She’d come to check on the puppies and hadn’t expected to find Carden with them at this late hour. She wouldn’t have thought that he would be in any condition to put one foot in front of the other, much less able to get himself down the stairs and into the kitchen. But there he was, sitting on the floor beside the bed they’d made for the dogs, his back against the hearth surround, a puppy in his lap, both of them seemingly sound asleep.

He’d bathed and put on clean clothes since she’d last seen him that afternoon. And shaved. Apparently himself, judging by the nicks in his jaw. Given his state of inebriation when John Aiden and Barrett had finally hauled him up the stairs, it was a wonder he hadn’t slit his throat.

He had a wonderful throat. Neck, chest, and shoulders, too. Since that first morning when he’d answered the door in his dressing gown, he’d hidden himself behind starched collars and fashionable silk ties. He hadn’t bothered tonight and, improper though it was, she couldn’t help but appreciate it. His shirt was open—buttoned only halfway up, in fact—allowing her to view a broad expanse of his well-muscled and darkly furred chest. He’d rolled up his sleeves, too, to allow her to admire the strength evident in his thickly corded forearms. And at the end of his very long, trousered legs … he had beautifully shaped, perfectly proportioned feet.

He wiggled his toes. Afraid that she’d been caught in her bold appraisal, Sera quickly looked to see if he’d awakened. His eyes were still closed and she smiled. She liked his hair ruffled. It looked as though he’d come out of the bath, rubbed his fingers through it, and declared it good enough. It was so boyish—innocent in a way—and such a contrast to the stark virility of the rest of him. How could any woman resist him? Why would any woman even try?

“Do you see anything of interest?”

She’d been caught! Her heart pounding and heat fanning over her cheeks, Sera ignored the question and replied, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

His eyes remained closed, but a smile played at the corners of his mouth. “You didn’t. I was trying to think. Sometimes it helps to close your eyes.”

“What are you thinking about?”

His smile broadened. “How badly my head hurts.”

She eased forward, saying, “I’ve always wondered why people drink if it makes them so dreadfully miserable afterward.”

His smile fading, he opened his eyes and considered her. After a long moment he replied, “It’s that you get to choose your misery. This one tends to make you forget the others.”

She wondered what particular miseries he was trying to forget, but he didn’t give her a chance to ask.

“The puppies look to be none the worse for their dunking,” he said, gently lifting the pup from his lap and placing it back at its mother’s side.

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