Leslie Lafoy Read Online Free PDF Page B

with whom he’d shared an operating theater. Not only that, she hadn’t flinched once, nor turned pale or green. Her eyes had welled with tears when he’d announced that the bone was too badly crushed to be saved, but she’d pushed past her sadness, squared her shoulders, and ably assisted him with the necessary amputation.
    Beeps was one very fortunate feline to have such a caring mistress. Beeps was also fortunate to have a world-renowned surgeon willing to risk his reputation in working on him. The cat would never walk on four paws again, of course, but then, as a pampered member of the Ryland household, it wasn’t as though he were ever going to have to hunt for his own meals or go hungry. Three legs would serve him well enough to live a long and full life.
    But now that the surgery was done and it was obvious that ol’ Beeps had at least one more life allotted to him, there was the question of what to do about the fact that Lady Fiona had spent the night at the home of a single man. Odds were that no one was going to consider Beeps a proper chaperone.

Chapter Three
    Ian checked the time on his pocket watch, slipped it back into his vest pocket, then took a thick medical periodical off the end table beside his chair. Holding it out in front of him, he looked over at the hearth to make sure that all was still well with the esteemed Beeps, and then over at Lady Fiona sweetly slumbering in the huge leather chair.
    Time to begin. He opened his hand and let the periodical fall. It struck the wooden floor with a perfectly crisp whap! that, just as he’d intended, instantly awakened his cat-carrying, gun-wielding little guest.
    “Good morning, Lady Fiona,” he said as she blinked and blankly gazed around the room.
    She looked at him, furrowed her brow in obvious puzzlement for a second or two, and then started in full realization. “How—?”
    “Beeps is fine,” he assured her. “Still a bit woozy for the trauma, of course, but he’s managed to totter over to a food bowl and then lap up a bit of watered cream.” He gestured toward the gently crackling hearth. “I made a nest for him by the fire and he’s taking a comfortable nap.”
    She stretched and uncurled. Slowly, leisurely and in a stunningly, startlingly seductive way. “What time is it?”
    To reappraise. He cleared his throat softly and took up his plan again. “Half past eight.”
    “Oh, dear. I have about ten minutes to get home before I’m missed.” She pushed herself out of the chair, adding, “I truly appreciate all your help last night, Your Grace. If you’d care to send around a bill for your services, I’d be more than happy to see it paid.”
    He waited until she was swirling her cloak over her shoulders to rise to his feet and call her attention back to him. “Lady Fiona?”
    “Yes?”
    “It occurs to me,” he said with calm control and a cocked brow, “that rushing home with your cat is not a particularly viable course of action at this point.”
    She stopped and considered him. “Are you suggesting that I leave him here to recover further?”
    “Oh, he’s perfectly capable of withstanding a reasonably gentle transport without ill effect.”
    “Then why are you—?”
    “You have, my dear lady,” he interrupted, “spent the night in my home, in my company.”
    She shrugged. “In your surgery, saving the life of my cat.”
    “The facts of the situation don’t matter,” he pointed out. “Appearances do, however, and your reputation has been compromised.”
    “Assuming that anyone ever finds out that I was here. Which,” she quickly added, as she moved forward to collect Beeps, “they won’t if I say nothing, you say nothing, and I leave right this moment.”
    “No, Lady Fiona,” he said, stepping between her and the hearth. “It’s ridiculous to even consider the idea of you dashing across streets and yards and vaulting fences in an attempt to reach the family breakfast table before your night of adventure is