The Perfect Temptation (4 page)

quietly. "Our Miss Radford
could very well be more than she

appears to be."

"Really?" Aiden
drawled, heading for the door. "I hadn't

noticed."

Chapter 2

Alex took her seat in the cab,
folded her hands in her lap,

and sincerely regretted that she
hadn't had the courage
t~

throw something of a dignified
tantrum. Barrett Stanbridge

was everything that Emmaline had
said he was; urbane, gentlemanly,

the epitome of a professional.
His associate, however,

was another matter entirely
:
John
Aiden Terrell was a

man barely civilized.

His hair was too long and too
sun-bleached to even approximate

fashionable. And it was unruly,
too. Most men

combed their locks into a
deliberate style of one sort or another.

But not Terrell; he simply let it
tumble wherever it

wanted. Which happened, she
silently groused, to somehow

perfectly accentuate the most
beautiful, intensely green eyes

she'd ever seen.
In
the
first moments they'd quite simply taken

her breath away. And then she'd
noticed the sardonic, knowing

glint in them. Combined with his
easy, graceful movements

and his massive shoulders ...
She'd thought of tigers,

of the danger that lurked beneath
the indolent manner, and it

had taken every bit of her
self-discipline to suppress the gasp.

It hadn't been easy, but she'd
studiously ignored him and

eventually recovered some measure
of her composure.

He, of course, seemed to have
spent the rest of the inter-

view trying his best to ruffle
it. Positioning himself so that he

half reclined against the desk
with his well-muscled thighs

within casual glance! It was
patently obvious that he had

abandoned the major tenets that
ruled the public conduct

of gentlemen. The man
was
a
rake at best At worst, an unabashed

hedonist

Yes, she should have spoken up when
asked
if
she had any

concerns about or objections
to
the arrangements Mr. Stanbridge

had made. She should have said
that she preferred to

avoid being in the presence of
John Aiden Terrell if at all

possible, that he made her feel
really quite ...

Well, frightened
wasn't
entirely accurate. He was so very

different from all the other
gentlemen she'd ever met that

she couldn't help but be a bit
intrigued by him. Her heart

skittered when she met his gaze
and she held her breath every

time he opened his mouth to
speak. And the way he moved ...

Good God, the man was nothing
short of a feast for brazen

eyes.
It
was all most
unsettling. Yes, Alex decided, "unsettled"

was the proper word. John Aiden
Terrell made her feel

horribly unsettled. She should
have said that when Mr. Stanbridge

had asked for any objections.

But she hadn't said anything of
the sort Terrell had goaded

her until stubborn pride and
dignity had seized control of her

better judgment Now she was stuck
with him for the immediate

future. The only recourse was to
make the best of
the

situation, to remember that
protecting Mohan came before all

other considerations.
H
Terrell
proved himself to be anything

short of stellar at the task. she
wouldn't hesitate to send him

packing back to his employer.
With any luck at all, he'd be

on his way before sunset

The door of the rented carriage
opened and Terrell, his

sun-burnished head uncovered,
bounded in and dropped unceremoniously

onto the opposite seat. "I
presume," he said,

stuffing his hands into the pockets
of his greatcoat, "that

you've instructed the driver as
to your address?"

The vehicle began to roll even as
be asked and so she refused

to dignify the question with an
answer. Instead, having

decided that there was no time
like the present to finally establish

her authority as his employer,
she said, "I wish to be

absolutely clear on one point at
the very outset, Mr. Terrell.

While in Mr. Stanbridge's office
you referred to my situation

as desperate. It's not. It's
merely vulnerable. There's a significant

difference between the two."

One tawny brow slowly rose to
disappear under the hair

tumbling over his forehead. A wry
smile lifted one comer of

his mouth and dimpled a
handsomely chiseled cheek. ''The

difference, Miss Radford,"
he countered dryly, "between vulnerable

and desperate is generally about
a half-second.

Which is roughly the time it
takes for someone to pull a

trigger."

"No one from India is going
to use a firearm," she replied,

struggling
to
contain her
irritation.
''A
blade of one sort or

another would be the weapon of
choice. It's tradition."

''And does that bit of reality
make you feel better?"

"I have been trained in the
defensive arts," she supplied,

meeting his gaze unflinchingly.

"Are you proficient enough
that you could turn an attacker's

weapon against him?"

It depended entirely on the skill
and determination of the

assailant. A small child or a
cripple might have reason to

think
twice
before launching an assault against her, but no

one else would. Still, she wasn't
prepared
to
share the truth

with the likes of the tiger in
the opposite seat. "I assure you,

Mr. Terrell," she said
evenly, "that I would be able to delay

any attacker long enough to
afford Mohan the chance to escape

capture."

He considered her as a smile
tugged at the comer of his

mouth. Finally, he asked,
"Would he take it or would he stay

to help you?"

The man had all the persistence
of a rat terrier. And none

of the charm. "Mohan has
been instructed to run away under

such circumstances."

"You didn't answer the
question," he observed with a

slight shake of his head.
"You have a habit of doing that, you

know." He leaned forward to
rest his elbows on his knees.

His gaze boring into her own, he
firmly asked, "Is Mohan

the type of child who thinks of
himself before others?"

She had no idea why he considered
the matter to be worth

such dogged pursuit, but since
she also couldn't see any danger

in honesty, she answered, "I
suspect that in a threatening

situation, Mohan would act
foolishly and try
to
protect me."

''There's something to be said
for gallantry and bravery,"

he countered, settling back into
the seat again. "Too many

young people today think only of
themselves."

"Mohan can't afford the
luxury of such lofty ideals,"

Alex felt compelled to point out.
"He's to be the raja one

day. His survival is far more
important than being well considered

by others."

'What good is a raja who's a
coward?" he scoffed. "Who

would willingly follow him?
Assuming, of course, that be

even possesses the strength
required to lead."

And what did Aiden Terrell know
of the qualities of leadership?

He was nothing more than an
underling to be hired

out to anyone who would pay.
"Mohan will someday make a

very competent and courageous
leader."

The brow inched up again.
"Will he be a wise one, as

well?"

"It's my responsibility to
see that he has the knowledge

and experience necessary to
exercise his power for the betterment

of his people."

He sighed, compressed his lips,
and contemplated the tops

of his boots. after a long
moment, he lifted his gaze to meet

hers. "Is it a custom in
India to avoid answering questions?"

"I beg your pardon?"
Alex asked, genuinely confused by

his sudden change in
conversational direction.

"There," he said with a
wave of his hand. "You just did it

again
.
You
have a very difficult time providing direct answers,

Miss Radford. In the short span
of our acquaintance,

your willing responses have been
of three types-half the

truth, a truth unrelated to the
inquiry, or an overt attempt to

change the subject entirely. You
aren't fully honest unless

you're absolutely forced to be.
Why is that?"

Because it's how one
survives in a royal Indian household,

she silently answered. Pushing
aside the jumble of memories

and ignoring the odd and
unfamiliar sense of melancholy

welling inside her, Alex lifted
her chin and squared her shoulders.

"I don't see that my
personal behaviors are any of your

concern, Mr. Terrell," she
declared in the voice she used to

squelch dissension in the
schoolroom. "You've been employed

for the sole purpose of
protecting Mohan. And while

your duty and mine are
temporarily the same, our association

doesn't require the development
of anything more substantive

than a purely business
relationship."

He tilted his head to the side
and smiled ever so softly.

"'That rather lengthy answer
went into the change - the subject

cold
.
Why do you do that”

This was not going well. Not well
at all. She was feeling

under siege and she didn't like
it one bit. "You are a man with

a most inappropriate sense of
curiosity, Mr. Terrell," she declared,

hoping to at least shame
him
into
a more deferential

manner.

''An unrelated truth." Again
he leaned forward to close