The Perfect Seduction Read online

  "Yes, although you may well have to explain to me what it is I'm looking at. I'm an artist, not an engineer."

  She was a good winner, gracious and not inclined to gloat. That made her a better person than almost everyone he knew. Including himself. She was also insightful, genteel, and loin-hardeningly beautiful .. . Yes, there was no denying it, Seraphina Treadwell came damn close to being feminine perfection. The only thing that kept her from 'actually achieving it was the sense of formality and distance she kept between them. To have her melt at his touch ... And he'd decided that he could be patient about easing past those barriers and seducing her? What had he been thinking?

  Whatever answer his conscience might have offered this time was precluded by the sound of Sawyer clearing his throat in the near distance. "Mr. Gauthier has arrived."

  "I didn't hear any trumpets," Carden quipped.

  "I'm surprised, sir."

  "Thank you, Sawyer. We'll be along directly," Sera promised, starting to rise from her seat.

  He and Barrett both vaulted to their feet, but he was the first to extend his hand and Barrett was left to deal with packing up the remnants of the lunch basket.

  "Ladies'" Sera called toward the rear of the greenhouse as he tucked her arm around his. "It's time to go! Please put things back in their places and come along!"

  In the distance there were flashes of skirts as his nieces moved to obey. As Barrett hefted up the basket, Carden smiled down at the woman at his side. "I like what you've done with the conservatory this morning," he said. "It feels very different than it did just yesterday. Much more alive. He felt more alive, too, but decided that saying so would be entirely too soppy.

  "I'm glad you approve," she replied happily. ''The girls and I will be coming here frequently. I hope you'll join us as often as you can so that you can watch the progress with us."

  He'd prefer to be with her alone here. He had plans for that chaise. But time with Sera was time with Sera and for now, he'd take it however he could get it. And to imagine that Just over twenty-four hours ago, he hadn’t known she existed. At least Fate had been kind enough to send good news with a gorgeous messenger. He had to be thankful for that.

  All three of the girls bounded up, breathless and buoyant.

  "Is Aunt Honoria here after all?" Beatrice asked tugging her stockings up.”

  "No, darling, she isn't," Sera supplied. "We'll have to muddle through on our own and hope for the best."

  Amanda whirled on him, her eyes bright. "If Aunt Honoria isn't here to help us choose new dresses, must I have the palest, springiest greens anyway?" _

  She was asking him? He couldn't fathom why but he was willing to find out. "You don't want green?'"

  "I'd prefer to have bright red."

  "No," he declared, seeing where Amanda had hoped to go. He might be a bachelor, but he wasn't about to allow his nieces to become the kind of women with whom he ever so casually socialized. "Young ladies do not wear red. Of any hue. They wear pastels in the spring and summer and muted shades in the fall and winter. You may have a red dress when - and only when - your husband buys it for you."

  Amanda wasn't happy with the pronouncement and she stomped off, following her sisters and Barrett toward the door. Carden watched her go, thinking that in a few years she was going to be a handful. They weren't going to be able to let her out of their sight for more than ten seconds at a time. And he suspected that there would be occasions when ten seconds would be eight seconds too many.

  "You do know something about choosing female wardrobes," Sera said softly, calling him from his musing. He'd looked down to meet her gaze before she added, "I'm most impressed, Carden."

  His heart soared ridiculously into his throat. "I'm a male," he managed to say around it. "I pay very close attention to details." He paused to swallow. "Seraphina."

  "And thank you for the paternal response to Amanda's attempt to grow up too quickly. It was perfect."

  "Sometimes I actually get things right," he admitted with a shrug.

  "Yes you do," she said, drawing her arm from his and stepping back with a bright smile. "Now, if you will please excuse me, I have no intention whatsoever of allowing you to make even the slightest attempt to do right by my wardrobe selections."

  "You don't trust my taste?" he asked, hoping to keep her engaged in conversation.

  "Somehow," she laughingly replied, turning away, "I doubt very much that you have any experience at choosing clothing suitable for a proper governess."

  She was right, of course. Not that he was going to let her idea of proper stand in his way. He'd bide his time here for a little while and then speak alone with the illustrious Mr. Gauthier. As two men who no doubt shared an appreciation for the female form, they'd be of like minds when it came to clothing Seraphina's.

  Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Carden wandered over to Sera's easel. Clearly she wasn't painting anything real. Nothing in his conservatory looked that alive and healthy. In fact ... Yes, it certainly looked as though Sera were making a reasonable attempt to emulate the style of botanical prints that had taken the empire by storm. Every woman who considered herself fashionable had flower pictures nailed to every wall in her home. Colonel Collier's wife had even put the damned things up in the officers' mess. Barrett's mother was an avid collector of them, too. He'd bought her three of them for Christmas last year.

  Carden shook his head. Sera wasn't a bad artist. Technically, he couldn't fault her on any point. Her sense of proportion and perspective were excellent and her work was generally quite appealing to look at. He didn't have a doubt as to her ability to paint pictures that Lady Caruthers would love. But he really had hoped that she was more the daring, risk-taking type. Maybe with time and encouragement, he told himself as he turned and set off to find Mr. Gauthier.

  CHAPTER 9

  Carden heard them coming down the stairs; girls seemed to be always chattering about something. He cast a quick glance toward the crates that bad been stacked against the library wall since their arrival and hoped that today would be the day be would finally be in the right. place at the right time. He'd seen more of Mrs. Blaylock in the last couple of days than he had Seraphina.

  Just in case his miserable luck was about to change for the better, he flipped open the drawings he'd placed on the central table and struck a studious pose. From the corner of his eye he saw a flash of ruffle in the doorway.

  There was a God and He was good.

  "Good morning, Uncle Carden," Beatrice called out as they trooped into the room with Sera, like a good shepherd, trailing behind. "We have come to put away the books."

  "Well, hello, ladies. And how are you today?"

  "We're fine," Amanda answered for them. "Thank you for asking. And yourself?"

  "Never better."

  Sera crossed the threshold and stopped, casting a glance at the table before meeting his gaze and asking, "Are we interrupting? We can come back later."

  "Not at all," he hastily assured her. "I was just looking at the Caruthers plans."

  The ploy produced precisely the reaction he'd intended.

  Sera started and then stepped forward, saying, "Would now be a good time to share them with me? The girls are quite capable of putting the books on the shelves without my assistance."

  "If you'd like," he replied with all the nonchalance he could muster. "That would be fine with me."

  Camille dashed up to all but bounce in front of him.

  "Mr. Gauthier is bringing some of our new clothes today, Uncle Carden."

  He knew that already and he had a plan for it, too. "Oh, he is? Tell you what," he said, bending slightly to bring his gaze more even with that of his youngest niece. "When he does, why don't you all put on your new walking dresses and we'll go for a stroll in the park to show them off? Would you like that?"

  Camille's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "With our parasols!" she gasped. In the next second she was gone, bounding toward her sisters-who were just as wide-eyed, b
ut trying very hard to be more mature about it all.

  ''The library must be in order before we do anything else, ladies," Sera announced, coming to stand beside him. "We've allowed the clutter to sit for too long already. Mrs. Blaylock has been tolerant for the better part of four days, but I don't think it's wise-or very nice-to test her limits any further.

  "And be mindful of bugs," she added. "Remember that they survive just as well on paper as they do on decaying trees. Don't put your hands anywhere you aren't looking."

  Three heads bobbed in unison even as the bodies they were attached to whirled about and set to work-amid a constant stream of comment. Beside him, Sera smiled at them, and it took every measure of his self-restraint not to reach up and trace the curve of her cheek.

  Sera forced herself to swallow and breathe. Never ill all her life had she been so acutely aware of a man.' s appraisal. It slid over her slowly, caressingly. warming her skin in the most incredible, wondrous way. There was no denying - at least to herself - that she liked the sensation.

  Of course, the attention of a handsome man was always flattering. A fact of which Carden Reeves was no doubt very much aware, she reminded herself sternly. . It wouldn't do to let him know how deeply and pleasantly his consideration affected her.

  And it most certainly wouldn't do to ever let him know that she'd found herself missing his company during the last several days.. She'd sufficiently embarrassed herself with how frequently she'd looked over her shoulder, hoping to find him standing there. She'd die of mortification if he ever found out.

  “Are you about settled in?"

  "Yes, finally,” she replied. pleased with the evenness of her voice. "With the exception of the miscellany to be organized in -the greenhouse, this is the lot of it. I can't believe how tong it's taken us to unpack and properly,put things away. I distinctly recall that it took me only a single day to crate everything up."

  "Have you discovered anything damaged and needing to be replaced?"

  Good Lord, even his words were caressing. Hoping that he couldn't hear the frantic beating of her heart, she breezily replied, "Nothing beyond clothing the girls outgrew while we were en route. And thanks to your generosIty, that need has already been addressed. They are so excited, Carden."

  His eyes brightened ,at her casual use of his name and she felt some measure of control mercifully returning. Until he cocked a dark brow and gave her one of his quirked grins. Heaven help tier, when he looked at her like that all she could think about was melting into his arms.

  “No pouting over the lack of a bright red dress?”

  It took all the self-discipline she could muster, but Sera put away the wanton mental images and blithely replied, “Mr. Gauthier would do well in Her Majesty’s diplomatic corps. He easily placated her with a rosy pink in silk faille.”

  “Speaking of placating,” he countered, slowly turning with a broad gesture toward the large sheets of paper spread out on the table. “Lady Caruthers’s conservatory plans.”

  Sera stepped up to peruse them, grateful for the distraction.

  It lasted mere seconds, until Carden stepped up beside her, placed bis hands on the table, and leaned forward to look at something in them that had apparently caught his interest. Just as she’d been so vitally aware of his appraisal only moments ago, so she was now of his physical presence. His cologne was spicy and woodsy, deliciously exotic. His shoulders, so close that she could feel the warmth of them … They were not only broad, but thick. Were she so bold as to try, she doubted that both of her hands would be big enough to encircle his upper arm. And his hands … Large and yet gracefully constructed, they looked to have the deliberate but sensitive strength common among sculptors.

  From the deepest recesses of her brain came a fleeting whisper bearing a profound and certain truth. Whatever Carden Reeves touched with his hands, he understood to its essence, claimed to its core. And she ached for the wanting of being possessed so completely, so wholly and reverently.

  But not temporarily, she added over the wild hammering of her traitorous, foolhardy heart. Aghast at her careening sensibilities, she took a steadying breath, deliberately focused her vision on the lines and spaces in front of her, and firmly closed the door on her troublesome emotions.

  “It’s a stunning structure,” she said after a moment, genuinely impressed. “Lady Caruthers is blind for not seeing it in the drawings just as they are.”

  “Thank you.”

  How two simple, softly spoken words could ignite the temptation to reach out and touch … “I especially like your use of the repeating arches in the side walls,” Sera added quickly, trying to keep her thoughts focused and her bands where they belonged. “It adds so much to the sense of height and space while. At the same time. Establishing a timeless elegance. It’s all very graceful and light. Just as a conservatory should be.”

  She straightened and stepped back, her hands primly at her sides. “You’re a very good architect, Carden Reeves.’

  He shrugged and looked down at the drawings. “It’s nothing more than trestle engineering using slightly Jess substantial materials and on a much smaller scale.”

  “Lady Caruthers isn’t worthy of your talent.”

  He tilted his head to meet her gaze. His smile, the twinkle in his eyes, was devilish. “You’re probably right.

  Which means I’ll truly enjoy charging her an outrageous sum.”

  The spark was instant. It bloomed just as quickly, revealing the truths within it. He was the most roguishly handsome man she’d ever met. She admired his spirit and enjoyed his irreverence. And all of it went into why she was drawn to him in a most provocative way.

  What to do about it? She wondered, searching his sobering gaze. Pretending to be unaffected was out of the question. Carden Reeves could well recognize the signs of feminine fascination. To claim she wasn’t would be laughable.

  But to surrender to temptation? No. Pride, self-respect, and wisdom wouldn’t let her do that, either. On the other side of an affair lay the certain humiliation of rejection.

  He wouldn’t set her aside unkindly, she knew. Carden Reeves wasn’t a callous man. He was simply the kind of man who didn’t believe in forever. And whether it was rational or not, there was disgrace and shame in not being woman enough to change him.

  He could see it in her eyes; she would eventually be his. The usual thrill of impending victory came with the realization, but it came wrapped in an emotion that he couldn’t quite identify. It was solemn-not in a heavy, grieving sort of way, though. No, it definitely wasn’t a sad feeling at all. Whatever it was, it intensified his hunger most remarkably. If the girls weren’t there, he’d take her in his arms and kiss her into sweet oblivion. She’d let him; she was every bit as aware of the connection between them as he was.

  From the doorway came the usual throaty trumpet heralding Sawyer’s arrival.

  “Let me guess,” Carden said, his gaze still locked with hers. “Mr. Gauthier is here with a mountain of boxes.”

  “And a supporting cast of hundreds, sir.”

  The girls squealed in unison and bolted for the door in a: flurry of petticoats, auburn curls, and streaming ribbons.

  Sera blinked, breaking the bond, and whirled about. Over their girlish squeals and exclamations, she called, “Slow down! Ladies do not run!”

  They didn’t so much as pause, forcing Sawyer to jump out of their path or risk being trampled. Carden laughed outright as, in the very next instant, Seraphina hiked her hems and took off after them. God, he loved how she could be so prim and proper one moment and so freely herself in the next.

  “Is anything injured except dignity, Sawyer?”

  “Mercifully no, sir.”

  “Good. Would you please have the coach readied. We’ll be going to the park for a fashion debut. The girls will be down as soon as they’ve changed.”

  “Thank you for the warning, sir.”

  Carden smiled and headed to the sideboard to pour himself a brandy. He sp
lashed a small amount into the snifter and glanced at the clock. Ten minutes at the most, he decided. Once Sera discovered what he’d done … He grinned and filled his glass to the rim.

  The girls having been gently admonished for their having almost killed Sawyer and then put into the capable hands of the dressmaker’s assistants, Seraphina made her way to her room to see what the courtier had managed to complete of her wardrobe in the last several days. Most of it she expected, since she’d chosen relatively simple designs and serviceable fabrics.

  She froze just inside the room. Mr. Gauthier stood between the side of her bed and the armoire. Open boxes and tissue littered the coverlet. In a vague way, she noted that three of the dresses she’d ordered had been draped over the edge of the bed. It was the one the courtier was placing on a satin-cover padded .hanger that stunned her – a vibrant amethyst Silk With Jewel-encrusted cascades of dyed-to-match ribbon flowers at the shoulders.

  Or what shoulders there were. There certainly wasn’t any uiltetage to speak of. The whole of the full-skirted marvel hung from the hanger by two tiny ribbons. “Mr. Gauthier?”

  He looked up from his task and beamed. “Yes, madam.”

  She took a deep breath and forced herself to uilt.

  “That’s a beautiful gown, but it’s not mine.”

  “Yes, madam, it is,” he declared, then promptly turned and hung it in the armoire. .

  “No, Mr. Gauthier,” she pressed. “I would definitely remember ordering such an extravagant dress. It’s not mine.”

  “Lord Lansdown ordered for you, madam;” he said popping the lid off another box. Tissue went sailing as he added, “I believe he meant for it to be a surprise.”

  “Well, it certainly is,” she admitted, her hand pressed to her midriff in the hope of settling the butterflies that had taken wing in her stomach. Why had Carden – “I hope you’re as pleased with the others.”

  “Others?” she repeated on a strangled breath. “There are more?”

  “Oh yes, madam. I have brought five today. Another three are yet to be completed.”