'It's your present,' he told her.
He smiled--a little awkwardly, she thought--and she lowered her head quickly, wondering if she was blushing again. There had been a nice touch to that smile. Endearing... frightening. She barely knew him, really. One minute he was making sexual innuendoes, the next he was avoiding her--and then the next he was doing wonderful things for her.
'Well, open it up,' Rex urged her. Alexi knelt down and gingerly lifted up a piece of the cotton cloth. She saw movement first, and then she gasped, reaching into the basket. There were two of them--two little balls of silver fur. The one she held mewed, sticking out a tiny paw at her.
'Oh!' It was adorable. The cutest kitten she had ever seen. It was all that soft, wonderful silver color, except for its feet and its nose, which were black. Its hair was long and fluffy--and made it look much bigger than it was.
Samson barked excitedly. Alexi reflected that the giant shepherd could consume the kitten in one mouthful, but he didn't seem the least bit interested in trying. He barked again, watching Alexi as if he had planned it himself or as if he was very aware that he and Rex were handing out a present.
'Oh!' Alexi repeated, stroking the kitten. The second ball was crawling out of the basket, and she laughed, scooping that one up, too. 'You're adorable. You're the cutest little things....'
She gazed up at Rex at last, aware that she was starting to gush. But they were a wonderful present. She was also certain that they were silver Persians--and that they had cost him a fair amount of money.
'Rex--'
He stooped down beside her, idly patting the dog. 'I don't want Samson here getting jealous,' he said lightly. 'Do you like them...really?'
He gazed at her--somewhat anxiously, she thought--and she felt that the hall had suddenly become small. The two of them were very close and very scantily dressed, and yet it wasn't that at all, really; it was that expression in his eyes.
'They're darling. But Rex, I--I can't accept them.'
'Why?'
'They're Persians, right? They must have cost a mint.' 'What?' He threw back his head and laughed, relieved. 'I was afraid that you were allergic to them or something. Yes, they're Persians. They're three months old, but the breeder assured me they'd be perfect.' 'Perfect?'
He grinned, a little wickedly now. 'Mousers--except that I don't think you have any mice. You could, though-- mice are rather universal. 'Snakers,' I guess you could call them. Cats are simply great to have for anything that creeps and crawls around.'
'Oh! Oh, Rex, how thoughtful! Thank you, really. But again, how can I accept them?'
He shrugged. 'You did me a great favor.'
Alexi laughed. 'I did you a favor? I haven't done a thing for you.'
He grinned. 'Want to pay me in trade?'
'Ha-ha. No.'
'Ah, well.' He shrugged. 'I didn't think so. But, honest, you did me a favor.'
'What?'
'I have my best plot in ages going now--thanks to your little murder victims all over the house.'
'What?'
'The snakes,' he explained. 'I turned them into people. All murdered. One with the spade, one with the pipe wrench, and so on. I added some family greed and passion and jealousy, etcetera. It's going great.'
'Oh!'
'See what I mean? You did me the favor.'
'Oh. Oh...' Alexi stood up, cradling the kittens to her. She looked down the hallway. There wasn't a speck of dust. She hurried to the parlor door and threw it open. The window she had broken on her first night had been repaired; the room had been cleaned. The whole place smelled faintly and wonderfully of fresh pine. There couldn't possibly be a living bug in it, it was so spotless.
Rex stayed in the hallway, tearing idly against the doorframe. Alexi glanced at him, then brushed past him, hurrying to inspect the rest of the house. The ballroom had been scrubbed from ceiling to floor; the library, too, was devoid of a hint of dirt. The drapes and furniture even seemed to be different colors--lighter, more beautiful.
And there wasn't a trace of a snake--or of any of the weapons she had left lying around.
Rex was by the stairway, watching her. She maintained a certain distance from him as she rubbed her cheek against the kitten's soft fur.
'It's fabulous,' she murmured. 'Rex, thank you.'
'Want to see upstairs?'
She nodded. He didn't move; he waited for her to precede him up the stairs. Samson rushed by, though, barking, and she nearly tripped over him.
She couldn't remember climbing the stairs as a child, so she didn't really have any comparisons to make. But it was wonderful. The subtle, clean scent of pine was everywhere; the windows were all open, and sunlight was streaming in. The house, which had always been fascinating, although a bit depressing in its dirt and darkness, now seemed warm and welcoming and bright. The runners over the hard wood were cream, with flower patterns in bright shades of maroon and pink and green. The hallway draperies were a cream tapestry, and the eight-paned windows were crystal clear. Alexi switched both protesting kittens to one arm and began to throw doors open. There were four of them, two on either side of the landing. To her left was the master bedroom, a man's room with heavy oak furniture. She found the mistress's bedroom next, all done more delicately than Pierre's. The molded plaster showed beautifully on the clean ceilings. The wood was shining; the beds were immaculate.
Alexi stopped by Rex in the hallway and shoved the kittens into his arms, startling him so that he had to straighten and abandon his lazy lean against the banister.
'It's wonderful,' she said.
'Thank you. Well, I didn't do it. The company did-- and they'll bill you, you know.'
'Oh, I know, but...' Her voice trailed away, and she walked down the hall to the next doors.
One of the rooms was a nursery. A shiny wooden cradle rocked slightly with the breeze coming in through an open window. The closet stretched wall-to-wall, and there was an old rocking horse, a twin bed and a cane bassinet. How darling! Alexi thought, and she hurried on out, eager to finish exploring.
The last room was a guest room--a genderless room, comfortable and quaint. The headboard was elaborately carved and went on to stretch the distance of the wall on either side of the bed to create great bookcases. The opposite wall was covered with a tapestry of a biblical scene. There was a fine brocaded Victorian love seat and another rocker; both faced the window, a little whatnot table between them.
Alexi loved it. She determined right away that this would be her room. She'd fill the cases with her books and also store discs and tapes for a stereo and television system. She could modernize for convenience without really changing anything.
She started to turn, only to collide with Rex. All of him. He must have set the kittens down somewhere, because she hit solid chest. Solid, masculine, hairy chest. Coarse dark hair teased too much of her own bare skin, and she stepped back.
'It's spotless. It's wonderful. They did a great job,' she told him quickly.
He nodded. 'They've got a good reputation.' Alexi stepped around him. The day wasn't hot; it was perfect, with a nice cooling breeze. But she was suddenly warm. Hot flashes soared through her, and now she was very determined not to be alone with him. Her imagination had come vividly alive, all in an instant, living color. Perhaps it was more than imagination. Maybe it was the feel of the heat in the room, of the tension...of his nearness. She could visualize him sweeping her into his arms and falling with her upon the antique bed. They really shouldn't have been past the 'How do you do, lovely weather' stage, and she wanted to reach out and stroke the planes of his cheek. Intimacy had never been that easy for her; making love had taken time, and it had come far from naturally. It was, by its nature, something that should come after knowing a man deeply and well.
But this one...she wanted simply by virtue of something that lived and stirred inside her, an aching, a wanting. And. though she was certain she could never instigate anything, he surely could. But to him it wouldn't mean anything; to her it would.
Alexi hurried into the hallway. Her heart was thundering her palms were damp. She didn't want him to see
