“I found her a few weeks back. I’ve put posters up but…” she shrugged. “I don’t know who she belongs to.”
“A stray?” He said with disbelief. “You’re telling me you’ve taken in a stray cat?”
“She’s not a stray,” Claudia defended, as though he’d called the cat a mangy mongrel. “She’s a beautiful Persian, and obviously well cared for.”
“If that were true, she’d be microch
ipped or collared.”
“It probably came off,” Claudia dismissed, sniffing. “She might have been in a fight or something.”
When he didn’t say anything, she chanced one more look in his direction. And felt herself simmering in response to his mocking look.
“Well?” She demanded. “What was I meant to do? Leave her on the footpath?”
“Yes.” He moved towards the tree, reaching for a bauble on autopilot. “Cats carry any number of diseases. How do you know she’s not festering with something?”
“Because I took her to a vet,” Claudia responded indignantly. “She’s healthy.”
His quizzical look was impossible to interpret.
Claudia moved closer to him, looking at the bauble he was fingering. “They’re beautiful.” Her voice was thick with emotion. “I’ve only ever seen ornaments like this once before, and there were only three or four of them.”
“They’ve very rare,” he said with a nod, not elaborating further. He turned back to the tree, studying the placement. “Does this mean you’ve accepted that you’re staying here over Christmas?”
“It means I think the house deserves at least one tree.”
He suppressed his frustration. “You have only done one side.”
“Yes, well, I’m not very tall and so I have to keep climbing up and down the ladder to get the ornaments out of the box.”
“You want help?” The offer came out of nowhere and surprised them both, only having spoken it, Stavros found he was more than willing to lend a hand. It was only an afternoon’s work, after all. Besides, he might be able to talk some sense into her as he went.
“Oh, um, no.” She shook her head and her rejection spurred him on. He found himself insisting.
“They are my family heirlooms, Claudia. I do not want them damaged because you think I’m too much of a, how did you put it? Pain in the arse? To let me help.”
He had the satisfaction of seeing colour bloom in her cheeks.
It was strange, how easily she blushed, given the reputation she’d managed to garner.
“Fine,” she snapped, moving to the stepladder and bending down to move it across, in front of a different section of the tree. As she did so, her jeans dipped down lower on her back and he had the briefest glimpse of the red lace of her thong. His body hardened instantly, the response automatic.
Claudia straightened and climbed the ladder, apparently unaware of the way he’d been able to glimpse the top of her arse. Thankfully.
“Red,” she said, extending the palm of her hand.
“Red what?” He responded, hiding the smile that flickered on his lips.
“Huh?”
“It is customary to say either please or thank you when someone is doing you a favour. Red, what?”
She glared at him, the colour spreading from her cheeks to her hairline. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
“Red what?” He said, his arms crossed, refusing to budge until she used her manners.
Claudia glared at him. “Please.”