Joshua clutched at Aidan’s thick mane of hair. “No! I’m telling you, Aidan, we gotta stick together on this.”
“I do not know.” Aidan pretended to think about it, winking at Stefan as he twisted and turned to protect Joshua from Alexandria’s jumping attempts to reach the boy. “She looks pretty mad to me. I do not want her coming after me like that.” He shifted slightly, as if he might really turn the child over to his sister.
Alexandria pretended to spring at him, laughing wickedly. At the last second, Aidan turned to keep his body between her and Joshua. Joshua grabbed him even tighter, squealing in feigned alarm.
“I’m gonna tell her!” Joshua cried. “If you don’t save me, Aidan, you’re gonna go down, too!” His eyes were alight with mischief.
Alexandria stopped in her tracks and glared at Aidan. “You are a party to this mutiny?”
He attempted innocence. “I have no idea what the child is trying to accuse me of to save his own life.” His golden eyes were laughing, belying his words. “Remember, Alexandria, that a man will say anything to save his own skin.”
“Ha!” Joshua snorted. “You tell her, Stefan. It was all Aidan’s idea, and you helped, right?”
Alexandria faced the older man accusingly. “You, too? You were in on this blatant disregard for my orders?” She put her hands on her hips. “And it was an order.”
The three males hung their heads in unison, looking for all the world like naughty little boys. “I am sorry, cara.”
Aidan took the blame squarely on his broad shoulders. “I could not resist the little creature.”
“Little? You call that little! It’s a moose!”
Stefan pushed out his chest. “No, Alexandria, it wasn’t Aidan. I saw the little thing, and young Joshua’s face was so bright, I just had to get it.”
“Little? Are we talking about the same animal here? That dog is not little. It is huge. Did either of you two pushovers take a look at the paws on that thing? They’re bigger than my head!”
Joshua burst out laughing. “No way, Alex. He’s really cute. You are gonna let me keep him, aren’t you? You just have to. Stefan says he’ll be a good guard dog someday. He says he’ll look after me and be a friend if I treat him right.”
“And in the meantime, he’s going to eat like a horse every day.” Alexandria swept a hand through her hair, her smile fading. “I don’t know, Josh. I barely make enough money to feed the two of us, let alone whatever that thing is.”
Aidan lifted the boy to the ground and circled Alexandria’s waist with one arm. “Have you forgotten, cara? You promised to marry me. I think I can cover the cost of the dog food.”
“You mean it, Aidan?” Joshua shouted, jumping up and down. “You mean it, Aidan? You’re really gonna marry Alex? And I can keep my dog?”
“You’d sell me out for a dog?” Alexandria demanded, catching Joshua around the neck in mock aggression.
“Not just a dog, Alex, but this neat house and Stefan and Marie, too. Plus, you won’t have to work for that bozo.”
“Bozo?” Alexandria turned slowly and regarded Aidan with glittering blue eyes. “Now, how would an innocent little boy come up with a descriptive word like that?”
Aidan smiled at her, a sweet, innocent smile that should have made her feel like laughing but instead sent heat curling through her body. She tilted her chin. “You’re lethal,” she accused him.
He framed her face with his large hands and lowered his head slowly, purposefully. “I would hope so,” he murmured right before his mouth claimed hers, sweeping her into their own private world.
But Alexandria was soon reminded they were not alone. “Holy moly,” Joshua said in a loud whisper. “Can you believe that, Stefan?”
“Never saw such a display,” Stefan admitted.
* * *
Chapter Seventeen
The sun was unusually large in the sky, gleaming a strange red. There was little wind, few clouds, and the ocean itself was tranquil, the surface like glass. Beneath the earth, a heart began to beat. Soil shifted, churned, then spewed like a geyser from the secret chamber beneath Aidan’s house.