Page 87 of The Trouble with Tigers
Caden, ducked his head, grinning. “Please.”
“The Maoris were brutally—”
“You see?” Caden exclaimed, turning to Randall for commiseration.
Kitty didn’t miss a beat. “…expunged from their lands by invading foreigners, until the year 1840 when they signed a treaty with Great Britain, promising them protection.”
“Speaking as a fellow defector,” Randall winked at Kitty, then muttered to Caden, “Where is she getting these facts? Does she have a notepad with history lessons tucked under her skirts?”
Kitty giggled. “True or false?”
“It’s too depressing not to be true,” Randall said.
Caden’s eyes gleamed with triumph. “False.”
Her mouth fell open. “How did you know?”
“The Maoris aren’t descendants of Aborigines. They’re from Polynesia.”
She laughed and clapped her hands together in approval. “Bravo.”
“Blast!” Randall flopped back on the sofa in defeat.
“I believe that point makes me the winner,” Caden said, with a grin.
Chapter Twenty-One
Zeke heard Kitty’s laughter before he came within a stone’s throw of the library. An answering smile spread over his face at the unbridled joy of it. He paused just outside the open doorway, curious as to what or who had aroused her humor, and reluctant to cut it short.
When her laughter died-down and conversation resumed—he recognized Caden and Randall’s voices in the mix—he stepped into the room. The trio sat on the far side of the room, making use of the sturdy leather furniture he usually favored.
The two men were clearly hanging on Kitty’s every word, so much so his arrival appeared to go unnoticed even though nothing but a few potted plants and one seating area stood between him and them.
From his vantage point, he had a clear view of her profile, limned by the muted afternoon sun spilling in from the bay window.
As usual, tendrils of gleaming, inky black hair fell in delightful disarray from her loosened chignon. She twisted a fat curlaround one of her fingers, and he felt something twist inside of him.
She did something to him. He couldn’t put his finger on how, or why. Not that it mattered anymore. His brilliant solution made it a moot point.
Something Caden said caused Kitty to laugh and clap her hands with delight.
An answering smile curved his lips.
She nodded at Randall, and Zeke saw the flash of her crystalline green eyes as they reflected the waning sunlight. Tilting her head thoughtfully, she began speaking.
He moved a little further into the room, grateful the thick carpet muted his steps.
“My parents’ first-hand descriptions painted a more thorough picture than I would find in a book.”
A stab of annoyance pricked him. Why was Kitty discussing her parents with Caden and Randall?
“Your parents taught you about the Australian Aborigines and the New Zealand Maoris you lectured us about earlier?” Caden asked.
“Lectured? I did no such thing.”
Zeke grinned.
Kitty went on. “According to the rules of the game, each player had to cite little known facts about the locale upon which he or she landed.” She sniffed and plucked at her skirts. “I just happened to land on Australia and New Zealand. Just as I happen to have an interest in the natives of those lands.”
