Part 21 (2/2)

'Good idea!' Sasha nods. 'Then we can come up with a plan!'

Though Carrie is happy to chat away about Paradise Park or rather her hopes for it it turns out they don't even have enough money to purchase a single bamboo shoot at present. Ty utters barely a word throughout the meal and excuses himself directly after a helping of peach cobbler, gruffly announcing, 'I'm going to spend the night with Stella.'

Later as Sasha and I lie side by side in our sleeping bags, Sasha asks, 'There wasn't a cat called Stella was there?'

'I don't remember,' I mumble, trying to mold my pillow to better accommodate my head.

'Do you think that's his girlfriend?'

I stop pummeling. 'You don't still fancy him, do you?'

'No,' she pouts.

It's too dark to tell if she's blus.h.i.+ng so I reach out and touch her skin. Hot!

'Sasha you do!'

She squirms, then reasons, 'It's just ... there's something about him. The way he is with the cats.'

'But he's such a grouch! And he's been so mean to you.'

Sasha doesn't reply, just m.u.f.fles into her pillow giving a resigned huff of: 'Of course he's got a girlfriend.'

Oh yeah, he's a real charmer, I think to myself. The last thing I want is for her to get even more hurt than she already is. Of course her emotions are out of my hands but unless Ty starts being a bit more civil, I'm going to have to have a word with him. He might be scary but he doesn't know how fierce I can be when it comes to my friends.

I hunker down into my sleeping bag. Hmmm. This has been a good lead up to camping, it won't be so much of a shock to the system now. As a matter of fact I think I might enjoy it Elliot and I in a little nylon triangle making shadow puppets and telling racc.o.o.n stories, how cozy!

I try and picture the others tucked up Zo in some satin-swathed mirrored boudoir, Elise strapped to a metal hospital bed, or similar. Then a lion roars. Wow, this is a trip! I'd actually feel pretty content at this moment in time if it wasn't for the sound of Sasha softly crying.

Chapter 17.

'Lara, quick!' Sasha shakes me. 'You've got to come and see Ty!'

I open one reluctant eye. 'What's he doing now? Mounting Naomi Campbell's head on a plaque for the lounge?'

'Just get up!'

I yawn, creaking my body into a sitting position. 6am. Not good. 'I think I just had a dream where he dared one of the lions to put their head in his mouth,' I shudder.

'Quick!' Sasha urges, unzipping the sleeping bag to spare me having to wriggle out. The second I'm on my feet, she's yanking me down the corridor on tiptoe.

As we approach Ty's room, she guides me to the best vantage point, just outside his doorway. At first all I see is a sun-shrouded silhouette but gradually, as my eyes adjust, the detail reveals Ty sitting nursing a tiger cub eagerly sucking on a baby bottle, white-tipped ears. flipping forward rhythmically with every glug. I look back at Sasha and smile. Even with an ogre in the frame, it couldn't be a cuter picture.

'Isn't it amazing?' she whispers.

As Sasha's no animal lover I can't help wondering if, in her eyes, the cubs have been upstaged by the s.e.x appeal of the man holding them. Until now I'd been so put off by Ty's hostility, his hottie license had automatically been revoked. But, this current situation easily affords him a second chance. I turn back and peer a little closer. It's only now I notice that his s.h.i.+rt is entirely unb.u.t.toned and that his smooth leather-brown skin forms a couple of neat creases just above his belt buckle.

Still focusing on the cubs, Ty says, 'Do you wanna come and say h.e.l.lo?'

I freeze. Has he seen me? Perhaps he's talking to someone else.

'Lara?' He looks directly at me.

'Um. I'm not really dressed ...' I tug at the collar of my pyjamas.

'They won't mind,' he shrugs, adding, 'We're not in Paris now,' as he notices Sasha.

Oh, he just had to go and spoil it, didn't he? Sasha turns to leave but I grab her hand and pull her in alongside me.

'Wanna hold one?' Ty extends an arm with a dangling furball on the end.

'Are you sure?'

'Just make sure you put a hand under their b.u.t.t so they feel secure.'

The cub looks so much like a toy I'm surprised to find him warm-bodied and wet of tongue. I shuffle him round so I can rumple the fur on his head. It's soft but not as sleek and silky as I was expecting. In fact, bar his downy pink tummy, his stripy beige ensemble looks and feels like teddy-bear fur that's worn and tufty from excessive cuddling.

'That's Max.'

'Hey boy,' I coo, besotted.

'Short for Maxine. It's a girl,' Ty corrects me.

'Oh.'

I go to pa.s.s her to Sasha but she immediately backs off.

'No, it's okay.'

Ty looks up, surprised.

'You can take her,' he says gruffly.

'I'm all right, I'd rather watch.'

'They haven't got fleas, if that's what you're worried about.'

'No, I'm not really good with animals, she'll probably start crying.'

Ty hesitates a moment and then says, 'Take Theo. He won't cry if he's got a bottle in his mouth.'

Lordy Miss Claudie! Are we having a breakthrough? I watch Sasha awkwardly take hold of the cub, trying not to break the contact between his busy mouth and the bottle. 'It's easier if you sit,' Ty suggests, offering his seat.

<script>