Tempting a Devil by Samantha Kane Page A

squire, his only assets were his good looks and charm, and he’d made a living out of using them. Well, and his skills at cards and betting on the races and a prizefight or two. Harry deserved more than that. And that was why he was going to leave right after he talked to her today. He’d made that decision on his way over here. True, he had barely enough to pay for a coach ticket, but he had friends. Surely they would offer him a roof as Hil had done, until he figured out what he was going to do.
    He began walking toward the park as he thought about what he was going to say to Harry, and soon he spotted her through the trees not too far ahead on a small path. She was standing there laughing and pointing at a little boy chasing a rolling ball across the green. Just as the boy reached the trees on the other side, a rough-looking fellow stepped out from behind a tree and made a grab for him. Both Harry and the boy screamed, and then the boy veered away and ran toward Harry who was running toward him. But the rough character was closer and he chased after the boy.
    It all happened so fast, Roger wasn’t sure what was going on. “You there!” he called out, pointing to the man chasing Harry’s boy. “Stop!” The man looked up, but instead of stopping he ran faster, and Roger knew he was going to catch the boy before Harry could get to him. Without thinking, Roger began running as fast as he could, shouting all the while. “Stop! Leave the boy!”
    “Roger!” Harry screamed as the man swooped her boy up in his arms, made asharp turn, and began running back the way he’d come, away from Harry and Roger. Harry was encumbered by her skirt as she gave chase, and Roger passed her, keeping sight of the kidnapper.
    The man leapt over a small hedge separating the park from the street and Roger did the same, only a few steps behind him. Harry’s boy was screaming as hard as he could, and Roger saw a few heads turn toward them, servants about their business on the street and on the stoops. He was almost close enough to grab the man’s collar and haul him to a stop when the kidnapper suddenly turned and threw the boy at Roger. Literally threw the little chap. Roger was stunned as the tiny body slammed into his chest and he lost his footing, grabbing the boy around the waist as he fell hard on his elbow and back on the pavement. His beaver bore the brunt of the fall instead of his head, which was a small blessing.
    The lad’s screaming had stopped abruptly as soon as he hit Roger, but now that they were safe on the ground he started up again with a vengeance. Roger’s eye twitched as he was deafened in one ear by the high-pitched wails.
    “Mercy!” Harry yelled, falling to her knees beside them. The boy pressed his foot in Roger’s stomach and launched himself into his mother’s arms. Suddenly they were surrounded by people, all chattering at once.
    “Are you all right, sir?” a footman in livery asked him as he helped Roger up.
    “I’ll survive, thank you,” Roger said, trying not to cry out at the pain in his posterior, which had hit the ground first. The footman was dusting off the back of his coat, murmuring his agreement. Roger took off his hat and saw that it was ruined. The brim was partially ripped off. He just stared at it, recognizing that there was a parallelwaiting to be made with his life, but he refused to draw it. Perhaps the hat could be repaired.
    Harry was surrounded by people as well, some of whom must have been her own servants since she and her boy Mercy seemed to know them. “Oh, Roger,” Harry said tearfully, hugging the now quiet boy to her. “I don’t know how to thank you. I thought we were safe in the square.”
    Roger looked around at the avidly curious stares of the onlookers. “London is a big place,” he said blandly. “Miscreants abound. Perhaps we should take the boy home?”
    “Oh, yes, mum,” a pretty little brunette said, petting the boy’s back. He sniffed and grabbed a