Page 36 of Storm over the Caribbean
Above, the seagull flicked its wings and turned away.
“Yes, Mr Ambrose, Sir?” I asked sweetly.
“Remind me tonever everlet you make travel arrangements for me again.”
“Yes, Mr Ambrose, Sir.”
“Now…would you mind telling me…” Extending his arm, he pointed at the vessel I had chartered. “What. Is. That?”
“A yacht,” I explained, helpfully. After all, educating the ignorant was the duty of the wise, wasn’t it? “In fact, a luxury yacht, which is called that because it’s really luxurious.”
“I know what a luxury yacht is!” His icy eyes bored into me. I’m sure it would have been more effective if he hadn’t given me a similar glare last night while we were shaking the sheetstogether. “What I want to know is what possessed you to rent a leisure yacht for a business trip around the world!”
“Why…” Smiling, I sidled forward and placed a hand on his chest. “So we can attend to our ‘business’, of course. Private, repeatedly and often.”
“We?” His eyes hardened slightly. “What do you mean ‘we’?”
I froze.
That wasnotthe answer I had been expecting.
Slowly, my brain rewound, until I recalled his earlier words.
“Remind me to never ever let you make travel arrangements for me again.”
Me.
Me, not us.
My fists clenched. Oh no. No, this had better not be what I was thinking! He wasnotpulling this kind of stunt again!
“Mr Ambrose?” I enquired sweetly. Though not the same kind of sweet as before. More the sweet-embrace-of-death kind. “You wouldn’t happen to be thinking ofleaving me behind, would you?”
“No.”
“Oh, good. Because—”
“One does not need to think about things that are already decided.”
Did I mention before that, on occasion, Mr Rikkard Ambrose could be the most infuriating man in the world?
“You…” Stalking towards him, I stabbed a finger into his chest, trying to ignore the stab of pain in my digit. It felt like stabbing a bloody slab of rock! “You are going on a cruise, and you’re planning on leaving me behind?”
A muscle in his cheek twitched. “It is not acruise, Mrs Ambrose! It is a business trip. And you know what my ‘business trips’ are like. If there are fewer than a dozen casualties, it would be most surprising!”
“Even more reason for me to come along! I’m your wife, dammit! I’ve been with you everywhere, come hell or high water!”
“Yes, you have been.” His eyes shifted. They were still as intense as always, but just for a moment, they slid downward and any hint of coldness vanished, replaced by an unshakable determination. Stepping forward, he placed a gentle hand on my belly. “But back then, you weren’tcarrying our child.”
“Well, I am now.” I glared right back at him. “And I’mstillgoing with you!”
“You cannot go! You are pregnant!”
I raised an eyebrow. “As I was on our honeymoon.”
“That was not quite the same,” came his frosty retort. “It wasn’t exactly very evident when we set out. I only deduced the fact when you started vomiting your guts out! But now…”
He fell silent. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his fists clench.
