Page 22 of His Last Gamble

Payne ordered the drinks, and when the cocktails came, tall, icy-glassed concoctions full of fruit and rum, a tiny replica of the gaily striped umbrella thrust down amongst the ice, Charmaine stared at it in horror.

What was it? And how on earth was one supposed to drink it?

She reached for the little cocktail umbrella and twirled it absently, while looking at the apricot-coloured drink. Did you sip through the ice and fruit, or were you supposed to eat the fruit first?

She knew what Jinx would do — capture Payne’s glance, then fish out the fruit with her bare fingers and playfully eat it, letting the juice run down her chin, and challenging him to lick it off . . .

But she couldn’t do that. Not even for the sake of her plan. Not even for her beloved Lucy.

Instead she took a tentative sip, then gasped and nearly choked as the rum hit the back of her mouth, with an aftertaste of coconut. Her eyes watered, making them shine like Ceylon sapphires.

Payne watched her, a small, gentle smile playing with his lips.

‘You’re really not much of a drinker, are you?’ he murmured. This woman was nothing if not an enigma. As co-owner of one of the leading fashion houses in the world, she must be rich in her own right. And yet she didn’t know how to drink a cocktail. She could have lived in a penthouse in Paris, or a palatial villa in Spain, and yet, according to her friend and business partner, she lived alone in a modest cottage. And apparently didn’t even date, let alone play the field, as any other modern, wealthy woman in such a glamorous profession would do.

‘They look delicious,’ Charmaine said, reaching for a quince-like fruit growing in the wild grounds bordering the terrace. She reached for it, then jumped as Payne shot across the table and grabbed it out of her hand.

‘That’s poisonous!’ he said roughly. ‘What’s the matter with you, woman, are you trying to kill yourself?’ he snarled.

He’d gone white under the tan at the near miss, and Charmaine recoiled from the raw passionate anger in his voice.

‘I didn’t know! Besides, I wouldn’t have eaten it,’ she snapped defensively.

Payne shook his head and lobbed the forbidden fruit over the edge, towards the bay. ‘I can see I’m going to have to take you in hand. Come on, let’s go.’

‘Go where?’ she asked, glad to abandon her drink and the seductive view of the bay.

‘For a tour of the island. I can see I’m going to have to acclimatise you.’

And that wasn’t all he wanted to do to her either. But that could wait until darkness had fallen!

Charmaine looked up and saw the smouldering look in his eyes. And once again, felt her world tilt beneath her.

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