‘Hooking yourself that guy back at the hotel.’ He laughed unpleasantly. ‘He seemed fairly well set up, although I imagine you could have found someone a lot richer if you’d gone further afield. Miami is full of men like that who would be flattered by the attentions of a beautiful woman like you, Louise. Perhaps I’ve done you a favour by persuading you to come on this trip. It means you can always go back once we’re through and try again for a bigger fish, one whose bank balance will last a while longer until you drain it dry.’
She was glad of the glasses. They shielded her eyes, so that he could not see how much that hurt. How could she go through with this and spend the next week in the company of someone who despised her as much as he did?
Unexpected tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them away, refusing to admit even to herself how much it hurt to hear him say such horrible things. However, he was relentless, seemingly taking pleasure out of being as unpleasant as possible to her. ‘Nothing to say? No girlish protestations about your innocence now? You disappoint me, Louise, you really do. I thought you’d be determined to keep on with the little charade you’ve been playing.’
She didn’t bother turning to look at him, her voice slightly muffled as she held back a sob. ‘What would be the point? You’ve made up your mind about me, and that’s that. Why waste my breath?’
He caught her chin, forcing her head round to study her before he let her go abruptly. Louise drew in a shaky breath, clenching her hands to stop herself from rubbing her fingers along her jaw to wipe away the burning, disturbing imprint he’d left on her skin. She felt shaken by the brief contact, but why? It didn’t make any sense.
‘What made you start this in the first place, Louise?’ His hands moved on the controls, firm and confident as. they steadied the small plane as it lifted on a current of warm air. Below them Louise could see the sea, turquoise-blue, glistening in the hot sunlight. It was like a picture-postcard view, and at another time she would have taken pleasure from it, but right now all she could concentrate on was coping with Wyatt Lord’s deliberate cruelty.
She shrugged dismissively, feigning a sophistication that was purely on the surface. Inside it felt as though tiny daggers were being stabbed one by one into her heart. ‘Why does anyone decide on a course of action? You weigh up the pros and cons, then make the decisions. It’s as simple as that.’
‘Simple?’ He laughed deeply, shaking his head as he glanced sideways at her. ‘You see this kind of life you’re leading as simple? Come on! You’re not a fool. You understand the risks, surely?’
‘What risks? From where I’m sitting it all looks fine to me. I find myself a rich...benefactor, then live the life I’ve always longed for. Isn’t that what I’m doing?’
‘And what about your family? Have they any idea what you’re up to?’
Definitely not! If her parents ever found out about this they’d be horrified, not because they’d believe that she was in America looking for a rich sugar-daddy, but because she’d gone off with a virtual stranger! The thought of their love strengthened the determination that had kept her going throughout the time she’d been packing at the hotel while fielding Carol’s protests. This man had insulted her in a way that no one had ever done before, and she was determined to make him pay for every unpleasant word! She would go through with this plan, even accept the money he paid her...then take great satisfaction from throwing it back in his arrogant face as she told him in terms he couldn’t doubt how very wrong he’d been. The thought of watching Wyatt Lord squirm as he was forced to apologise would see her through!
‘No,’ she said softly, just the faintest tremor of distress in her voice, which she felt quite proud of. ‘They...they’ve no idea what I’m doing right now.’
‘Then why do it? You’re a beautiful and intelligent woman. You have other options, so why do something your family would feel ashamed of if they found out?’
‘Money. Isn’t that the key to understanding why, Mr Lord? You said it yourself only this morning, worked out very cleverly what I was doing in the hotel and why.’ She smiled airily, watching him through the tinted lenses, enjoying the way his big body stiffened at her open mockery.
‘Yes, I worked it out It wasn’t difficult. I’ve seen it happen before, watched men who make fools of themselves over women like you, women who don’t give a damn about anything as long as they get what they want. You should carry a health warning, Louise, because you destroy lives!’
His anger was almost tangible, filling the confines of the small plane, adding a new dimension to the conversation that startled her.
‘That sounds as though you’re speaking from personal experience. Did some woman take you for a ride?’
He laughed harshly, such contempt in the sound that it destroyed the last vestiges of amusement she felt ‘No. I’m not fool enough to let any woman do that to me. Oh, women have their uses, I’ll admit, but those are purely physical, and that’s all I’m interested in.’
She felt suddenly cold, despite the heat from the sun, her skin tingling with an icy chill that stemmed from deep inside. How could anyone sound as totally devoid of feelings as he had? In some indefinable way, it shocked her almost as much as when he’d made those ridiculous accusations against her.
Suddenly she didn’t want to continue with this disturbing conversation a moment longer, and cast round for something to say to fill the uncomfortable silence. ‘How long will it be before we land now?’
‘About twenty minutes or so, depending on how many other planes are due at the island.’ He checked his watch, a faint mocking curl to his mouth, as though he understood her reasons for wanting to move the conversation along different channels. ‘The airstrip at Paradise Island is purely that, a strip for the benefit of people who have houses there.’
‘I see.’ She turned to stare out of the side-window, forcing herself to push the unsettling. exchange to the back of her mind. She wasn’t interested in digging deeper, in trying to discover what had made Wyatt so cold and unfeeling. It wasn’t any of her business, and she had to remember that and not allow natural curiosity to draw her into something she might come to regret. ‘What are all those islands down there? There must be hundreds of them, some so tiny they’re little more than a few rocks, I imagine.’
‘They are. There are about seven hundred islands plus over two thousand cays down there that form the Bahamas, most of them so flat they are barely a hundred feet above sea-level at their highest points.’
‘Good heavens! I never realised there were so many!’ Astonished by the information, Louise turned back to the view, following the scattering of land in the deep turquoise sea, like jewels glistening against satin. ‘Are they all inhabited?’
‘No. Some of the smaller cays are privately owned, but most of them are uninhabited. There are no rivers or streams on any of the islands, so fresh water can be a problem. What little there is is usually found close to the surface, resting on salt water, so if wells are dug too deeply it can taste brackish and be quite unpalatable.
‘If you look down there to your right you’ll see New Providence Island, where the capital of the Bahamas, Nassau, is situated.’
Louise followed his directions, leaning over so that she could see better, but it was hard to distinguish the island through the haze of sun bouncing off the water. ‘Do you mean there?’ she queried, pointing to a spot to their right, then nearly jumped out of her skin when he caught her hand in his and moved it a fraction further, holding it steady as he guided her pointing finger. Heat ran along her veins so swiftly, so fiercely, that she caught her breath at the sheer unexpectedness of the sensation. Just for a moment her eyes lifted to meet his, and she wished that she could see the expression in them, but with the mirrored glasses firmly in place that was impossible.
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