JOANNA NEIL had her future planned. She enjoyed her work as an infant teacher and didn’t envisage any changes to her way of life. But then she discovered Mills & Boon. She was surprised to find how absorbing and interesting they were and read them on a regular basis. The more she read, the more she had the overwhelming desire to write one. Encouraged by her family, she persevered until her first book was accepted, and after several books were published, she decided to write full time.
Temptation in Paradise
Joanna Neil
ISBN: 978-1-474-00432-9
TEMPTATION IN PARADISE
© 2015 Joanna Neil
Published in Great Britain 2020
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
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Contents
‘I’M REALLY GLAD you decided to come out to the Caribbean, Jessie.’
Ben raised his voice above the sound of merrymaking going on inside the house immediately behind them, and for a moment or two his expression was solemn.
‘I didn’t expect you to come, you know—it must have taken a lot of sorting out and I feel really bad about pouring out my troubles to you and putting pressure on you that way. I shouldn’t have done it.’
He pressed his lips together in a rueful grimace.
‘You had enough on your plate back in London, and I know I ought to have kept things to myself, but I wasn’t thinking properly. I just needed to talk to you. Somehow, you always manage to make me feel better when I’m at my lowest.’
Jessie reached for his hand. ‘You’re my brother,’ she said softly. ‘I’ll always be there for you. You can depend on it.’
He gave her fingers an answering squeeze. ‘I’ll do the same for you, Jessie. You’ll see.’
‘I know you will,’ she said.
They were sitting on the terrace of a beautiful house, facing the sea, the darkness lit by flickering golden light from tiki torches planted at intervals along the paths and among the shrubbery. French doors opened out on to the patio to let the balmy tropical air circulate through the house, and in the background the heavy, rhythmic sound of steel drums beat out a lively calypso melody.
Inside the house, people were dancing, just as Jessie had been doing a short while ago with a number of eager partners. She hadn’t taken any of them up on their pleas for future romantic dates. Having her fingers burned back home had been warning enough and she