to doubt him.
Of course, she had been in love with him then, madly and irresistibly in love with a man she had never dreamed might be attracted to her. When she first went to work for him, as a temporary replacement for his own secretary, the other girls at the agency had teased her about his lean good looks, and the fact that he was one of the wealthiest men on the island. Naturally they, like her, had never imagined he would take any interest in a long-legged English girl, whose only claim to beauty was the silvery fair hair that fell almost to her waist. The rest of her features were totally ordinary, she knew: blue eyes, that watered when the sun was too strong, a straight nose that was not the least bit retroussé, and a wide mouth, whose lower lip was just the tiniest bit fuller. She discounted the length of her lashes, whose tips required mascara to be seen, and the slender curves of her figure. In her experience, men preferred smaller women, with fuller breasts, women who nestled into the curve of their arm instead of meeting them on eye-level terms.
Not that she had ever been able to say that of Jason. His height, and the lithe muscularity of his body, had always made her aware of her own femininity, and he had always maintained he preferred taller women. There had been plenty of them, goodness knows. Before she had figured in his scheme of things, he had had other mistresses, and there were several would-be supplicants all willing to inform Laura of how precarious her position was. Not to mention his ex-wife, Regina, and their daughter, Lucia …
She shook her head, banishing the unwilling memories of the emotions he had aroused. It was ridiculous, she told herself desperately. How could she even consider his demands? She couldn’t stay in Hawaii. She couldn’t abandon Pierce in the middle of the new book. Her life was in England now. Her job was in England. She had to make him understand she could not abdicate her responsibilities.
Three years ago, things had been different. Pamela had been training at a good teaching hospital in London, and sharing a flat with several other nurses. When Laura had been given the opportunity to spend six months in the Honolulu branch of the international secretarial agency in Bond Street, where she had worked at that time, it had seemed a marvellous break. It had been no wrench to give up her bedsitter, put the few belongings she was not taking with her into storage, and fly off to Hawaii. But not now. Now, she had her own flat, in Highgate. She had put down roots, and she was no longer the carefree twenty-two-year-old she had been when Jason first met her. Besides which, she didn’t want to lose her job with Pierce. She liked working for him. The job was interesting, and it had given her a chance to travel, as well as providing a very generous salary. She couldn’t give that up, not at the whim of a man who she despised. She should not have come here, she acknowledged belatedly. She should not have allowed Pamela’s desperate plight to drive her into a situation she obviously could not handle. But then, she realised bleakly, she had had no way of knowing how Jason would react to her plea for help. She had never suspected he might have plans of his own.
‘I’ve told Alec to have the awning erected.’ Jason’s lazy tones interrupted her reverie, and she turned her head to look at him. ‘I thought we might eat on deck,’ he continued. ‘It’s cool enough in the shade.’
Laura wanted to say she didn’t want to eat lunch with him, but she bit back the words. There was no point in antagonising him, she decided weakly, ignoring the fact that the longer she allowed this charade to continue, the harder it would be to convince him she could not be blackmailed.
‘All right,’ she said now, indifferently, sliding her curled leg off the cushions and giving a little shrug. ‘But I’m not very hungry.’
‘Nor am I. My appetites run in an entirely different direction,’ responded Jason unemotionally. ‘But unless I miss my guess, you’re not exactly in a mood to take advantage of them, are you?’
A wave of warm indignation swept over her skin at his careless words, and as if that was answer enough, Jason’s lips twisted. ‘I thought not,’ he essayed, turning back to the bar. ‘I suggest a cocktail instead. Something crisp, but not too sharp. I wouldn’t want to sour what promises to be an … interesting association.’
Laura looked up at him tensely, and then, giving into a wholly ungovernable sense of panic, she sprang to her feet. ‘I … I can’t go through with this!’ she exclaimed unsteadily. ‘I don’t care what you say, I won’t let you blackmail me! If you can’t help me find Mike Kazantis, I shall fly back to San Francisco tonight.’
Jason turned from pouring white rum into a metal mixer. ‘Strong words,’ he remarked, his expression wiped of all humour. ‘However, much as I hate to say this, you came to me, Laura. I didn’t invite you here. And as you have given me the means to keep you here, why should I let you go?’
Laura swallowed. ‘You can’t force me to stay.’
‘No. I can’t do that,’ he agreed, adding a measure of orange curacao to the flask. ‘Nor do I intend to do so. I shall just make it—difficult for you to go.’
Laura gazed at him disbelievingly. ‘How could you do that?’
Jason shrugged, his attention fixed on the remaining ingredients needed to complete the cocktail. ‘Sit down,’ he advised evenly. ‘Wait until you’ve heard what I have to say. And stop looking so anxious.’ His tawny eyes lifted to her troubled face. ‘The prospect of going to bed with me used not to frighten you that much!’
Laura gulped and turned away. ‘You’re … despicable!’
‘Why?’ He fastened the cap on the container and shook it energetically. ‘Isn’t it the truth? I seem to remember you were not exactly opposed to our making love.’
‘It was not love!’
‘Would you know the difference?’ he demanded cynically, and then he expelled his breath on a heavy sigh. ‘Look. I don’t want to argue with you, Laura. It’s obvious we’ve got a lot of ground to make up. Right now, I suggest you have a Mai Tai and stop worrying about your fate. The future will take care of itself. It always has, and it always will.’
The crushed ice frosting the glass he held out to her was very appealing, and without really knowing why, she accepted the cocktail. Perhaps she needed the support the alcohol could give her, she thought miserably, sipping the chilled liquid. But it was delicious. She had to admit that, if only to herself. Jason had lost none of his skill … in any direction, she added silently.
Out on deck, two white-coated stewards had just finished laying the table. Its glassy surface was spread with bamboo place mats and shining silver cutlery, pristine white napkins reflected in the polished gleam of delicate cut glass. From somewhere, a centrepiece of star jasmine and scarlet frangipani, called plumeria in the islands, had been arranged, and a bottle of Dom Perignon was residing in an ice bucket. Set beneath the striped awning, it was at once open to the soft trade winds, yet protected both from the sun, and the inquisitive glances of other users of the marina. A millionaire’s retreat indeed, thought Laura, following Jason across the white painted boards. And how had Alec Cowray accomplished so much in such a short space of time?
‘Is everything satisfactory, Mr Montefiore?’ inquired one of the stewards politely, while his companion subjected Laura to an intent scrutiny. Laura had never seen either of them before, but she could guess what they were thinking. In her cheap pants and shirt and without any make-up, she was not at all the glamorous kind of female they were no doubt used to seeing. Had Alec Cowray filled them in on her previous relationship with Jason, she wondered. She didn’t know which was worse: the idea that they knew she had once been Jason’s mistress, or their avid speculation that she might be hoping to assume that role.
‘This is fine, thank you,’ Jason was saying now, his smile
