now’s the ideal time—before I outstay my welcome.’ Paige gave Angela a swift hug. ‘Life’s certainly not dull here. I’ve never had to outrun a storm before.’
Although it wasn’t just the weather she was trying to outfox, she thought as she went upstairs to check her room one last time. She wasn’t surprised that warnings were being stepped up. It had been dull since dawn, the sun an orange disc behind a veil of steely cloud. The sea was a grey mirror and in the garden below it was still, the palms hanging their heads, motionless.
Brad was waiting when she came downstairs, and there was a flurry of hugs and goodbyes.
‘Come back soon,’ Angela called as they drove off.
‘I’ll second that.’ Brad shot her a smiling glance.
She said lightly, ‘You couldn’t keep me away.’
The car windows were open as they drove to the airstrip, but there wasn’t even the hint of a breeze to ease the leaden atmosphere. There was an odd threatening stillness in the air, as if the natural order had been suspended and was waiting for what might come.
Formalities at the strip were brief. Brad stood with her while her bags were being stowed on the small, smart plane waiting on the tarmac.
As he bent to kiss her, she was passive in his embrace.
He released her reluctantly. He said urgently, ‘You still have time to change your mind. You could stay.’
She sighed inwardly. ‘Brad, I told you—I have to work for my living.’
‘And I’ve told you—I’ll give you a job any time you like.’ His voice roughened. ‘I’ll give you anything you want. Hell, Paige, I don’t want to lose you.’
But there was never any question of that, because I never belonged to you in the first place, she thought. And it would never have worked anyway.
She paused, wondering how she could be so certain. Why she knew this kind, successful, attractive man was not for her, when most other women of her acquaintance would have thanked God for him.
He kissed her again, but in farewell and release, and she gave him a final smile and walked up the steps into the aircraft.
There were four seats, all unoccupied.
‘Am I the only passenger?’ she asked Hilaire, who was already at the controls, making last minute adjustments.
‘One more, just.’ He sent her a cheerful smile over his shoulder. ‘As soon as he’s on board we go.’
Paige hesitated, trying to deal with her uneasiness. The strange sense of foreboding that assailed her. ‘I suppose it is still safe to fly?’
‘You trust old Hilaire, lady.’ His tone was reassuring. ‘I’ll look after you. Get you to Sainte Marie soon as the gentleman comes.’ He paused. ‘And here he is now.’
At last, Paige thought with relief. The quicker they were off, the better she’d be pleased.
As the newcomer entered the cabin she looked up, her mouth curving in a polite, welcoming smile. Then she stopped, her body suddenly rigid, the breath escaping her lungs in a gasp of pure shock.
Nick Destry said softly, ‘Well, what a small world it is.’ He slotted himself into the seat in front of her and fastened his seatbelt, then turned to look back at her. His edged smile did not reach his eyes. ‘Good morning, darling. Running away again?’
She said between her teeth, ‘I am now.’
She fumbled with her own belt, trying desperately to release it. She had to leave—to get off the plane. Because a tropical storm was a welcome alternative to being cooped up with Nick, even for a short flight.
She thought, I can’t—I won’t endure it …
But as the belt finally gave way she heard the engine start, and the plane began to move, preparing for take-off.
And she knew it was too late.
PAIGE found her voice. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Flying to Sainte Marie,’ Nick returned tersely. ‘But perhaps it’s a trick question.’
‘But yesterday you were on board someone’s yacht.’ Jerkily she refastened her seatbelt.
‘Yes.’ He shrugged. ‘But not as a permanent feature. I always planned to disembark at Sainte Marie and fly back. And I can’t afford to hang round in harbour at St Antoine waiting for this storm to pass, so I decided to use Hilaire’s taxi service.’
‘I’m sure you’ll be much missed.’ She spoke before she could stop herself, and could have bitten her tongue out. She sounded as if she was jealous, she groaned inwardly.
‘Allow me to pay you the same compliment,’ Nick drawled. ‘I saw Brad Coulter trudging back to his car like a lost soul. Did you console him with a fond farewell?’
‘That,’ she said curtly, ‘is none of your business.’
‘And that,’ he said, ‘is open to debate.’ He paused. ‘After all, my sweet, we are still married.’
‘A technicality,’ Paige put in quickly.
‘But an important one. So it’s natural that I should have—concerns.’
‘“Natural” is not a word that I’d ever apply to our relationship,’ she said tautly. ‘I can’t wait to put a stop to the whole ridiculous pretence.’
‘Then we have one thing in common at least,’ Nick returned coolly. ‘In the meantime, is it possible that we might treat each other with a measure of civility? Otherwise a thirty-minute flight is going to seem like eternity.’
It will anyway, Paige thought, biting her lip. Aloud, she said, ‘I can do civil. But I won’t put up with the kind of wind-up that I was subjected to on the beach last night. No more jokes about getting me back. Is that clearly understood?’
He surveyed her for a moment, then shrugged. ‘That’s fine with me. Although the temptation was quite irresistible, believe me. But—all joking cancelled. Will that do?’
Paige looked coldly back at him. ‘Thank you.’
He gave her a brief nod and turned away, reaching down to the briefcase he’d brought on board with him and extracting a sheaf of papers.
The conversation, it seemed, was over. The contact broken. Which was exactly what she wanted.
Paige found herself confronted by a view of the back of his head. His dark hair was thick and silky, and in need of a cut. But that was one of the few things he was careless about, she thought. A curious lapse in one who normally conducted his life with such precision.
Or was it?
