Paige repeated, slowly this time. ‘Or you won’t need to worry about Vanessa kicking your arse because I’ll have already handed it to you on a plate, yeah?’
‘On a plate.’ I nodded to show I understood. ‘Best photos ever.’
‘Glad we’re clear,’ she replied. ‘Ah, Mr Miller, at last.’
I hadn’t expected to have a physical reaction to seeing Nick, but as he strode up the path, all grumpy face and Wayfarers, I wanted to get up from the table and dive into the sea. His pale blue shirt was creased to hell and his khaki shorts looked like they weren’t buttoned up properly at the fly. He did not look like a man who had enjoyed a good night’s sleep in a luxury villa in Hawaii. He looked like a man who had spent the night shagging someone rotten and then spent a couple of hours tossing and turning until the sun came up.
Interesting.
He leaned across the table, right in front of me, just to make me jump. Without a word he grabbed the coffee pot, poured a full mug then threw in several sugar lumps in complete silence. Paige glanced at me, trying not to smile, as he took the seat at the far end of the table as far away from the two of us as possible.
‘Where’s Bennett?’ he asked after two long sips of coffee. ‘He’s late.’
‘So are you, sunshine,’ Paige replied. ‘Bad night?’
Even though he didn’t take off his sunglasses, I knew he was staring straight at me.
‘I’ve had better,’ he said with an entirely straight face, while I coloured up from head to toe. ‘I’ve had worse.’
‘Looks like you went through the wringer.’ I was determined not to let him win. ‘Sometimes it’s best just to let sleep come naturally. When you try too hard, you just end up frustrated.’
‘Oh, don’t worry, I’m not frustrated,’ he replied swiftly. ‘But you don’t look so clever yourself. Maybe you could do with trying a bit harder.’
‘Now, now, children,’ Paige intervened, entirely oblivious to the extreme level of bitchy subtext flying across the table. ‘Let’s not have fisticuffs. We need to sort out this Bennett sitch, and I don’t really want to have to do that on my own. Can we kiss and make up?’
Nick turned up one corner of his mouth and nodded. ‘I’m game if you are, Vanessa.’
‘I think she means figuratively,’ I said, adding cream to my coffee. ‘I’m a professional.’
‘Really?’ He rested his elbows on the table and pushed his glasses up over his eyebrows. ‘I probably owe you some money then.’
Before Paige had time to question Nick’s jibe or my look of outrage, the glass door to the house slid open to reveal a tall, slender man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts. Despite his ensemble, I knew it was Mr Bennett Junior right away. He was the spit of his father. The clothes were casual but tailored to his body perfectly, his grey hair was stylishly cut, and even though he had to be somewhere in his mid-forties, he was a striking man. And not just because he had the most amazing handlebar moustache I had ever seen. On cue, he twirled one of the ends and waited until he had our full attention.
‘Aloha.’ Mr Bennett the younger held his arms out as he approached the table and made his way round to shake everyone’s hand. ‘Apologies for my lateness. I hope you haven’t been waiting too long.’
His accent seemed to be American, but he was attempting to affect something of a little British lilt and it wasn’t quite working. Nonetheless, he was an imposing figure. Just ever so slightly funny at the same time. It could have been the moustache.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
