She wondered what Gil would think if he saw her with this nice young man. Nothing, probably, she thought bitterly, not when he was so wrapped up in Pauline. Well, she wasn’t going to let that spoil her trip.
Nassau was unexpected. Kasie fell in love with it on first sight. She’d seen postcards of the Bahamas, and she’d always assumed that the vivid turquoise and sapphire color of the waters was exaggerated. But it wasn’t. Those vivid, surreal colors were exactly what the water looked like, and the beaches were as white as sugar. She stared out the window of the hired car with her breath catching in her chest. She’d gone overseas with her parents as a child, but to distant and primitive places. She remembered the terror of those places far better than she remembered the scenery, even at so young an age. Even now, it was hard to think about how she’d lost the parents who’d loved her and Kantor so much. It was harder to think of Kantor…
“Do stop pressing your nose against the glass, Kasie. You look about Jenny’s age!” Pauline chided from her seat beside Gil.
“That’s funny,” Bess said with a giggle, not understanding the words were meant to hurt.
“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” Kasie murmured a little shyly. “It really does look like paradise.”
Pauline yawned. Gil ignored her and watched Kasie a little irritably as she and the girls enthused over the beach.
“When can we go swimming in the ocean, Daddy?” Bess asked excitedly.
“We have to check into the hotel first, baby,” Gil told her. “And even then, the beach is dangerous. Kasie doesn’t swim.”
“Oh, we can take them with us,” Pauline said lazily. “I’ll watch them.”
It occurred to Gil that he never trusted Pauline with his children. She wasn’t malicious, she just didn’t pay attention to what they were doing. She’d be involved in putting on sunscreen and lying in the sun, not watching children who could become reckless. Bess was especially good at getting into trouble.
“That’s Kasie’s job,” Gil said, and put a long arm around Pauline just to see the reaction it got from Kasie. It was a constant source of anger that he couldn’t keep his hands off Kasie when he was within five feet of her, and he still didn’t trust her.
Kasie averted her eyes. Odd, how much it hurt to see Pauline snuggle close to Gil as if she were part of him. Remembering the hungry, masterful way he’d kissed her in the study, Kasie flushed. She knew things about Gil Callister that she shouldn’t know. He made her hungry. But he was showing her that he didn’t feel the same way. It was painfully obvious what his relationship was with Pauline. Even though she’d guessed, it hurt to have it pointed out to her like this.
She knew then that she was going to have to resign her job when they got back to the States. If he married Pauline, there was no way she could live under the same roof with them.
Gil saw the reaction that Kasie was too young to hide, and it touched him. She felt something. She was jealous. He could have cheered out loud. It didn’t occur to him then why he was so happy that Kasie was attracted to him.
“Who was the man you were talking to on the concourse, Kasie?” Gil asked unexpectedly.
“His name was Zeke,” she replied with a smile. “He had the seat next to mine.”
“I noticed him. He’s good-looking,” Pauline said. “What does he do?”
“He’s a freelance writer for several travel magazines,” Kasie told her. “He’s down here doing a story on a new hotel complex.”
Gil didn’t look pleased. “Apparently you made friends quickly.”
“Well, yes,” she confessed. “I was a little nervous about flying. He talked to me while we got airborne.” She grinned. “Didn’t you hear us all singing the Air Force song?”
“So that’s what it was,” Pauline scoffed. “Good Lord, I thought the plane was full of drunks.”
“Why were you afraid of flying?” Gil persisted.
Kasie averted her eyes to the girls. “My family died in an airplane crash,” she said, without mentioning under what circumstances.
He shifted uncomfortably and looked at his daughters, who were watching for exciting little glimpses of people playing in the surf on the white beaches as they passed them.
“I’m all right now,” she said. “the flight wasn’t so bad.”
“Not with a handsome man to hold your hand,” Pauline teased deliberately.
“He was handsome,” Kasie agreed, but without enthusiasm, and without noticing that Gil’s eyes were beginning to glint with anger. He leaned back, glaring at Kasie.
She wondered what she’d done to provoke that anger. It made her uneasy. Pauline obviously didn’t like it, either, and the woman was giving Kasie looks that promised retribution in the near future. Kasie had a feeling that Miss Raines would make a very bad enemy, and deep in her stomach, she felt icy cold.
Chapter Seven
It took an hour to get checked into the luxury hotel. The girls played quietly in the marble-floored lobby with a puzzle book Kasie had brought along for them, while Pauline complained loudly and nonstop about the inconvenience of having to wait for a room to be made ready. By the time the clerk motioned them to the desk, Gil was completely out of humor. He hadn’t smiled since they got off the plane, in fact. When they were given keys to a two-bedroom suite and a single adjoining room, Pauline’s expression lightened.
“Oh, that’s nice of you, darling, letting Miss Mayfield have a room of her own.”
Gil gave her a look that combined exasperation with impatience. “The girls can’t be alone at night in a strange hotel,” he said curtly. “Kasie’s staying in the room with them, and the other bedroom in the suite is mine. You get the single.”
“Why can’t I just share with you, darling?” Pauline purred, enjoying Kasie’s sudden flush.
Gil looked furious. He glared down at her from his superior height. “Maybe you’ve forgotten that I don’t move with the times,” he said quietly.
Pauline laughed a little nervously. “You’re kidding. What’s so bad about two…friends sharing a room?”
“I’m not kidding,” Gil said flatly. He handed Pauline her key and motioned for Kasie and the girls to follow him.
Pauline stomped into the elevator, fuming. She gave Kasie a ferocious glare before she folded her arms over her chest and leaned back against the wall. The bellboy signaled that he’d wait for the next elevator to bring their luggage up, because six other people had jumped into the elevator right behind Pauline.
Gil and Pauline led the way down the hall, with Kasie and the girls following suit.
“At least, you can take me out tonight,” Pauline told Gil, “since Kasie’s along to baby-sit. Come on, darling, please? They have the most beautiful casino over on Paradise Island, and floor shows, too.”
“All right,”
