with business.”
“Don’t let your brother hear you, or you’re going to be out of a job.”
“Josh and I are the only two Lawsons left. He couldn’t fire me if he wanted to. I’m a marketing genius.”
“And so modest!” she commented playfully. “I’m only a working girl, not a self-serving layabout like you!”
He tried to swipe at her hat, and she ducked, laughing. She gave in gracefully after that, letting herself relax and take in the lazy, lovely atmosphere of Nassau.
Ted Balmain met the launch at the marina late in the afternoon. If Josh Lawson had a factotum, Ted was it. Indispensable as valet, bodyguard, and general organizer, the tall, swarthy Texan officially was overseer for Opal Cay, one of seven hundred islands in the Bahamian chain.
“Ted, someday you’re going to be delegated to death,” Brad remarked as he helped Amanda into a seat.
“That’s what I keep telling Josh,” Ted agreed pleasantly. He cast off the line from the pier and cranked the engine. “Hang on. I feel reckless.”
“I’ll throw up,” Amanda threatened.
Ted gave her a teasing glance. “No stomach,” he told Brad. “She’s always going to be a landlubber at heart.”
“That’s why we went into Nassau. You can forget you’re on an island when you’re browsing down the streets.”
“It was wonderful,” she agreed. “Thanks, Brad.”
“My pleasure, squirt. Don’t I always look out for you?”
Her eyes smiled up at him. “Yes. As usual.”
“Josh is back,” Ted remarked as he pulled out of the bay.
Amanda’s heart beat faster. Josh was so vital, so alive, that his very presence started her blood churning. He could put her in a vicious temper with a few terse words and then make her laugh two minutes later.
Josh was a big brother to both Brad and her. But to everyone else he was “Mr. Lawson,” the man who entertained CEOs and diplomats on his yacht, in his San Antonio manor, and on Opal Cay. He had the ear of money moguls on Wall Street, and he was a millionaire many times over because he took risks that sensible men avoided. Sometimes he pushed the boundaries of ethical conduct, but Amanda was the only one who wasn’t shy about voicing her disapproval. While Harrison Todd had certainly sheltered his daughter from much, he had encouraged her to stand up for her beliefs. Her father had been happiest when she had fought him tooth and nail, and now Josh reaped the benefit of her in-house combat training. So to speak.
“What kind of mood is he in?” Brad asked for both of them.
“He brought a houseful of people with him.”
Brad let out a long sigh. “Protection,” he told Amanda with a grin.
“Good thought,” she agreed. “I’m glad he realizes how dangerous I am...”
“I wasn’t talking about you!” Brad grinned, because he knew that Josh never ran from a fight with anyone.
“I hope the two of you haven’t done anything to set him off,” Ted commented. “He got off the plane breathing fire. That Arab he’s trying to sell his new computers to is giving him a hard time. I wouldn’t mention anything upsetting to him, if I were you.”
Amanda thought about the job press.
Brad considered his latest gambling debts.
She glanced at Brad and frowned at his guilty expression. “Brad...you haven’t been to that casino again?” Amanda asked slowly.
Brad wouldn’t meet her eyes. “No,” he said quickly.
She didn’t believe him. Brad didn’t lie well, and he loved to gamble. She’d seen him when he had the fever, so intent on the game that he’d bet anything. Josh had been trying for months to get him into therapy. But Brad refused to admit he had a problem, despite the fact that he lost thousands on the spin of a wheel or the turn of a card.
Amanda stared toward the cay, where Josh’s gray Lincoln was parked at the two-story garage along with at least three other luxury cars. Two launches were moored at the long pier that led up to the white stone house. Dozens of blooming shrubs surrounded the mansion, everything from bougainvillea to hibiscus and jasmine. Opal Cay had satellite cable, an international network of telephone and fax lines, a computer system with its own power supply, and a larder that was always full. Even Amanda, who was born to wealth, couldn’t remember seeing anything comparable to Josh’s island estate.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked lazily.
“Isn’t it expensive?” Brad teased.
She glanced at him over her shoulder, pushing her windblown hair out of the way as she smiled. “Cynic.”
He shrugged. “Maybe I am. Josh is rubbing off on me.” He moved toward the bow of the launch. “Ease her up to the pier, Ted, and I’ll tie her up.”
Amanda felt self-conscious in her white Bermuda shorts and simple gray tank top and sandals. Brad was at least wearing white slacks and a designer shirt, but neither of them was properly dressed to mingle with the crowd Josh was entertaining today. She caught sight of Josh’s blond head towering over dignified men in suits and women in designer dresses, and she beat a hasty retreat upstairs to change. Anyone who was privileged to get an invitation to the cay was automatically included in parties and even social business meetings.
“Did you see the Arab’s wives?” Brad whispered as they darted up the staircase.
“How many has he got?” she queried.
“Two. Don’t put on anything too sexy,” he cautioned with a grin. “You might be targeted for number three.”
“He’d fall short of the mark,” she replied mischievously. “I’ve got it in mind to become a corporate giant, not a used wife.”
Brad burst out laughing, but Amanda was already behind her closed door.
THE DIN OF voices and the kaleidoscope of mingled colognes and perfumes gave Amanda a roaring headache. She’d come back downstairs long before Brad, who returned with a worried look and went straight to the bar.
Amanda, clad in a silver sheath with diamanté straps and matching shoes, put on her best party smile for the curious elite of Josh’s business group. Most of these people were executives of his company and bankers. But two of the men were Arab entrepreneurs whom Josh was hoping might introduce his newest business computer into Saudi Arabia for him. Even Brad’s personable coaxing hadn’t budged the men, so Josh had invited them along with the bankers and two of his executives back to Opal Cay for a buffet dinner. It provided him with a more congenial setting in which to wheel and deal. But this time his hospitality didn’t seem to be working, because the Arab’s black eyes were as cold as anything Amanda had ever seen.
Josh
