Page 15 (1/2)

Elizabeth was unable to hide her disapproval It's not good for children always to get their oay'

'I didn’t say I got always inal desire I allowed ht of the compromise in­volved' His smile tipped cynically 'To this day I don’t like to compromise'

'Why doesn’t that surprise me?' murmured Elizabeth No wonder he had taken his corporation froth He had a determination, a will to win that was ument, a woman, or a company

That made him a possessive ent of someone ished to take one of his possessions away from him— his mistress?

To Elizabeth's intense relief her disturbing thoughts weren’t given time to ripen into fears Serena Corvell's pretence of indifference had lasted only as long as it took for her to realise that her behaviour had thrown the field wide open to a woarded as no coot up and strolled con­fidently across the deck to tease Jack into giving her a turn at the wheel, began talking to him in a low voice that made it clear that Elizabeth's presence was superfluous

Instead of trying to intrude where she obviously wasn’t wanted Elizabeth retreated to the cabin to fetch her cainto a sea that was now cobalt-blue under a totally cloudless sky Just like the brochures, she thought wryly as she swiv­elled the lens and focused carefully on the couple at the wheel

Serena Corvell had tied an expensive silk scarf over her sleek blonde head, leaving her flawless face exposed as she leaned closer to hear so in profile as Elizabeth clicked the shutter She felt strangely breathless as she framed another shot, and then another, nervous ex­cite now, and Jack briefly put his hand over hers as it shifted on the wheel

As Elizabeth clicked the shutter again Jack Haood looked casually back at her, theould have been a perfect shot The smile on his face died abruptly and Elizabeth jerkily turned and took a blind snap of the e swiftness of her move It would have been less suspicious to just take the shot Sure enough, when she lowered her camera she could see out of the corner of her eye that he was still looking at her with that hawkish gaze

A few seconds later he left Serena at the wheel and was offering to take a photograph of Elizabeth for her 'holiday album'

'Oh, no, really—I prefer to take photos rather than be in thehtly 'I—I don’t photograph very well, you see-'

'I can see your problem,' Serena's malicious sym­pathy floated across the deck "The caure, does it? Leave her alone, Jack, you're eirl'

So, not only was she fat, she wasn’t even a wo a slow burn at the un­necessary spite of the other woman's words As if

Elizabeth would ever be a threat to a sophisticated wooodness' sake! It was temper, rather than bravery, that prompted her to delay Jack's return to his mistress's side

'There's a private estate on the island, isn’t there, as well as your hotel?'

His hesitation was so slight that she thought she ined it