His Last Gamble by Maxine Barry

‘Maria’.
    Yet again she felt uneasy, as the man she knew she must hate once more showed her the unexpectedly honourable and considerate side of his nature.
    â€˜And whose fault is that?’ Payne said sharply. ‘If your marriage is on the rocks, you have no-one to blame but yourself.’
    Ah, now that was more the kind of thing she’d expect from him, Charmaine thought, with a sour smile. The man was both pitiless and heartless.
    â€˜OK, OK. Anyway, I’m flying to England tomorrow. This situation has gone on long enough,’ his friend replied tersely.
    They must have walked slowly away after that, for Charmaine could barely make out Payne’s response. Then the sound of their voices faded completely.
    For a few moments, she continued to sit in the shade, miserably aware that her heart was beating like a drum, her palms were sweating, and she was gulping in air like a beached fish. And all because of his voice. Just because she knew he’d been there, just a few inches away.
    Good grief, she had to get herself under control. He was the one who was supposed to be feeling all uneasy and giddy with desire. Not her! She was supposed to remain cool and calm and calculating.
    She had to stop this melting feeling of desire every time he came near her. It would be disastrous if she fell into the same trap as Lucy.
    Worse than disastrous, because she’d have absolutely no excuse—she’d be doing it with her eyes wide open!
    * * *
    That night, she dressed with extra care. Jo-Jo, herself, and the rest of the models were once more going to the Palace, but this time Phil and his helpers were eager to get some set up preliminary shots. With permission of course. Usually casinos didn’t allow photographs to be taken inside the building, since the security men were always alert to potential robbers trying to ‘case’ the building, and management was always on the look out for potential gamblers trying to work out how to beat the system. But Jo-Jo had told Payne that he could have all the negatives taken that night, and that Phil only wanted to get an artistic take on the background.
    But Charmaine wasn’t so much interested in work, but in how to repair the damage done that morning. And she knew she would have to look particularly stunning to win back Payne’s favour.
    She chose a tube of electric-blue silk shot through with silver as the opening salvo in the battle. One of her more daring creations, it was literally a tube of material, hanging from silver straps, and falling to mid-calf. All the shape came from the body underneath. When designing it, Charmaine had made a note that it must be made from pure raw silk, which would cling in all the places it touched, giving it form. The swirling threads of stiff silver thread made it sparkle in the light. With her pale blue eyes, and her silvery hair hanging down past her shoulders, it was perfect.
    With it she wore strappy silver sandals and gorgeous, pagan-looking beaten silver and aqua-marine jewellery.
    If this didn’t make him want to give her a second chance, she didn’t know what would.
    * * *
    Payne was watching a Japanese businessman lose his last hundred thousand pounds when they walked through the door.
    The photographer immediately began snapping film, and he was amused to note that, even though they weren’t for publication, Jinx managed to get in some of the shots. The redhead was wearing deep royal purple, a mere scrap of satin that barely covered her. Once he was sure that Charmaine had noticed him watching Jinx woo and charm (and yes, even manage to distract) some of the dedicated gamblers, he turned at last and let his eyes run boldly over her from top to bottom.
    He hoped, from where she stood across the room of baccarat players, that she couldn’t see the way his breath caught in his lungs, or the sweat that popped out on his forehead.
    Not that any red-blooded male would have reacted