craved.
Why had Peter chosen to end his life? It had to be something to do with Taryn.
Cade was accustomed to finding answers, and he needed this answer more than any other. His mother feared that Peter had died because he hadn’t felt valued by his parents.
The Coopers had certainly been worried about Peter’s choice of career, but he had real artistic talent and, once they’d realised he was determined to make his own path, they’d stopped suggesting he choose something steady and reliable.
One way or another, Cade would get to the truth. It shouldn’t take him long to discover Taryn’s weaknesses and use them to find out what he needed to know.
He glanced across; she’d picked up a magazine and was skimming the pages, stopping now and then to read more carefully. She was beautiful in a healthy, girl-next-door kind of way, her clear green-gold eyes seeming to hide no secrets; her attitude was candid and direct. Cade could see nothing in her to suggest she’d mock a man’s offer of love.
Yet she must have cut Peter’s confidence to shreds for him to choose death rather than face life without her.
Into Cade’s mind came that final note on the list she’d made out:
disengage from Jason.
Had she
disengaged
from Peter too, then gone on to view the world with that same innocent gaze?
It would be interesting, he thought grimly, to see Taryn’s reaction when she found out the accommodation waiting for them on Fala’isi. She knew he was rich; she’d sensed he was attracted to her.
How would she accept sharing the same luxurious beachfront lodgings with him?
Would she see it as an opportunity? With cold self-derision, he fought the kick of desire in his groin and forced his attention back to the papers in his hand.
Taryn looked around the room, furnished in tropical style with lush green plants cooling the flower-scented air. One wall was highlighted by a magnificent
tapa
cloth in shades of tan and cream, black and cinnamon, and in a corner a serene, smoothly sculpted figure of a frigate bird in flight seemed to hover above its pedestal.
Peter would have loved it.
The knot of apprehension in her stomach loosened when Cade said, ‘Choose whichever bedroom you’d like.’
Helpfully, the porter said, ‘That room over there has a very beautiful view of the lagoon, madam, and the one on the other side of the
fale
has a lovely intimate view of the pool and the terrace garden.’
She looked at Cade.
Shrugging, he said in a tone that edged on curtness, ‘I don’t mind where I sleep.’
Taryn responded equally crisply, ‘In that case, I’ll take the one with the pool view.’
The porter, tall and magisterial, smiled his approval as he scooped her very downmarket pack from the trolley and headed towards the bedroom.
Shoulders held stiffly, Taryn followed him. She’d not expected to be whisked by luxury launch from the airport on the main island of Fala’isi to a fairy tale atoll twenty minutes offshore, nor to be ushered into a beachfront bungalow she was expected to share with Cade Peredur.
That was when she’d faltered, only to feel foolish when Cade said, ‘There are two bedrooms.’
‘Each with its own bathroom, madam,’ the porter had supplied in a reassuring voice that made her even more self-conscious.
OK, so for a moment—but only a moment—she
had
wondered if she’d walked into a situation she didn’t even want to think about. But there was no need for the glint of satirical amusement in Cade’s hard eyes. She was not an overwrought idiot, seeing danger where there was none!
After a quick survey of the room she’d chosen, she smiled at the porter when he set her pack tenderly onto the luggage rack.
‘Thank you, this is perfect,’ she said.
‘The lagoon is excellent to swim in, madam,’ the porter told her before ushering her into the bathroom, where he demonstrated the switches that lowered the blinds and showed her how to work the multitude of jets in the shower.
The
Why had Peter chosen to end his life? It had to be something to do with Taryn.
Cade was accustomed to finding answers, and he needed this answer more than any other. His mother feared that Peter had died because he hadn’t felt valued by his parents.
The Coopers had certainly been worried about Peter’s choice of career, but he had real artistic talent and, once they’d realised he was determined to make his own path, they’d stopped suggesting he choose something steady and reliable.
One way or another, Cade would get to the truth. It shouldn’t take him long to discover Taryn’s weaknesses and use them to find out what he needed to know.
He glanced across; she’d picked up a magazine and was skimming the pages, stopping now and then to read more carefully. She was beautiful in a healthy, girl-next-door kind of way, her clear green-gold eyes seeming to hide no secrets; her attitude was candid and direct. Cade could see nothing in her to suggest she’d mock a man’s offer of love.
Yet she must have cut Peter’s confidence to shreds for him to choose death rather than face life without her.
Into Cade’s mind came that final note on the list she’d made out:
disengage from Jason.
Had she
disengaged
from Peter too, then gone on to view the world with that same innocent gaze?
It would be interesting, he thought grimly, to see Taryn’s reaction when she found out the accommodation waiting for them on Fala’isi. She knew he was rich; she’d sensed he was attracted to her.
How would she accept sharing the same luxurious beachfront lodgings with him?
Would she see it as an opportunity? With cold self-derision, he fought the kick of desire in his groin and forced his attention back to the papers in his hand.
Taryn looked around the room, furnished in tropical style with lush green plants cooling the flower-scented air. One wall was highlighted by a magnificent
tapa
cloth in shades of tan and cream, black and cinnamon, and in a corner a serene, smoothly sculpted figure of a frigate bird in flight seemed to hover above its pedestal.
Peter would have loved it.
The knot of apprehension in her stomach loosened when Cade said, ‘Choose whichever bedroom you’d like.’
Helpfully, the porter said, ‘That room over there has a very beautiful view of the lagoon, madam, and the one on the other side of the
fale
has a lovely intimate view of the pool and the terrace garden.’
She looked at Cade.
Shrugging, he said in a tone that edged on curtness, ‘I don’t mind where I sleep.’
Taryn responded equally crisply, ‘In that case, I’ll take the one with the pool view.’
The porter, tall and magisterial, smiled his approval as he scooped her very downmarket pack from the trolley and headed towards the bedroom.
Shoulders held stiffly, Taryn followed him. She’d not expected to be whisked by luxury launch from the airport on the main island of Fala’isi to a fairy tale atoll twenty minutes offshore, nor to be ushered into a beachfront bungalow she was expected to share with Cade Peredur.
That was when she’d faltered, only to feel foolish when Cade said, ‘There are two bedrooms.’
‘Each with its own bathroom, madam,’ the porter had supplied in a reassuring voice that made her even more self-conscious.
OK, so for a moment—but only a moment—she
had
wondered if she’d walked into a situation she didn’t even want to think about. But there was no need for the glint of satirical amusement in Cade’s hard eyes. She was not an overwrought idiot, seeing danger where there was none!
After a quick survey of the room she’d chosen, she smiled at the porter when he set her pack tenderly onto the luggage rack.
‘Thank you, this is perfect,’ she said.
‘The lagoon is excellent to swim in, madam,’ the porter told her before ushering her into the bathroom, where he demonstrated the switches that lowered the blinds and showed her how to work the multitude of jets in the shower.
The
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