Page 12 of His Last Gamble

‘I can’t wear that,’ Charmaine whispered, as Payne took an instinctive step closer to her. She looked so pale, he thought she was actually going to pass out.

‘Oh, for pity’s sake, give it to me,’ Jinx hissed, smiling sneeringly at Charmaine. ‘Jo-Jo, you shouldn’t go teasing the amateur talent,’ she added, even more devastatingly.

To Payne’s surprise, Charmaine seemed to agree. ‘Yes, Jo-Jo, Jinx must wear it. It’s far more her colour than mine.’

And then, puzzling him even more, Jo-Jo nodded eagerly.

Payne watched the look of shared relief pass between Charmaine and Jo-Jo as Jinx triumphantly swanned off with the prize garment, but not before casting a gloating look in Charmaine’s direction, and a much more flirtatious one in his, which he ignored completely.

Payne looked suspiciously from Jo-Jo to Charmaine. He had no doubts now that Jo-Jo was gay — he’d seen him flirting shamelessly with a male beach attendant not ten minutes ago. So if Charmaine wasn’t sleeping with him, why was the owner of Jonniee so anxious to please her?

‘I’d better go make sure Phil doesn’t go overboard on the close-ups,’ Jo-Jo said wryly. ‘We’re not filming forPenthouse.’

Charmaine laughed with utter relief. Then jumped as Payne Lacey tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around, chin up, eyes spitting, an Amazon ready to commence battle.

‘Want to tell me what’s going on?’ he said mildly.

Charmaine felt her blood chill. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, what’s going on,’ he repeated with heavy patience. ‘You’ve obviously never modelled before in your life, even I can tell that. And no real fashion model would have passed up a chance to model the star exhibit. And Jo-Jo treats you like bone china.’ He smiled grimly. ‘What’s the matter, Charmaine? Speechless? Do you think I’m so brainless that I can’t tell when something’s off? And something’s off here, sweetheart, by a mile. So tell me. Why are you really in the Bahamas?’

Charmaine stared at him helplessly. What to say? What to do? She couldn’t tell him who she really was. Luckily, she and Lucy didn’t share the same last name, so there was no reason for him to suspect her true identity. But she had to distract him somehow.

And she could only think of one way.

Taking a bold step forward, she smiled lazily.

‘That’s for me to know and you to find out,’ she said, then reached over the top of the bed sheet to loop her arms around his neck, dragged his head down to hers, and kissed him.

Hard.

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