Page 53 of His Last Gamble

She got into a taxi with Phil and Dee-Dee, who were looking at her with far more respect than ever before. Not only had she snared a wealthy and powerful husband for herself, but news had also spread about her real position at Jonniee. And suddenly she was no longer merely an awkward amateur model, but a woman of real power.

Even Jinx was forcing herself to be polite to her!

And it was a nice feeling to have Phil and Dee-Dee treat her like one of the bosses at last. She couldn’t think why she hadn’t ‘come out’ before!

She glanced out of the window as the taxi pulled away, taking a long, last, lingering glimpse of the Palace. She knew that Payne had an urgent and important meeting that morning for he’d told her so, which was why he wasn’t able to take her to the airport himself, and she still blushed as she remembered the hard, deep, molten kiss he’d given her last night.

‘Hurry back,’ he’d husked, his eyes devouring hers as he’d lifted her fingers to his lips and kissed each fingertip in turn. ‘I can’t bear to have you out of my sight for too long.’

If only he knew the real truth, Charmaine thought now, with a lurch of pain so physical it almost brought her out of her seat, he’d never want to set eyes on me again.

She had no illusions on the score. For a man like Payne, a man who was used to doing all the running, a predator, a gambler, a man so sure of his masculinity and his place in the world’s pecking order, to find out that he’d been duped by a woman would be a massive and irreparable blow to his pride.

And one that a brand-new love like theirs would never be able to withstand.

But oh . . . how she wished this wasn’t happening! How she wished she could stay and marry him and live happily ever after.

She gripped her fingers together hard, not wanting the others to see her grief, and stared out of the window as Nassau International Airport came into view.

At the check-in desk, Jo-Jo sorted things out while she and the rest of the gang went into the cafeteria. Not that she was hungry. She ordered coffee and sat nursing it, only looking up when Jo-Jo finally joined her.

‘There’s been a bit of a mix-up, it appears,’ he said, sliding out a chair and collapsing into it. ‘Airlines! Don’t you just love ’em? Apparently, you’re not booked on this flight at all, and as it’s full, you’ll have to wait for the next one.’

Charmaine sighed wearily. ‘Great.’ Just what she needed.

Jo-Jo shrugged. ‘Well, that’s the way it is. I can’t swap with you myself, because I need to get back in time for that meeting about the fashion outlet. And neither Phil nor his assistants will let the cameras and film go without them babysitting them every inch of the way. And you know the girls. They’ve all got things to do and places to go.’

Charmaine nodded listlessly. ‘It’s fine. I’ll wait.’ If she’d been less depressed and more alert, she might have picked up on the fact that her partner was talking too much, and looked far more excited than miffed about a genuine snafu.

As it was, she chatted with only half an ear until the boarding call, then followed him out into the main area and watched them go.

At the gate, Jo-Jo turned and waved frantically, a broad grin on his face.

Only then did Charmaine get a funny feeling running down her spine. A feeling of having been set up.

‘So they’ve gone then,’ a voice, a wonderfully familiar voice, said right behind her. ‘Not that I have anything against them, mind, but I’m glad to have you on your own at last.’

Charmaine turned a pale, wide-eyed face to look up at him, and swallowed hard. ‘I thought you had a meeting?’

Payne grinned. ‘I lied.’

‘B-but, what are you doing here?’

‘Oh, a little birdie told me you wouldn’t be leaving today.’

Charmaine closed her eyes briefly, then gave a weary smile. ‘You set this up with Jo-Jo.’

‘I told him I couldn’t live with you, even for a day, and he agreed to help out.’

Charmaine sighed heavily. ‘So am I really going to have to go and book my own flight out?’

Payne’s smile faded.

‘When were you going to tell me?’ he asked softly, and her heart began to thump hard and loud. The room swayed a bit, then settled.

‘Tell you what?’ she whispered.

‘That you weren’t going to come back. You weren’t planning on it, were you?’ he added, when she simply stared mutely back at him.

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