Robyn Donald - Mistresses - Blackmailed With Diamonds / Shackled with Rubies

I tossed the dress at Vanner. I couldn’t bear to get any closer to him.

‘The steward will see you off the boat,’ Jack said.

‘No, I’ll do it,’ said the young man he’d addressed as Charles. ‘It’ll be a pleasure.’

He and the girl followed Vanner up to the deck, leaving me below with Jack and Grace, and someone else who had appeared. She was about my age, and beautiful in a chilly way. She was one of the women I’d seen looking down at me a few minutes earlier, and I didn’t need a crystal ball to tell me this was Selina.

She looked me up and down, then down and up, and I could tell what she thought about the robe, which was too big everywhere, so that I had to clutch it around me. I hoped someone would bring my clothes down soon.

‘I think I’ll have a bath,’ I said, with as much dignity as I could muster.

I turned back to the bathroom, but before I could go in there was a commotion from above—shouting, then the sound of something landing in the water. A moment later Charles came running back.

‘The lousy so-and-so!’ he said. ‘He just grabbed your bags from the deck and tossed them overboard. They sank at once.’

‘Oooooh!’ It was meant as an exclamation of annoyance, but it came out as a despairing wail. ‘Why does this keep happening to me? Why can’t everything go right for once? What have I done to deserve this? What am I going to wear?’

‘Oh, please don’t worry about that,’ said the cool beauty at once. ‘I have plenty of things you can borrow.’

‘Thanks, Selina,’ Jack said.

He sounded surprised at what seemed like good nature, but I’d noticed the look she gave Grace, which said they needed to talk urgently. They sailed out together.

I shot into the bathroom. My teeth were chattering and I’d had enough for one night.

There was a whole collection of potions to tip into the bath, some of them definitely feminine, so I guessed they came with the yacht. I found one with a lovely smell and poured it into the running water until the place was all over suds. Lovely!

Oh, the bliss of sinking down into them! They were warm, they were everywhere, they were making me human again.

The door opened slowly and Jack’s head appeared.

‘Permission to come in?’ he asked.

‘Sure,’ I said sleepily.

With the suds right up to my neck I was decent, although by now I was past caring. The world was turning into a pleasant fuzz, in which I actually felt safe for the first time since for ever.

So I just gazed sleepily as he came and sat down on the floor by the sunken bath, carefully depositing a bottle of champagne and two glasses.

‘I’ve ordered some food for you as well,’ he said, ‘but I thought we should celebrate together first.’

I gave him a sleepy smile. ‘What are we celebrating? Not that it matters.’

‘Your escape,’ he said. ‘My escape. But you’re right. Who cares? Celebrate because you feel like it. It’s the only good reason.’

He handed me a full glass and I savoured every drop. It was the very finest, and when I’d drained the glass I held it out for a refill.

When he’d finished pouring, he stopped, looked me straight in the eyes. I knew why. We’d met in a whirlwind and hadn’t stopped spinning since. This was our first chance to consider each other at leisure.

So, while he considered me I considered him, and I liked what I saw. He’d removed his jacket and his bow tie, leaving a snowy white dress shirt, open at the throat, showing just the hint of a hairy chest.

I have a weakness for hairy chests.

He was tall, and constructed in a way that shouted ‘virile’. I’d already discovered that, in one sense, but it was interesting seeing it as well. I supposed he spent most of his time behind a desk, but he must work out every day.

There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him, but he looked as if he lived well. He had that glow that money brings. I’ve had it myself from time to time. His hair was dark brown, slightly curly, with a faint touch of red that you had to look very close to see.

His mouth was like his body, in that I knew it well while seeing it properly for the first time. Now I saw it, I understood its effect on me. It was generous and curved, yet firm.

His eyes were the dark brown of bitter chocolate, very deep and intense. Their gleam came and went without warning. It was there now. When he smiled I smiled back, which made him smile even more. There was no need for words.

‘Are you all right?’ he asked.

‘Yes, thank you.’ I sighed. ‘For the first time in weeks, I’m all right. Thanks to you.’

I stretched a leg luxuriously, raising it out of the water, all sleek and sudsy. Then I put it down again quickly, remembering.

‘Please don’t do that,’ he begged. ‘I’m trying to be a gentleman, although after the evening we’ve had—But don’t worry, I’m on my best behaviour. Do you realise that I know nothing about you?’ he hurried on. ‘Except that you came out of the water, all silver and shining like a mermaid. Are you married?’

‘No.’

‘Engaged? Promised?’

‘Nothing. Nobody,’ I said briefly.

‘There’s nobody who’s going to appear suddenly, yelling, “She’s mine!”?’

I raised an eyebrow at him. ‘You left it a bit late to worry about that, didn’t you?’

He grinned. ‘So I did. But you wouldn’t like to think of me shaking in my shoes for fear of the man in your life, would you?’

‘I don’t think I could ever imagine you shaking in your shoes,’ I said. ‘More likely to make other people shake.’

He grinned again. It had an unsettling quality.

‘I’m harmless, I promise. To you, anyway. But seriously, is there anyone you want to call to say where you are?’

Various members of my family flitted through my mind: my aunts and uncles, cousins. No need to bother them. They had their own problems. Finally I thought of Grandad, and decided that where he was he didn’t need any more trouble.

‘Nobody,’ I said.

‘So, come on, tell me something about yourself.’

I thought about all I could have told him, which was a lot. He wouldn’t like it. There was much about my life, my past, that even I didn’t like.

‘Perhaps the less you know about me the better,’ I mused. ‘I’m just here to fit into the part you want me to play.’

‘But you’re still a person in your own right,’ he said. ‘You don’t just exist for my convenience.’

Oh, hell’s bells! Do you know how hard it is to get a man to think like that? And when I finally met one he had to be a ship that was going to pass in the night. Life just wasn’t fair!

‘I think, for a while, you need me to exist for your convenience,’ I said cautiously. ‘I am Cindy, and my past is whatever you tell me it is.’

‘Is that your way of telling me to mind my own business?’ he asked, with his head on one side.

‘If I tell you that I’m a hundred per cent with you, and I won’t let you down, what else do you need to know?’

‘Nothing.’

‘In that case—’ I laid my finger over my mouth.

‘Good. OK, here’s the deal. I’m employing you—for a length of time to be decided later. Your job is to convince Grace that she’s wasting her time. I shall provide a complete wardrobe, a generous salary, and anything else necessary for you to be convincing. Now, I’ll leave you before your suds start to fade. When you’ve finished there’ll be a meal waiting for you next door.’

He closed the door, leaving me to my thoughts.

I refused to think of the problems that might lie ahead. For the moment things were looking good, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my colourful and sometimes bizarre, existence, it’s to take life as it comes.