Paradise Found

by Dorothy Vernon

  The brandy swirled as he offered her a sip from his glass. It was no accident that her lips were directed to the spot where his hand touched. The brandy exploded with an aromatic warmth in her mouth and throat; her lips tingled as though at his kiss. He lifted the glass to his own mouth, covering the exact same spot. His eyes caressed her over the brim, and again her lips burned as if he’d kissed them.

  It was getting near decision time, and Zoe knew it, but she didn’t seem capable of lucid thought. Seduced by the good food and wine and Matt’s sumptuous attentiveness, she wanted to float forever on this euphoric cloud of content. The rest of her body wanted its share of the shivery things he was doing to her hand under the discreet cover of the tablecloth. Feeling that she was under the influence of some mesmeric pull, she snatched her fingers away. His eyes mocked her as his fingers concentrated their wicked attention elsewhere, subjecting her thigh to the sensual torment.

  She hadn’t noticed that the dining room had filled up until Matt drew her attention to the fact. ‘More refugees from the rain, do you suppose?’

  ‘It could have stopped raining,’ she said.

  ‘Exactly what I was afraid of.’

  The illusion of privacy had already been dispelled, so it was no intrusion when Madame Poussin came to their table to present the bill and ask if they had enjoyed their meal. Matt translated her words for Zoe, who asked, ‘Will you add something extra for the loan of the dress?’

  ‘I already have,’ he said, tucking a quantity of francs into the folded slip of paper.

  Zoe beamed a smile at Madame, which was returned in full measure. More conversation passed between Madame and Matt, during which time a wry little smile touched Matt’s mouth, setting Zoe’s curiosity alight.

  Her eyes followed Madame’s disappearing back. ‘What was that about?’

  ‘Your clothes are dry and in the upstairs room where Madame escorted you earlier. She said for you to make your way up there and change back when you’re ready.’

  ‘That wasn’t all she said.’

  ‘No.’ Laughter gleamed from beneath his half-lowered lids.

  ‘Aren’t you going to tell me? You delight in teasing me, don’t you?’

  ‘You’re so delightful to tease. Perhaps, if you’re a very good girl, I’ll tell you later.’

  She knew that she would get no more out of him for now. ‘I’ll go change out of my borrowed finery,’ she decided.

  Upstairs again, she took off Anne-Marie’s dress and hung it on the outside of the wardrobe for Madame to find. In her own simple suntop and skirt she went back downstairs to where Matt was waiting for her. Madame and Anne-Marie came to say goodbye, and in this they were joined by Monsieur Poussin. Matt took her hand as they walked out.

  It was a beautiful night, the stars burning vividly in the sky. It was impossible to believe it had rained so heavily, except for the fact that the air was even more redolent of flowers, the way it always was after a storm.

  The drive back to Les Charmettes was companionably silent. Matt parked the car in the drive. It was a natural place to park, but it was also out of sight of the house.

  Zoe’s instincts didn’t have to be all that alert for her to know that she should make a run for it. She would have, too, but for the detaining hand that came out to clamp round her wrist. Her lips tingled as they had earlier in anticipation of the real thing. The promise of his kiss hovered in the air between them as his fingers moved up her arm, sending dangerous flames of passion through her veins. His mouth came so gently to hers that, although the kiss was expected, the fiery explosion it set off took her by surprise. It was like a fever attacking her brain and weakening her pulse, reducing her resistance to a whimper that escaped her lips before the delicious onslaught began again.

  The heat burned her up and melted her bones. His hands filled themselves with her breasts, before wandering up and over her shoulders, down her spine, molding her to him, closing round her hips. Then his voice was rasping against her forehead, vibrating with impatience. ‘This damned car is too restrictive. Why aren’t we in bed together, Zoe? We could have been. We still could be.’

  She tried to form the word ‘no,’ but it wouldn’t come.

  ‘I’m human, Zoe. I’m tired of just making it so far. I want all the joy.’ His voice cracked. ‘That’s ironic.’

  ‘What is?’ she managed hoarsely.

  ‘It’s too near the bone to what Madame said.’

  ‘After that, you’re going to have to tell me.’

  ‘I suppose I am. Madame said she knew we were going to be very happy together, and that you would give me a lot of joy.’

  ‘She said that?’ The way Matt said it made it seem coarse, and Madame Poussin was the epitome of sweetness and refinement. Then it clicked. ‘Madame saw my engagement ring and thought that you and I . . . ?

  ‘Yes.’

  Suddenly Zoe was angry, angrier than she could ever remember being in her life. ‘How very quaint of Madame. You can get all the joy you want without marriage—but not from me. I admit that I almost lost my head for a while, but I’m on an even keel now. I’ve been here before. I was nineteen and ready to give everything. And almost did. No man had ever touched me in that way before. You said you’d come back. When you didn’t I died a thousand times of humiliation. It won’t happen again.’

  ‘It wouldn’t, Zoe, I can explain.’

  ‘You’re five years too late. I’ll explain it to you. You didn’t want me until I belonged to Tony. And now you only want me to get me away from him. I’m not giving you that satisfaction.’

  ‘The hell you aren’t!’

  ‘You’re a poor loser, Matt. Can’t you get it through your head that you’ve lost?’

  With that she opened the car door and ran into the darkened house. She didn’t stop running until she was in her own room with the door closed and locked behind her.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  She didn’t like asking, and perhaps it wouldn’t get her anywhere at all, but she had to try.

  ‘Tony, what is it between you and Matt?’ It was more firmly implanted in her mind than ever that Matt had intended to keep her out the night before to get even with Tony.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Tony was pretending not to know what she was getting at, but he looked uneasy.

  ‘I’m referring to this constant struggle for one-upmanship. I know you’re not going to like my saying this, and I apologize in advance, but sometimes I get the feeling that you’re jealous of Matt.’

  He said sulkily, ‘If I am, I’ve every right to be. I’d be his partner, instead of being just another name on the payroll, if he hadn’t cheated my father.’

  It was so preposterous that she almost laughed out loud. ‘Matt cheated your father!’ Her hostility didn’t blind her to the fact that Matt wouldn’t cheat anyone.

  ‘It started off as a partnership.’

  ‘Yes, I remember that. Hunter & Talbot. I’ve wondered about the Talbot.’

  ‘That was my father. The business was going through a rocky period, and Matt used the famous persuasive Hunter charm to buy my father out. With his luck, straight away things started to pick up, and look how big he’s coining it in now. I shouldn’t be working for a paycheck. By rights I should be getting an equal share of the proceeds.’

  Zoe frowned. She knew all about the persuasive Hunter charm. She was a strong character, but it had got to her on several occasions. She reviewed her opinion because of this. Could there be an element of truth in Tony’s claim? She recalled what Matt had said when the question of Tony’s working for him had cropped up once. ‘I fulfill my obligation by employing him,’ had been the words he’d used. She had thought that the word ‘obligation’ was a strange choice at the time. And she knew there was no love lost between Nerissa, Tony’s mother, and Matt. Was the grudge because he had cheated her late husband?

  It wasn’t an easy day. Zoe spent it avoiding Matt and making amends to Tony for not returning in time for
dinner the previous evening, staying by his side and giving him her full attention. Tony mellowed under her pampering, and the situation more or less returned to the way it had been.

  The next morning the breakfast things hadn’t had time to be cleared from the table on the terrace where Hannah, Tony, and Zoe still lingered over coffee when Camille put in an appearance.

  She was wearing red again—and why not? The color which Zoe was never quite happy in because it clashed with her hair was the perfect foil for Camille’s exotic coloring, her olive skin and ebony hair that had a sheen of silky blueness in the play of morning sunlight.

  Zoe still didn’t feel at ease with the younger girl, who was accepted at Les Charmettes as one of the family. Camille’s smile was pleasant enough on the surface, but there was an underlying antagonism which, Zoe realized not without a little shame, was reciprocated.

  The moment Matt sauntered up to join them, Camille’s dainty hand slid into the crook of his arm in a proprietary way while at the same time she darted an outrageously flirtatious glance at Tony.

  Matt’s manner toward Camille was one of indulgence. She amused him, and he might not be averse to her carrying that amusement a stage further, if it hadn’t progressed to that already. A swift inspection of her fiancé’s face revealed to Zoe that Tony also found Camille’s luscious curves very easy on the eye.

  Camille looked cajolingly up at Matt. ‘Chéri, as I was having breakfast, I thought how nice it would be to spend the day in the company of an entertaining and handsome man, and you immediately came to mind.’

  ‘Camille, how would you like to come out with me for the day?’ he obliged amiably.

  ‘Why, Matt,’ she said, fluttering her eyelashes in an absurd parody of surprise. ‘How kind of you to ask me. I’d love to.’

  ‘What a delightfully incorrigible child,’ Hannah observed fondly.

  ‘Oh, delightfully,’ Zoe said, the acid in her tone almost burning her lips.

  Zoe was too busy trying to take herself in hand to notice the narrowing of Hannah’s glance as she suggested, ‘Why don’t you young people make up a foursome?’

  ‘Zoe?’ Matt queried, looking directly into her eyes, a contact she had managed to avoid since being caught in the rain with him.

  She shrugged to convey indifference. ‘Why not?’ The truth was, a day out would be a pleasant diversion. Even though Matt represented all the danger of a raging fire, she couldn’t get burned with Tony and Camille there, ‘If Tony feels up to it,’ she qualified.

  ‘It will be wonderful to get my rear onto a car seat. I feel as though it’s been permanently glued to a lounger.’

  ‘That’s your fault,’ Hannah said, with more than a little asperity in her tone. ‘Nobody’s expecting you to run a marathon, but . . .’

  ‘I couldn’t run if someone offered me a million.’

  ‘No. But you could get about more than you have if you made the effort.’

  Zoe had tried that one herself to rouse Tony from his apathy, but all she’d got in return was, ‘You don’t know what it’s like.’ Hannah didn’t get that in so many words, but his look said as much.

  * * *

  Camille sat in the front of the car with Matt. Zoe squeezed into a corner of the back; because of his leg Tony took up most of the rear seat. They hadn’t discussed where to go and they were already mobile when Matt said, ‘Any preference?’

  That was difficult. Obviously Tony wasn’t up to doing a lot of walking. Camille was the first to answer. Giggling, she said, ‘How do you fancy swapping one lounger for another, Tony?’

  ‘Fine by me. Where did you have it in mind for this lounger to be positioned?’ Tony asked.

  ‘St. Trop.’

  ‘That will definitely score on the view from Nan’s garden,’ was Tony’s laughing reply.

  ‘I’ve been known to be part of that view,’ Camille said, pouting at him.

  ‘You’ll still be part of my view, won’t you?’ Tony quipped back. ‘Perhaps more so.’

  Zoe missed the implication of that in her consternation at not having had the common sense to equip herself with a swimsuit underneath her sundress.

  ‘Does St. Tropez meet with your approval, Zoe?’ Matt asked.

  ‘Apart from the fact that I’m not wearing a swimsuit, yes. I didn’t think.’

  ‘No problem. St. Tropez is famous for a lot of things, including its fashionable shops. We can buy whatever we need. Swimwear, beach towels, tanning lotion.’

  They went by way of the pretty coastal road with beautiful views of the sea. As they approached St. Tropez the buildup of traffic reduced their speed to a crawl.

  ‘I think it would be best to drop Tony and Camille off, to save Tony the exertion of unnecessary walking. You, of course, will come with me, Zoe. I’ll find somewhere to park the car, and then we’ll go in search of swimwear and such,’ Matt said.

  It didn’t suit Zoe, but it was the sensible course and she could raise no feasible objection.

  Having dropped off Camille and Tony, complete with his crutches, Matt found a parking space without too much difficulty, beating other fuming motorists because of his knowledge of the area. He then led Zoe directly to a smart boutique that would supply all their needs.

  ‘Do you want a one-piece or a two-piece suit?’ he asked.

  Having already spotted some of the topless love-lies on the beach, Zoe wondered stupidly if he meant a top piece and a bottom piece or just a bottom piece. If she’d thought about it she would have said a one-piece to make her sunbathing intentions firmly known, because he was obviously not asking if she wanted half a bikini. At least, she didn’t think he was! ‘A two-piece,’ she said firmly, bringing a smile to Matt’s lips.

  ‘What color? Black to match your mood, or green to match your jealousy?’

  ‘I am not in a black mood, and what have I got to be jealous about?’

  He shrugged, his mocking smile staying resolutely in place. ‘I could give you a third choice.’

  ‘And what would that be?’

  ‘Blue to match your eyes.’

  ‘You choose for me.’

  ‘That’s an intriguing offer. Dare you abide by my choice?’

  Now that she came to think about it, that had been very reckless of her. She had already taken a look round at the selection on display; some were so scanty that they were practically indecent and would hardly cover the essentials. Camille might be happy to expose herself, but Zoe most certainly wasn’t. But his eyes were challenging her to back down, and for that reason she wouldn’t.

  ‘Of course,’ she said, her chin jutting out in defiance.

  He went over to a counter, sorted about for a few moments, then returned with his selection. ‘Here you are. Blue to match your eyes. The fitting room is through there. Try it on. If it fits all right and meets with your approval, leave it on.’

  To her relief there seemed to be more to this bikini than there was to the ones on display. In the privacy of the fitting room she soon found out that it was a perfect fit. It was the briefest she had ever worn, but what would have been regarded as daring by home standards would seem quite modest here.

  She came out smiling, received a bag from the assistant for the purpose of carrying away the garments she had removed, then turned to Matt. ‘Thank you,’ she said.

  He knew exactly what she was thanking him for. ‘That’s all right. I’ll admit, I was tempted to teach you a lesson. But I couldn’t go through with it.’

  ‘It was kind of you to spare my blushes. I’m grateful.’

  ‘You’ve got it all wrong. If just the two of us had been going to a secluded beach I happen to know about I wouldn’t have been quite so generous with you. I couldn’t go through with it because I would have been jealous as hell of what all the other guys would see.’ He filled her arms with beach towels and a bag which she presumed contained suntan lotion. ‘Hang on to these for a moment. I found myself in the same predicament as you.’ With that he went off to the men’s
changing rooms, dangling a pair of black swimming trunks in his fingers.

  They returned to find that Tony and Camille had hired beach mattresses and were stretched out on theirs. In the garden at Les Charmettes Tony had sunbathed with just his shirt off. His plaster cast looked incongruous with his swimming trunks, even though he had matched the color. Zoe’s first glimpse of Camille made her swallow. Both her sundress and the top half of her bikini lay on the edge of her mattress. She was on her stomach, but how long before she flipped over onto her back?

  Zoe slid out of her sundress and lay down on her stomach, cradling her head on her folded arms, cautiously shading the nape of her neck with her sunhat. She gasped as a trickle of cold suntan lotion hit her back. She didn’t need to open her eyes to know that the hands smoothing it over her belonged to Matt.

  The strap of her bikini top must have got in his way. Deftly he unhooked it. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll fasten it again. What I said earlier still goes,’ he said softly, so only she could hear.

  His fingers worked in a slow circular motion that relaxed her and was pleasant in a drowsily sensual way. His hands moved up to mold the muscles of her shoulders, then down past her shoulder blades, working the lotion well into her waist and down the small of her back to the edge of her bikini briefs.

  Despite the quivering of alerted nerve ends and the quickening of her breath, she felt herself slipping deeper into a dreamy kind of languor. The soporific effect melted her bones. There was a pause in the proceedings as he tipped more lotion into his hands. It was transferred to the tops of her arms and the vulnerable area of her thighs. The time he spent was split equally, it was just that one region was rather more electrically aware of the long caressing strokes than the other.