The Far Side of Paradise by Robyn Donald Read Free Book Online Page A

the planet. There’s glorious singing, and whole families somehow manage to perch on little motor scooters.’
    ‘Your parents were brave taking a young child so far from civilisation.’
    There was no condemnation in his tone but she had to control a spurt of defensiveness. Her parents didn’t need defending. ‘They’re experienced sailors. And they were desperately needed—still are. There are very fewdoctors in the outlying islands. My parents are kept busy.’
    ‘So they settled in Aramuhu for your schooling?’
    ‘Yes,’ she said briefly.
    ‘Where are they now?’ Cade asked, his blue-grey eyes intent.
    ‘Back in the islands,’ she told him, wondering a second too late if she should have hedged, let him believe they were within reach. ‘In a bigger, more easily sailed yacht that’s also a mobile clinic.’
    A clinic that the unexpected and very generous donation from Peter had helped to fund. When he’d received the advance for his sculpture, he’d transferred the money into her account.
    Horrified, she’d wanted to return it, only to have him grin and say, ‘Let me do this, darling girl—it’s probably the only time I’m ever going to do anything altruistic. You bring out the best in me.’
    He’d had to talk hard to persuade her, but in the end she’d accepted it. He’d been pleased when she’d shown him a photograph of the yacht …
    Hastily, she glanced away to hide the tears that stung her eyes.
    ‘Do you see them often?’ Cade asked.
    ‘No.’ Something in his expression made her say crisply, ‘I suppose that sounds as though I don’t get on with them but I do—and I admire them tremendously for what they’re doing. I think I told you I’d been overseas for two years, having a ball in London and working there to finance trips to the Continent.’ She added with a smile, ‘Known to all young Kiwis as the big OE—overseas experience. It’s a rite of passage.’
    Cade leaned back in the seat and took a swift glance at her profile. ‘When did your parents go back to thePacific islands on their mission of mercy?’ he asked, keeping his voice detached.
    ‘Once I’d settled at university,’ she said cheerfully. ‘And now I’ve revealed some of my story, how about yours?’
    Ironically amused, he met coolly challenging green-gold eyes, their size and colour emphasised by dark lashes and brows. No way was he going to tell her of his early childhood; he’d padlocked those memories and thrown away the key years ago.
    Cade wondered if she realised just how much she’d revealed.
Admire
didn’t mean the same as love. It sounded as though her parents had seen her through school and then more or less abandoned her.
    And he was beginning to believe she didn’t know that he and Peter had been brothers. If she did, she’d have been a little more wary when she’d spoken of her time in London.
    He said economically, ‘My life? Very standard. Good parents, good education, a university scholarship, first job in the City, then striking out on my own.’
    ‘And then success,’ she supplied with a smile.
    Cade caught the hint of satire in the curve of her mouth.
    Yes, she was challenging him, and not just sexually, although he was extremely aware of her in the seat beside him. His body stirred at the recollection of the silky texture of her skin and the smooth curves her bikini had displayed.
    ‘That too,’ he said non-committally. ‘Does success interest you?’
    She considered the question, her forehead wrinkling. To his surprise, he realised he was waiting for her answer with some expectation. Which was reasonable;he’d hired her to remove her from her comfort zone so he could find out what sort of person she really was.
    Of course, he wouldn’t allow himself to be distracted—he didn’t do distraction. Not even when it came as superbly packaged as Taryn Angove.
    ‘It interests everyone, surely,’ she said at last. ‘But it depends on how you define it. My parents are hugely