me but I wouldn't take it and, well, she's finally got interested in of all things, saving endangered species like the rhino. She gets quite impassioned about it.'
'I'm glad,' he said quietly. 'But you're still left with this fear of Darren Smith-Hastings, even although it's been over for what…three years?'
'Yes, since the divorce came through. But I don't think I'll ever forget the last words he said to me-he said that if he ever got his hands on me again, I'd regret the day.' She shivered again and he drew her closer and said drily, 'I'd like to get my hands on him but possibly they were only the words of a man who'd taken several severe joltings to his ego.'
'I keep telling myself that, but when you've been forced to do-certain things, it's not easy to believe it.'
'Do you feel safe now?'
'Oh, yes…' She stopped.
But all he said was, 'Good.' And he took her to bed presently.
It was a Lord Howe special the next day. Sunshine, a sparkling sea and a wide, clear blue sky.
Steve told her about his plans over breakfast. 'I'm going to take you to all my favourite spots. Bring your camera and your costume.'
She looked up eagerly but then her expression became a bit wary.
'What?' he queried.
'I…would hate to bump into Paul Grainger.'
'You won't, he left yesterday.'
'How do you know?'
He smiled slightly. 'I know a lot that goes on here. Any more objections?'
'Not one…'
It was a marvellous day and it gave her a new insight into Steve Warwick. She told him a bit about it as they sat on the thick, lush turf of the Clear Place looking out over Mutton Bird Island, Wolf Rock and Mount Lidgbird, and ate the picnic lunch she'd made.
'You really do love this island, don't you?' she said a bit dreamily as she thought back over all he'd shown her so far, the fantastic banyan trees and many others, the mutton bird holes, the Valley of Shadows, the spot on the cliff edge above Middle Beach where he'd pointed out two white terns flying in tandem, swooping and wheeling in perfect unison and as if they were flying just for the love of it.
'Yes, I do. I think it's in my blood.' 'How much time do you spend on the mainland?' 'Quite a lot.' He grimaced. 'I don't know if it was a conscious policy of my forebears but we acquired little bits of this and that, all quite humble at first but they've mushroomed now to the extent that I decided to go public in quite a few of them so there's not only myself and the family to consider but shareholders as well.'
'Darren-that was his forte, he always reckoned,' she said involuntarily. 'He saw himself as a corporate raider
'I have to confess I do. I also look upon it as a trust, to keep it all going and healthy, wealthy and wise, and I enjoy the cut and thrust of commerce so I couldn't, much as I love it, simply live here and watch birds. But I couldn't ever envisage not being able to live here a lot of the time, either.'
'So you have the best of both worlds,' she said slowly. 'Perhaps.' He leant back on one elbow. 'The one thing I haven't done yet is provide any heirs to carry on the tradition. It's probably hard for outsiders to understand but I think most of us who have roots here regard the island as a bit of a sacred trust too. I think it comes from the isolation of the place as well as how self-supporting it's always been.' 'The Kentia palm,' she murmured. 'It is a bit amazing, isn't it? And still going on.'
'Yep! Although we only sell seedlings now, as opposed to seeds.'
Davina lay back and crossed her arms behind her head. 'It's so lovely,' she said softly, relishing the warmth of the sun and the clear air.
He looked down at her from close range so she could see the little yellow flecks in his eyes. 'So are you. I wonder if you have any idea of what I'd like to be doing right here and now?' Her lips curved. 'I don't think it would be legal.' 'Not even an embrace?'
'Oh, well, perhaps.' But at that moment they heard voices approaching and they sat up, laughing quietly.
'So much for the isolation,' he said wryly. 'By the way, I'm taking you out to dinner tonight.'
'Thank you, but I can-'
'This will be educational as well as epicurean. You'll need to bring your camera.' 'Oh. Why?'
'Well, you know all those mutton bird holes in the ground we've seen?' She nodded. 'The adults,' he continued, 'leave their chicks in the holes all day while they fly out to sea to do a spot of fishing. They all return at more or less the same time just before dark and unerringly find the right hole in the ground. It's quite a sight and there's a restaurant ideally positioned above Ned's Beach to watch the spectacle while you have a pre-dinner drink.'
'Oh!'
'Mmm. In the meantime, I'm going to try and find you some Masked Boobies, unfortunately named birds one feels, but also well worth the sight.'
'Lay on, Macduff!'
But they didn't find any Masked Boobies and were laughing about that as they got back to the cottage, late in the afternoon.
'I'm tempted to think they didn't want to be found,' she told him. 'Perhaps they're embarrassed about their name?'
He grimaced. 'We'll see them tomorrow, anyway. I thought we might take Candice to Ball's Pyramid- they're always flying around the base of Mount Gower. Do you need to rest before we go out? We've done a hell of a lot of walking and climbing.'
'No,' she said, 'and a hell of a lot of that sort of gentle rambling we did today is small time to someone who has climbed Mount Lidgbird! But I am going to soak in that bathtub for a little while.'
'Done,' he said. 'I've got a few calls to make.'
'I'm surprised there's a telephone.'
'The two things I insisted on were the shower and thephone.'
It was blissful in the tub with a haze of lavender-scented steam rising above her-she'd found the lavender oil in the credenza. And just as she was thinking reluctantly of getting out, Steve came in.
'I'm coming,' she said ruefully, and stood up.
'I wasn't coming to chase you up,' he replied and held out a hand to help her climb over the steep side of the tub. 'I was actually coming,' he went on, 'to feast my eyes on you. I've been plagued by visions of you without your clothes all day, you see.'
'I…' Davina stopped and felt herself starting to colour. 'Well, here I am,' she said a bit breathlessly, as his gaze wandered over her wet body, the sweep of her hips and thighs, the small mound of her stomach, her waist, her rosy, satiny breasts with their darker rose velvety tips. 'I can't help feeling a bit like a B-grade actress without her clothes, though,' she added involuntarily.
'Don't,' he said barely audibly and put his hands round her waist. 'I was not only wrong but a bloody idiot when I said that. You're exquisite-why, oh, why did I ever mention mutton birds?' And he looked into her eyes wryly.
'There's always later,' she said softly, and moved into his arms.
'Not if you do that,' he murmured.
'I'm only going to do it for a fleeting moment more. Steve-' She stopped and looked up at him.
'Say it, Davina.'
'I… thank you for a lovely day.' Which was not what she'd been going to say and she thought he might have guessed because something flickered briefly in his eyes, but she moved away and reached for a towel before he could comment. She also said brightly, 'Give me twenty minutes and I'll be ready.'
He paused and she held her breath but in the end he said, 'OK. I need a shower myself.'
She dressed with unsteady hands and the knowledge in her heart that she'd been almost unbearably tempted
