Raw Deal

Ignoring the sudden thudding of her heart, Maggie fastened the single tiny pearl button at the neck of the cream crêpe de Chine gown and stood back to inspect her handiwork.

Oh, dear. It’s another of those dresses, she thought wearily. I really must stop taking Jo and Annie shopping with me.

There was a tap at the door, and Ben’s voice curled around her senses.

‘Maggie? Are you ready?’

She took a deep breath and opened the door.

He stood looking at her for endless moments, which gave her the perfect opportunity to study him in turn. And he looked gorgeous. Tall, broad, devastatingly masculine, the little-boy look banished in favour of an appraisal that was elemental in its intensity.

‘My God,’ he breathed, and closed his eyes, opening them again slowly. ‘Turn round,’ he instructed, and she noticed with rather nervous amusement that his voice was slightly rasping.

She twirled slowly, and then came to rest facing him again.

‘Losing your voice?’ she teased.

‘Losing my grip, I think,’ he replied gruffly, and with a deep sigh he offered her his arm. ‘I think we need to be among people before I give in to the urge to tumble you on to your bunk and ravish you before dinner.’

Maggie laughed, but as she looked up and met his eyes she realised he was only half joking.

Thank goodness he was a gentleman!

Dinner was wonderful, each course outdoing the one before, and by the time Maggie had fought her way through the French onion soup, the lobster tails in an exquisite sauce and the beef Wellington, she was ready to give in.

Then the dessert trolley arrived, and she simply had to succumb to the crêpes with a flambéd dark cherry filling, drenched with thick, delicious double cream.

‘My arteries will never forgive me,’ she said laughingly, and Ben beside her smiled and stole a cherry dripping with cream.

‘Just testing,’ he murmured, and declined his own portion, choosing instead a cup of rich black coffee.

She couldn’t finish, and Ben picked up her fork and speared the last few cherries. She watched, fascinated, as his lips closed on the fork and he withdrew it, a sensuous smile on his face. He licked his lips and sighed.

‘I don’t think I’m going to be able to move,’ Maggie confided, somewhat distracted by the look in his eyes.

‘You need a walk on deck. Come on. Excuse us, please, ladies and gentlemen. A little fresh air!’

They left a polite murmur behind them which rapidly changed into idle speculation, and made their way out on to the deck.

Already passengers were beginning to drift out, and they leant on the rail and watched the flying fish leaping out of the water.

‘What’s the programme for this evening?’ Maggie asked lazily, not at all interested in moving from her comfortable position against Ben’s side.

‘Dancing and cabaret until nearly midnight in the Penang Lounge, and then crossing the Equator at midnight with the captain dressed as Neptune. It’s quite a laugh, I gather. Then more dancing and disco and drinking and what you will until dawn. The casino’s open for those who think their luck might have changed with the advent of the New Year, and then breakfast is served for those who can tolerate it pretty much as required until midday.’

‘What happens then?’

‘They change the menu!’

Maggie chuckled. ‘It sounds as if you’ll have quite a few patients!’

He laughed. ‘Inevitably. I have a large supply of hangover and indigestion remedies available for the over-indulged—talking of which, how are you feeling?’

‘Over-indulged! I’ll survive—it’s entirely my own fault!’

He chuckled. ‘How’s the ankle?’

She flexed it thoughtfully. ‘It seems better.’

‘Better enough to dance?’

‘Disco?’ she asked doubtfully.

He turned towards her with a lazy smile. ‘Actually, I had in mind something rather slower and more romantic. I’ve eaten far too much myself to jiggle about, and anyway it seems like a good idea.’

Maggie thought it seemed like a crazy idea, but her wretchedly willing head nodded of its own accord and she found herself going with him to the Penang Lounge where couples were moving slowly to the music.

Too crowded,’ he decided, and led her out on deck. The sunbeds had been cleared away to make room for the night’s revelry, and apart from a few couples similarly engaged they had the deck to themselves.

He held out his hand. ‘May I have the honour of this dance?’ he murmured, and she stepped into his arms with a tiny sigh of resignation.

He held her lightly and very properly, until she turned unwarily and jarred her ankle. Then he pulled her more firmly against him and offered her the support of his arms. ‘Better?’ he said softly, his breath teasing her hair, and she nodded, sliding her arms round his waist and leaning into him.

‘Much.’

They clung together in the moonlight, swaying gently to the soft music that washed over them under the star-spangled tropic sky, and Maggie wondered what on earth she was thinking about to allow herself so close to an absolute stranger.

Except that he didn’t seem like a stranger, and after twenty-eight years her body had evidently decided that her mind had had quite long enough and needed a helping hand.

Perhaps it had been easy to walk away before because she had never met anyone sufficiently tempting? As she had told Ben, she was extremely picky about her boyfriends—to the extent that she hadn’t had one for the past two years, and the ones before that had merely been convenient escorts. Undoubtedly there had been those who had felt cheated when she refused to express her gratitude for their company in the accepted fashion, but it wasn’t a fashion she had any intention of adopting for herself.

Until tonight.

Idly, she wondered whether they would end up in bed after all the revelry was over. Somehow she wouldn’t be surprised.

‘Time for the cabaret,’ he murmured, and she dragged herself back to earth—or deck, or whatever—and allowed Ben to ease her gently away from him.

A small, unbidden whimper of distress rose in her throat, and he brushed her lips with his. ‘Shh,’ he whispered. ‘I know. Later. Don’t worry, I’m not letting you go.’

Firmly at his side, she allowed him to lead her back into the Penang Lounge for the cabaret.

Apparently it was hysterically funny, because the passengers were all clutching their sides and laughing until the tears ran down their cheeks, but Maggie had eyes and ears only for Ben, and when he turned and winked at her she knew he was feeling the same way.

When the cabaret was over they made their way out on deck again, gathering round the pool, and shortly before midnight their portly captain appeared, scantily clad in a few strands of strategically placed artificial seaweed, brandishing a trident and singing sea-shanties with great gusto and only slightly off-key.

At the stroke of twelve his trident was removed and he was thrown into the pool, amid great cheers, and emerged dripping and smiling broadly to kiss all the women passengers.

And he wasn’t the only one in demand. As he reached Maggie and clutched her arms with slightly damp hands before bestowing a smacking kiss on her cheek, she saw a tarty blonde with legs that went on forever and arms like an octopus envelope Ben and press her lips firmly to his in an unmistakable invitation.

‘Happy New Year,’ she crooned, and seized him again.

Maggie turned away and allowed herself to be kissed by variously over-enthusiastic male passengers until she felt a hand on her arm and shook it off, heartily sick of the whole business.

Damn it, she was jealous! Serious stuff, being in lust, she confessed disgustedly to herself, and felt the hand return to her arm, shackling her wrist in strong fingers.

She turned to quell the enthusiastic Lothario and found herself looking into Ben’s furious eyes.

‘Did you have to let them all kiss you?’

‘Huh!’ She was enraged. ‘Me? What about you and that—that——?’

‘Barbie-doll?’ he offered, and she suddenly saw the funny side. A bubble of laughter rose in her throat, and Ben’s lips twitched.

‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’

He led her round the corner, up the ladder and through the little gate that led to their very own private sanctuary, and there he drew her into his arms.

‘Happy New Year,’ he murmured against her lips, and then he was kissing her with all the pent-up feeling of the last few hours, holding her as she had wanted him to hold her since she had opened her cabin door to him at seven o’clock.

She sagged against him, her legs unable to support her, and he groaned low in his throat and turned her so that she was propped up against a bulkhead, then his hands dropped to her waist and slid slowly upwards.

Because of the cut of the dress she had been unable to wear a bra, and she had a moment’s pang that he would be disappointed in the small size of her breasts, but, as his hands cupped them, his breath hissed out between his teeth and she felt a deep shudder run through him.

‘I want to look at you,’ he whispered, and deftly dispatched the single pearl button that held the back of the neck. The gown was slashed from nape to waist, and as he eased it over her shoulders the bodice fell softly to her hips and left her open to his gaze.

His face was in shadow, but the moonlight gleamed brightly on her pale skin, leaving nothing to the imagination. She moved to cover herself, but he caught her hands, trapping them as he stared at her hungrily.

‘You’re perfect,’ he rasped, ‘a moonlit goddess. Maggie, I want you. Now. Tonight.’

Her throat was dry from need, and the only word she could manage was his name. It was enough.

Tugging the shoulders roughly back into place, his trembling fingers refastened the button.

‘Come on,’ he said gruffly. ‘Let’s go somewhere where we won’t be disturbed.’

Mindlessly she followed him, her defences in tatters. Her legs were trembling so badly that they were almost out of control, and if they had been alone in the lift she had the distinct feeling it would have been all over there and then.

But they weren’t alone, and somehow managed to survive the endless descent without reaching for each other.

He was inserting the key in her cabin door when a steward called him and came hurrying towards them.

‘Dr Ben, excuse me, there is a man urgently needing your attention.’

Ben groaned quietly under his breath.

‘OK, Ah Seng, thank you. I’ll be with you in a moment.’

He pushed open the door, followed Maggie in and folded her against his chest with a ragged sigh.

‘I’m sorry,’ he muttered. his voice rich with frustration and apology. ‘Duty calls. I won’t be long. Wait for me.’

With a brief kiss, he was gone.

CHAPTER THREE

MAGGIE waited, as instructed, and as the minutes ticked by and turned into hours so her heart slowed and common sense returned.

Whatever was she thinking about? He was an inveterate flirt, a rootless, itinerant playboy with some nameless hang-up about his past—no, she was better off without him.

Ignoring the tug of disappointment in the region of her heart, she hung up her dress, climbed into bed and then got up again to lock her door.

In fact she needn’t have bothered, because Ben didn’t come back that night and she didn’t see him again at all the following day, although she did see the Barbie-doll from the poolside leaving the medical centre still dressed—if you could call it that—in the scrap of tinsel she had been draped in the night before.

By dinner that night he still hadn’t appeared, and, feeling rather miffed, she squandered some of her grandmother’s more-than-generous spending money in the casino.

So he had thought better of it—well, so had she. He was obviously not worth wasting her energy on—especially not if he was prepared to settle for that ghastly tart! She was going to make a New Year’s resolution to avoid him for the remainder of the cruise. It shouldn’t be difficult.

Her ankle was much better, and she decided to take a stroll on deck. It was too crowded for her taste, and, slipping quietly away, she took the route she had followed with Ben and went through the gate marked ‘Authorised Personnel Only’.

Perhaps it was instinct that led her to him, but she was unsurprised to find him standing there alone in the moonlight, his arms propped on the teak rail, staring out over the night sea. So much for her resolution!

‘You didn’t come back,’ she said accusingly before she could stop herself.

He straightened and turned towards her, and she was shocked to see how tired he looked.

‘Maggie,’ he murmured absently, and, lifting a hand, he caught the stray lock of hair blowing across her face and tucked it behind her ear.

‘I thought you’d fallen overboard,’ she said brightly, trying to make light of the wild tumult his touch had caused.

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