Legally Addicted - By Lena Dowling Page 0,46
Georgia’s heart skipped a beat. She had always looked after herself, she didn’t need his help or anyone else’s, but there was something oddly powerful in the feeling of being cared for.
If she could harness that powerful focus to help her, she was sure that the addiction centre was almost a foregone conclusion. But how long could she supress her disgust at the way the Spencers exploited the villagers to line their own pockets, flaunted their wealth in the presence of poverty, and created excess carbon jetting across the Pacific? She swallowed hard, trying to calm her thinking, which lurched around like a three point juggling act between desire, abhorrence and determination.
‘I’ve arranged for us to take a tour of the island.’
‘Okay,’ Georgia said evenly, trying to keep her irritation in check. She was eager to see more, but it would have been nice to have been consulted.
‘You finish your breakfast,’ he said, draining his coffee and motioning towards the waiter who had reappeared with a croissant. ‘I’ll just change into something more suitable.’
In light jeans and a shirt she couldn’t see what was wrong with what he already had on, but his attire when he re-emerged from the fale had her in fits of laughter. Dressed in a singlet and a patterned lava-lava, Brad’s solid hairy legs emerged like vine entangled tree trunks from beneath the sarong. She couldn’t contain herself.
‘What’s wrong with it?’ he said, putting on a fake-serious expression, but nevertheless clearly enjoying her amusement.
‘When in Rome, I suppose.’
‘I’ll have you know that this is an extremely important garment in the tropics, with certain advantages, which, Ms Murray, if you play your cards right you might just get to experience later on,’ he said, with a suggestive tug at the fabric.
She giggled again, her earlier misgivings evaporating into the background.
She loved that about him — the way he could always make her laugh when things got tense.
Loved? The word leapt out at her like a ghoulish apparition.
Liked.
She liked that about him.
Brad had organised for them to be taken by air conditioned SUV to some of the local highlights. The only downside was being stopped every few miles by someone who recognised Brad and wanted to talk. He seemed to know every other person who lived on the island.
By the time they turned down the barest of dirt tracks cut into the lush tropical foliage and began heading inland, Georgia’s stomach was telling her it was almost lunchtime. The SUV rocked from side to side, and more than once she was afraid the vehicle would topple over. She grabbed Brad’s arm for support.
‘Sorry about the track. It’s very rough, but it’s worth it. Any moment now, you’ll see.’
Brad wasn’t exaggerating. As they rounded a final bend, she caught sight of a waterfall surging down over rocks twenty feet high into a natural swimming pool. Mist from the waterfall refracted the spectrum into a stunning dewy rainbow.
‘Paradise.’ The word escaped from her lips as she stepped down from the SUV, the only word that could properly do the scene justice.
‘This way,’ Brad said, guiding her towards a walking track that zigzagged up the hill to the source of the waterfall. Out of the relative cool of the SUV the heavy moist air slowed her steps and closed in on her senses so that she couldn’t be sure which was making her feel more fuggy headed; the humidity, or Brad’s touch each time she attempted to negotiate a difficult piece of track.
The walkway ended where the stream that idled through the foliage cascaded over the huge rock forming the spine of the waterfall, thundering down to the pool below.
As they descended the path, the same way that they had come, he steered her back into a natural grotto formed by the rock and pulled her to him. He stiffened under the thin layers of fabric that lay between them and then he said something that over the roar of the waterfall she couldn’t catch. Before she could respond he leaned in to kiss her. The effect of him as he held her, vice-like, against the rock, enlivened all her senses. He rolled his palm over her breast catching her nipple, bringing it taut, and eliciting a tremor that sent a white water charge to rival the waterfall behind them cascading through her body. He kissed her again, taking possession of her. She surrendered, clinging to him, expecting him to do more, but he pulled away. She caught the word ‘later’