Page 80 of A Taste of Paradise

She pasted on a smile, unwilling to trouble the other woman with what she’d learned. Though her heart was hammering.

‘Hey, you two,’ she greeted automatically. ‘You look like you’re enjoying yourselves.’

‘So where’s Mack?’ Trevor questioned as he sampled a miniature roti from his plate. ‘I was going to show him a couple of shots from our tour.’

As if he gives a shit, Erin thought darkly.

‘Somebody summon me?’ Mack’s warm breath tickled her ear as he came up behind her as if out of nowhere, and Erin jumped a little. He nonchalantly grabbed an accra from the buffet platter nearby, and popped the entire thing in his mouth. ‘That’s delicious,’ he asserted, quickly grabbing another.

‘Hey, I got those photos developed,’ Trevor enthused. ‘Absolutely great stuff. You should take a look before you leave in case you want to take any home with you,’ he added, slipping a proprietary arm around Molly’s shoulders. Erin noticed the delight that spread across her face and her cheeks flush at the easy affectionate gesture, but she couldn’t even muster up a suitable response.

She was too furious with Mack.

‘You’re leaving soon?’ she asked him through gritted teeth. Of course, you are.

‘Well, sure, but not tonight anyway. Too much fun to be had.’ He glanced back at her and smirked, before inclining his head curiously when he noticed the thunderous expression on her face.

Erin turned away from his gaze to see Josh and Maria Beaumont further down on the beach, entwined closely together as they danced to the music. The newlyweds hadn’t complained about Wi-Fi since. Seemed Erin’s machinations had finally opened their eyes.

Well, that was something at least.

‘Feeling envious?’ Mack teased, following her gaze. He moved closer and she deftly stepped away, now repulsed by his proximity.

‘Why the hell would I be envious?’ she replied, as Trevor and Molly looked on uncomfortably, evidently taken aback by Erin’s unusually sullen demeanour.

‘I don’t know. You tell me,’ Mack drawled, and she didn’t even have a second to respond before he’d taken her hand and was leading her further out onto the sand to where a small crowd had already gathered to dance a little way down from the bonfire.

‘What the hell do you think you’re—’

Before Erin could process what was happening, he pulled her closer to him. ‘Do you ever stop talking?’ he muttered, cutting her off.

‘My boss is watching,’ she protested, trying to keep him at arm’s-length, though it was impossible when he was holding her so closely.

‘Let him get his own girl,’ he stated possessively. ‘You’re taken.’

‘Am I now?’ she demanded as Mack began to lead her further away from the crowd, his hips swaying to the calypso beat. Though he wasn’t nearly as rhythmic as the locals, who were keeping perfect time to the tempo. The sizzling beat seemed to be infecting everyone and, soon enough, Trevor and Molly were out alongside them.

As Erin glanced around, she noticed a host of resort guests gathered and laughing around the bonfire, delight etched on their faces as they relished a night of fun and frolicking under the clear Caribbean sky. For them, there was nothing to think about other than the moment and that point in time while they were having the time of their lives. All was forgotten. There was no work. No obligations. No stress or demands. They were free and living each moment as their best moment.

She wished she was one of them.

‘You seem a little … off tonight,’ Mack spoke again, his lips way too close to her ear. ‘I get that’s it been a stressful time but now you can relax and let—’

Erin stepped back, disentangling herself from his arms once and for all. ‘Oh, you get that, do you? Snakes and cancelled entertainment, flooding pipes and missing laundry, not to mention some jumped-up demanding CEO whose sole intent was to grab my strings and dangle me around like a puppet?’

It was dangerous to outright confront him like this, she knew, but still Erin couldn’t help it. She was angry, betrayed and, most of all, confused. Why would he lead her on like that? It was one thing to be cut-throat about a business proposition, but why toy with her feelings in the process?

What did Daniel MacKenzie have to gain by that?

‘What do you mean?’ He frowned in confusion. ‘Are you talking about me? I didn’t dangle anything …’

Molly and Trevor came up to them then, Molly’s eyes shining as she glanced excitedly at Mack. ‘Did he tell you?’

‘Tell me what?’ Now Erin was more confused than ever. She looked back at Mack’s face, illuminated by the bonfire flame, but his expression was unreadable.

‘About my mother’s … I mean, my shareholding in the resort!’ Molly grinned happily. ‘You were right; I do need to follow my own path and, thanks to Mack’s generous offer, I now have the means to do so. Trevor came to the bank with me yesterday to help with all the documents and transfers—’ she looked adoringly from one man to the other ‘—to sell my shares in The Palms to Mack.’

Chapter 55