Free Mistress Minded by Katherine Garbera Page B

more?”
    â€œWhat are you, my father confessor?”
    â€œ Madon’, you have no idea. I guess that was pushy.”
    â€œYeah, it was. I know how important it is that a couple buys this place.”
    â€œNot any couple,” Ray said. “A couple in love.”
    â€œJayne and I are committed to keeping Perla Negra as one of the Caribbean’s premiere resorts.”
    â€œThat’s not good enough. I thought I was clear when we spoke on the phone. Perla Negra isn’t just a resort. It’s a legend.”
    â€œLegends make a nice selling point,” Adam said.
    â€œYes, they do,” Ray said. He took a puff off his cigar. “But it has to be more than that…. Perla Negra is a place where couples come for romance and to reaffirm the bonds between them.”
    Perla Negra… The way Ray spoke of it made it seem like something mystical and otherworldly, the perfect place for love. Two things that couldn’t survive in the real world, or at least in Adam’s world.
    â€œI hate to break it to you, Ray, but some of the couples who come here are adulterers.”
    Ray shrugged.
    Adam knew that not everyone felt the way he did about adultery. He also acknowledged that if his family hadn’t been shattered by it he might not hold the act of being unfaithful in such disdain. But he did. And it was the one thing he couldn’t forgive or tolerate.
    â€œWe provide a place for them to be together. We never stand in the way of true love.”
    â€œNo matter what kind of mess it leaves behind?” Adam asked.
    â€œI don’t follow.”
    Adam finished off his drink. “Never mind. I think I’d better go see about Jayne.”
    â€œNo problem,” Ray said. “We’ll meet you for breakfast on the veranda. I’ve arranged for you both to take a tour around the island on a boat.”
    â€œI can handle the boat myself, so we won’t need a guide. Good night.”
    â€œBuona notte, compare.”
    Adam walked through the lobby, intent on getting back to Jayne. Something was wrong and he should have picked up on it earlier instead of letting business distract him. The only reason he had was that business was easier to manage and deal with.
    The suite was dark when he entered it except for a small coffee table lamp. He was surprised to see the red file folder sitting in the middle of the desk, the one that held his action items. Jayne must have done some work when she returned to their suite.
    Relieved that she must be feeling better—not only because he hoped to persuade her to become hislover—he flipped open the file folder and skimmed the printed e-mails and faxes. Nothing urgent.
    He loosened his tie and toed off his shoes as he approached the bedroom. He hadn’t worked out the details yet, but he knew he wasn’t going to be able to let Jayne leave her job, despite what he’d always believed about lovers working together. He knew that he functioned better when she was around.
    He opened the door to the bedroom carefully. Moonlight spilled in from the window, and Adam stayed in the shadows, searching the bed for Jayne’s small form. But the bed was empty.
    â€œChère?”
    â€œOut here,” she said. Her voice drifted in from the balcony.
    Adam stepped out there, ready to pull her into his arms and finish what they’d started too long ago on the beach. But one look at the way she held herself and he knew something was terribly wrong with Jayne. And it wasn’t a damn headache. It was something he’d done.
    He suddenly remembered why he preferred having a mistress to actually dating. There was none of this kind of emotional turmoil.

Seven
    J ayne had focused on work when she’d returned to their suite. She’d changed out of the wraparound silk skirt—not into the one-of-a-kind negligee that Adam had so thoughtfully provided, but a large T-shirt she’d picked up in the gift shop after Adam had