Free Mishap Marriage by Helen Dickson Page B

of will, she made herself step towards him on legs that were wooden. ‘I—I know how this must look— I know what you imagine—’
    Zack’s laugh was even more insolent than his words. ‘Imagine?’
    ‘I know what you think—but I assure you, I did not plan this...’
    ‘Don’t bother trying to explain. Let us not pretend. Do not play the innocent,’ he ground out, his voice quiet, with all the deadly calm of approaching peril. ‘Let me congratulate you. You are as clever as I credited you as being. You are a consummate deceiver, Miss McKenzie, and a magnificent actress. I congratulate you. With your talent you should have been on the stage with the rest of the ambitious harlots who cavort and dance for the amusement of the crowd.’
    In a state of acute misery, Shona swallowed convulsively. ‘You are quite mistaken. I have done absolutely nothing wrong.’
    In his current mood he was not inclined to deal kindly with her. Fed up with all the convoluted lies and his own disastrous blunder, he would not spare her. His tone was merciless and cutting. ‘Spare me your lies. It’s not difficult to see what sort of a woman you are. You planned this with all the deviousness of a born schemer.’ His eyes were bright and as sharp as the teeth of a trap. ‘When I leave the island, I never wish to set eyes on it again,’ he said, his voice hard and smooth as polished steel. ‘I never wish to think of you again, Miss McKenzie, unless it be with disgust.’ His cold eyes swept over Antony and his wife. ‘Excuse me. I have work to do. The sooner I leave this damned island the better.’
    With a cold nod he turned on his heel and headed up the path, fury a hard lump in his throat, like a nut swallowed whole. He cursed ever setting eyes on Shona McKenzie. She had got under his skin the minute he’d stepped ashore and began to disrupt his life. In the heat of the creek passion had replaced all reason. Like the idiot he was, he’d watched transfixed as she’d shaken out her wealth of golden hair, slipped into the water and snaked her tantalising body back and forth, and all the time she’d been waiting for the moment when her brother and his wife would arrive to witness their actions.
    McKenzie must be laughing himself into a seizure that he’d fallen into the trap. After all his experience, his alleged sophistication, he thought as his wrath continued to mount, he’d fallen like a rock for the oldest female trick in the world. Leaving Melrose Hill, he tried to decide the most expedient way to extricate himself from this mess and get the woman off his hands for good. Reaching his ship, he immediately issued orders to stock up and be ready to leave within twenty-four hours. Any outstanding repairs would be completed in Martinique.
    * * *
    In the creek, Shona was left still hugging her dress to her chest. Her thoughts were unpleasant and for the first time ever she doubted her own worth. She felt as if she had been physically beaten. Her mind was too dazed to absorb the shock, too numb to feel the full enormity of pain she had brought on herself.
    ‘Make yourself decent and come back to the house,’ Carmelita ordered sharply, turning from her. Having gained her end, she forgot the means and, in high spirits, clutched her husband’s arm and walked close to his side. ‘Captain Fitzgerald’s actions were without precedent. I see now it was unwise to welcome him so freely. I think we have set a lion loose in an arena filled with lambs. You must pay him a visit on his ship, Antony—let him see that the matter is by no means closed.’
    With unsteady fingers Shona began to rearrange her garments. She followed them back to the house, relieved that the dreadful moment was over. There seemed to be an overwhelming emptiness about it all now, but her young body burned with a yearning she had never experienced before—but there was no solace in it now, for her arms were achingly empty.
    But she would never forget the accusing