"Archer, Geoffrey - The Burma Legacy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Archer Geoffrey)

"We're eating soon," Squires announced. "Sorry we don't have enough
to ask you to join us."
"No problem," said Sam, making to stand up.
"No rush," Squires insisted. "It'll be a while before she serves up. Finish
your drink and tell us more about the two of you. Finance, you said. Doing
what, exactly?"
"Investment management," Sam replied, trying to give the words a
mystique they didn't deserve. "Private clients. People who want to use their
money cleverly. Which means not losing it to the taxmen."
"Or explaining where it comes from . . ." Squires suggested, playfully.
"We . . . we have to make sure it's in a useable form," Sam cautioned.
"Of course."
Tempting smells of hot ginger began to waft up from the galley below.
Vicky emerged clutching cutlery which she plonked on the table.
Midge rested her hand on Sam's arm. "Time we left these good people to
their dinner, sweetie."
Squires stood up. "Nice to know you. If you're partying tomorrow
night, give us a call on the VHP to say where you've dropped your hook."
He took Midge's arm as they stepped onto the pontoon. "Give us a chance
to get to know each other better."
"Mmmm ... I'd like that." She put a leg up onto their own boat.
"You two been together long?" His eyes swept over her body like an
airport scanner.
"A while," said Sam, uncomfortably realising it was a detail they hadn't
discussed.
"Nearly a year," Midge added.
"See you in the morning then. Before you head off." The drug-runner
climbed back over the rail onto the Estelle.
Down in the saloon, they flopped onto the sofas, hunching forward so
they could speak without being overheard.
"Now I know what fledglings feel like," Midge whispered eventually.
"When a cat gets hold of them." She tilted her head back and let out a long
gasp of relief. The exposed ridge of her throat had a purity to it which Sam
found disturbingly erotic.
The smell of the food on the Estelle had made him hungry. Midge read
his mind.
"Try that restaurant next to the yacht club?" she suggested.
"Absolutely."
Going ashore again would take his mind off the fact that in a couple of
hours he'd be sharing a bed with this disconcertingly well-put-together
woman, but with physical contact strictly taboo.

2 Friday, 31 December
Millennium Eve
Sam was woken by the daylight streaming in through the cabin window.
Instantly alert, he sat up and peered out, fearing their neighbour might have
slipped away in the night. But the Estelle was still there.
He swung his legs to the floor and listened. Rigging pinged against a
mast nearby, signifying a breeze. Its sound triggered a yearning to be under
sail.