"Bennett, Cherie - Sunset Island 011 - Sunset Paradise" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bennett Cherie)

"And I might say the same for you two," Sam said, taking in the fully dressed Emma and Carrie. Emma had on a white linen pantsuit with a raw silk vest in the palest rose shade underneath, and Carrie was dressed in a plaid sundress that fell in graceful folds to midcalf. Sam had on quite a lot of makeup, Emma a little, and Carrie none.
"You know, to look at us, no one would believe we're friends!" Sam laughed.
"Vive la difference!" Emma said, picking up her small Chanel clutch purse from the couch.
"We are a credit to babedom everywhere, that's all I have to say," Sam decreed as they walked out of the suite and headed down the hall.
When they got to the lobby Sam immediately headed for the dolphin tank. "Oh, Pres!" she called. The dolphin with the striking markings swam for the glass and bumped noses with Sam.
"Did you miss me, big guy?" she cooed.
"We really have to find her a human-type male," Carrie told Emma, "and I mean fast."
"Well, speak of the devilЧI mean devils," Emma giggled, cocking her head toward the three approaching Englishmen.
"Hello!" Trevor called, bounding enthusiastically over to Emma and Carrie. "I say, aren't you ladies looking spiffing!"
"Is that good?" Carrie asked, making a face.
"Jolly good!" Trevor assured her.
"Yes, I'll miss you too, Pres," Sam crooned through the glass.
"She's talking to a fish," Geoffrey said with dismay.
"Pres is a mammal," Emma informed him gravely, "and a close personal friend of hers."
"Shall we go?" Nigel asked Carrie, offering his arm.
Carrie took it, and the two of them led the way as the group strolled leisurely toward the President's Restaurant.
"Harrington, party of six," Trevor told
the tuxedoed maitre d' when they reached the restaurant.
They were seated at a semicircular banquette in front of a huge picture window overlooking the ocean.
"Awesome," Sam breathed.
"Totally," Carrie agreed, staring out at the incredible view.
"I do love the way you Americans talk," Geoffrey said.
"Well, you speak rather spiffingly yourself," Carrie laughed as she opened the opulent-looking menu.
"Mmm, this all looks fabulous," Sam said. ' "I'll have one of everything."
"The lobster is excellent here," Nigel told Carrie, "if you like lobster."
"Love it," Carrie confessed. "It's just that it's always so expensive."
"Not to worry," Nigel said expansively. "Money is no object. We'll both have it."
Everyone ordered their food, and Trevor picked out some wine, which the wine steward brought over for his approval. The steward poured a small amount in Trevor's glass, and Trevor ostentatiously lifted the wine to his lips.
"This will do," he announced, a look of deep concentration on his face.
"Very good, sir," the wine steward said,
tne wine for everyone except Emma, who had ordered mineral water.
"I propose a toast," Geoffrey called out, lifting his glass. "To new friendships and, shall we say, international relations!"
"We'll drink to the friendships part," Sam said firmly.
"It'll do for a starter?" Trevor laughed.
Soon the dinner was served and everyone ate heartily. Trevor ordered bottle after bottle of wine, and the guys drank it as if it were water. The drunker the Englishmen got, the more endless, boring stories they told about the boys' school they'd gone to togetherЧevidently they'd known one another their entire lives. Now all three dabbled in the stock marketЧin between lavish vacations, anyway.
"And then there was the time Nigel here got paddled by the headmaster for breaking curfew with the headmaster's niece, Melange," Geoffrey hooted.
"She wasn't even a looker, was she, old boy?" Trevor guffawed. "We all thought you were doing her a favor, what-ho!"
"Any port in a storm, lads!" Nigel yelled, which propelled all three of them into cascades of laughter.
"Maybe we could talk about something other than your school days," Sam sug-
gested while the waiter silently cleared their dishes. The food, she had to admit, had been heavenly, but the company left something to be desired.
"Do you ladies dabble in stocks?" Geoffrey asked.
Before any of them could answer that they had no interest in the stock market, Geoffrey was off on an endless story about bull and bear markets and the future of England's economy. It was beyond stultifying. Even well-bred Emma looked ready to dump her water over Geoffrey's head.
"Wow, would you look at the time," Sam finally interrupted in a loud voice.
"The night is young!" Trevor insisted. "What say we have some champagne and then hit the dance floor?"
"Spanking notion!" Geoffrey agreed. "Trip the light fantastic and all that."
"You know, we'd love to," Sam said gravely, "but I have to take my medication."
"Oh, poor kitten," Nigel cooed. "I hope your condition isn't serious."
"Only if I skip a dose or two," Sam said. "Unfortunately I was so excited about seeing you guys that I forgot all three of today's doses."
"My word!" Nigel cried. "What happens?"
"Oh, nothing too bad," Sam assured him.