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

Sam raised her eyebrows at him skeptically.
"Perhaps it is just that I wish to know you forever," he added.
"Sure," Sam said. She was feeling very cynical and very depressed. All she wanted to do was to go to bed and sleep for a hundred years. "Thanks for the cham-
"But you have not yet heard my idea," he said.
"What idea?" Sam asked.
"You are so sad," Jean-Claude said. "It would be my pleasure to be your . . . how do you say it? Knight in shining armor."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"Just this," Jean-Claude said. "You are feeling bad about losing your money, and I have more money than I can ever use."
"How nice for you," Sam said drily.
"I make you a small proposition," Jean-Claude continued. "For the pleasure of your company in my suite, I will pay you back all the money you have lost, and five hundred dollars more."
Sam stood stock-still for a moment. She wasn't sure she had heard him correctly. "Are you telling me that you'll pay me fourteen hundred dollars if I'll go to your suite with you?"
"This is correct," Jean-Claude said. "Your problems would be solved, no? It is so simple."
"Not so simple," Sam answered, brushing some hair out of her face. "What am I
"Samantha, you're too young to be cynical," Jean-Claude chided.
"Oh, really?" Sam asked, "Well, where I come from, the word proposition means only one thingЧwhich is exactly what I think you
mean."
Jean-Claude smiled. "Samantha, do you really think that a man like me must pay to have his way with a woman?"
Sam looked at his handsome, confident face. "I guess not," she admitted.
"You insult me with your insinuation," he continued. "I am trying to help you, as a friend."
"As a friend," she repeated.
"Mais oui>" said Jean-Claude. "Look, to prove to you I am honest, I will give you the money." He reached into his pocket and took out a money clip. He peeled off a number of hundred-dollar bills and handed them to Sam.
"WhatЧwhat are you doing?" Sam asked him, completely taken aback.
"You think I am a liar? This I cannot tolerate," he said, curling her fingers around the money.
"I cant take this!" Sam protested.
"You have insulted me," Jean-Claude said in a hurt voice. "You must take it."
Sam looked down at the money in her hand. Maybe she was reading him all wrong. Maybe she was just feeling defensive because she felt so insecure around him.
"What would we do in your suite?" Sam asked cautiously.
"Drink champagne, look at the view, get to know each other," Jean-Claude responded. He looked at her and continued, "We will not be alone, cherie. So you can feel quite safe." Jean-Claude leaned over and whispered something to one of his companions. In only a few minutes, a beautiful blond woman in a lovely gown of pink lace joined them.
"Jean-Claude," she greeted him softly, kissing his cheek.
"Samantha, this is Marie. Marie, this is Samantha," Jean-Claude said, introducing them.
"So you see, it will be all five of us," Jean-Claude said expansively, indicating that his two suit-clad companions were included in the group.
Sam bit her lip in consternation, trying to figure out what to do. Nothing awful could happen if there's another girl there, she reasoned. Maybe he really just wants to
help me out. Besides, he's so rich that the money means nothing to him. "All right," Sam finally acquiesced.
"Delightful!" Jean-Claude said. He took Sam's arm, and the fivesome walked toward the elevators.
Jean-Claude's penthouse suite took up the entire top floor of the Hotel Paradise. It took Sam's breath away.
"This is ... unbelievable," she breathed, momentarily at a loss for words.
Two of the walls were all glass, offering a panoramic view of the ocean and the starry night sky. All of the furniture was white, beige, or pale rose. A thick white carpet covered the entire floor of the suite. White couches with a faint beige design were situated in the center of the sitting room to form a conversation area. In front of that was a rose-colored marble fireplace. Who would ever need to make afire in the Bahamas? Sam thought irrelevantly.
"Champagne for the ladies," Jean-Claude told one of his associates, who immediately ran to do his bidding.
"Are those guys on twenty-four-hour retainer?" Sam joked, watching the man scurry to the refrigerator in the sumptuous white-on-white kitchen.
"They are convenient," Jean-Claude said
simply. "Come, let us sit and enjoy the champagne."
Jean-Claude poured champagne into their fluted glasses, then lifted his glass for a toast. "To beauty," he said, and gazed into Sam's eyes as he drank his champagne.
"You have eyes like a petite chatte," he murmured.
"What's that?" Sam asked.
"A little cat," Jean-Claude said softly, "a beautiful, sexy little cat."
"Thanks," Sam said. She felt very uncomfortable, and looked over at Marie, but Marie was sitting on the other side of Jean-Claude, calmly sipping her champagne.
Be cool, Sam, she told herself. There's nothing going on here. But even as she told herself that, she felt as if she was trying to talk herself into believing it. The situation felt creepy, and Sam couldn't stop her hands from shaking a little around the stem of her champagne glass.
"So, don't those guys want some champagne?" Sam asked nervously, indicating Jean-Claude's companions, who were both standing in the kitchen.
"Would you like them to join us, petite chatte?" Jean-Claude asked Sam. He dipped his finger into his champagne, and then painted her lips slowly with the sweet liq-
uid. "We will do whatever you like," he said in a low voice.