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

"Ah yes," Sam said, stretching out on a couch conveniently placed in front of the windows. "If only Allie and Becky Jacobs were here, my life would be complete." The girls cracked up.
"Actually, I don't think I can make it through a day without Lorell Courtland and Diana De Witt," Emma joked.
"And to think I remember when you had no discernible sense of humor," Sam marveled.
"Gee, thanks," Emma said, throwing a pillow at Sam good-naturedly.
"This is unbelievable!" Carrie said, flipping through some of the hotel literature that was on a table in their suite. "This place has everything. Come look!"
Emma and Sam leaned over Carrie and looked in the hotel guidebook. Carrie was right. At the Hotel Paradise there were five
restaurants, a disco, two snack bars (one that actually floated in the freshwater pool), and a fully equipped health club. The hotel had over a quarter-mile of private beachfront for its guests, along with equipment for every water sport imaginable. There were tennis courts, an eighteen-hole championship golf course, bicycles and mopeds to use, its own glass-bottomed boat, and shows every night in the hotel's huge cabaret theater. There was also the world-famous Hotel Paradise casino, where the richest and best high rollers came to win and lose fortunes on the roll of the dice and the turn of a card.
"I'm ready for that," Sam said, pointing to a full-color photo of the casino.
"I've never been to a casino before," Carrie said, perusing the brochure.
"Me neither," Sam admitted, "but I'm raring to go!"
"Just be careful," Emma warned. "I've seen people lose thousands of dollars in just a few minutes."
"Fm not people," Sam said. "Besides, I have a feeling I've got a talent for it."
"Based on what?" Carrie asked.
Sam walked over to her suitcase and opened it. She reached into the bottom and pulled out an assortment of books and pamphlets. "Based on the fact that knowledge is
power," she answered. "LookЧI'm completely ready to break the bank." She spread out the books for her friends to see.
"How to Win Big at Roulette," Carrie read out loud, taking one of the books. "Winning Craps," she read from another. "Oh, here's my favorite," she said, holding up a book for Emma to see. "You'll Never Need a Job Again. Very realistic."
"Don't knock it if you haven't tried it," Sam said, grabbing her books back from Carrie. "I'm gonna study on the beach. Then I'm going to the casino to clean up."
"Where'd you get those?" Emma asked, kicking off her shoes.
"Remember when I disappeared into the bookshop in the Miami airport?" Sam asked. "That's where I found them. It was as if they had my name on them."
"It's not as easy as those books make it sound," Emma said. "If it were, everyone would be rich from gambling."
"I'll be cool," Sam promised, as much to get Emma off her back as anything else. She dropped the books on the dresser and rooted around hi the bottom of her overstaffed suitcase. "Aha! Here it is. What do you think of my new bathing suit?" She held up a neon-pink maillot.
"I think it looks like it might be big enough to wrap a sandwich," Emma joked.
"Come on," Sam said, "I can hardly wait to try this puppy on. Martha at the Cheap Boutique gave it to me for half price when I told her I was coming on this trip with you."
"Now, Samantha, be a good girl and take your bag into your own room," Emma ordered in a mock mothering tone of voice.
"Yes, Mom," Sam said, dutifully closing her suitcase.
"Carrie and I will get changed, and we'll meet you down by the dolphin tank in ten minutes," Emma added. "And no kissing that loverboy Pres down in the lobby!"
"Okay," Sam said, picking up her stuff. "No kisses for ten minutes. If you're Jate, no promises. See you there!"
Exactly ten minutes later, Carrie and Emma walked up to Sam, who was having another glass-impeded chat with her favorite dolphin.
"What can I say? He's crazy for me," Sam said as her friends approached.
"Have you got that teeny-tiny piece of hot-pink material on under that T-shirt?" Carrie asked Sam.
"Yep," Sam answered. "I didn't want to make Pres here too nuts. I was afraid he'd
break right through the glass if he saw the suit."
"And to think he's allowed to swim in the buff," Carrie mused comically as they followed the signs to the beach.
On the way, they passed a glittery corridor that led to the Hotel Paradise casino. Even at four in the afternoon, it seemed that there was a constant stream of people going to and from the gambling mecca.
These people must be mega-rich! Sam thought, gaping at the gamblers, who were impeccably dressed in designer sportswear. They're all wearing a fortune on their backs, she noted. They're all dressed like Emma!
Sam glanced over at Emma. Even now she had on a sheer white linen coverup shot through with the narrowest of gold threads. Sam looked down at her own oversized Sunset Island T-shirt and sighed deeply. I can learn to fit right in with these people. I know I can, she thought. All it takes is determination. This is how I've always dreamed of living!
"Here's my suggestion," Emma said, snapping Sam out of her thoughts. "Let's hang on the beach for the afternoon, and then have dinner at the seafood restaurant in the hotel."
"Sounds good to me," Carrie said as she
led the way out a revolving glass door to a patio area in front of the beach.
"And then we'll hit the casino," Sam added. "I feel lucky!" She pulled her sunglasses out of her bag just as two incredibly cute, well-tanned guys walked by them in the opposite direction. "Whoa, baby.' No wonder they call this place paradise," she hooted, turning around to watch the guys.
"Down, girl," Carrie said, turning Sam back around.
"I loooove it here!" Sam yelled, throwing her arms out wide.
The girls made their way onto the beach. It was very different from the beach at Sunset IslandЧmuch broader, and with much finer white sand and many fewer seashells. The ocean breakers looked a lot bigger. The beach was dotted with colored umbrellas, under which were small knots of people here and there.
"I wonder where we can get one of those?" Carrie said, pointing at an umbrella.
Just then, a white-uniformed dark-skinned man came up to them.
"Can I help you?" he said in a slight British accent, his teeth shining in the afternoon sun.
Emma nodded. "We'd like to arrange for an umbrella," she said politely.
"You are guests of the Hotel Paradise?" he asked.
"We won a sweepstakes," Sam told him.
"Congratulations," the man said, a slight smile on his lips. "I am Karl. I will be your beach attendant for your visit. Now, what can I get you fine ladies?"