"Ian R. MacLeod - Nina" - читать интересную книгу автора (Macleod Ian R)

He didn't resist as she took it from his hands. She held it up to her
shoulders,
her face. "It smells like . . . like evening. Like alleyways and the seashore,
flowers closing for the night, seagulls up in the air. Sunset, almost."

Max shrugged. "If you say so."

"Oh, I do. I'll definitely wear it this evening. It'll drive all the other
girls
wild."

And what about the other guys? Max thought, watching her as she did a little
twilight dance. Everything with Nina had to be new and fresh --she threw stuff
out when she'd hardly even had time to use it, when the scent of her skin had
hardly settled on the cloth.

Max made an effort. He stooped down to lace his shoes. But he could still see
Nina's perfect brown feet. He loved the curve of her arches, her easy grace,
the
twinkle of her toes. Was she really getting more beautiful as he got older, or
was it just some kind of mist that was settling on his eyes? Twenty, thirty
years ago, no woman had lasted more than a season. But now, he was down to
one,
and that one was -- just had to be -- Nina.

Oh, Nina. Sweet, bittersweet, bitter Nina. The silk chemise settled over her
shoulders and breasts as she dressed. Max calculated the moment to stand up.
Waiting for the aches to settle, he looked himself up and down in the mirror,
the stiff black evening suit that enclosed all the looseness inside. Now that
would never go out of fashion; the suit, something hard and dark that you
could
put on and tie around your neck like a shell. Pity that all the clinics still
couldn't get the rest right.

Max watched Nina put on her stockings, effortlessly smoothing them up her
smooth, effortless legs. What he wouldn't have given for one imperfection,
something he could have in common with her. What he wouldn't give, at the end
of
the day, for her love. Her love. Yes, that was it, straightening his tie in
the
mirror as though anything would make a difference, would stop him looking as
old
as the moon. Her love. And, yes, he knew that inside that sultry casing she
was
grabbing, vain, stupid, uncaring. But he was like all the old men. For some
extraordinary reason, now that the years screamed back at him from the mirror,
he wanted love.

They drove to the clifftop casino where there was already music and the
promise