Playing the odds Read Online Free PDF

meander down the street, his fingers laced with hers. "I promise."
    "How about an ashtray that says Welcome to Nassau?" Justin suggested blandly.
    Valiantly she swallowed a chuckled. "I'm going in here," Serena stated, stopping on impulse at the first shop they came to. And, she determined, she would stop at every shop on Bay Street until she successfully drove him crazy.
    By the time her tote bag contained musical key chains, assorted T-shirts, and shell boxes, Serena had forgotten she had wanted to be rid of him. He made her laugh—the gentlest seduction. For a man she had instinctively termed a loner, Justin was easy company. Before long Serena had not only stopped being resentful, she'd stopped being wary.
    "Oh, look!" She grabbed a coconut shell that had been fashioned into a grinning head.
    "Elegant," Justin stated, turning it over in his hands.
    "It's ridiculous, you fool." Laughing, Serena fished out her wallet. "And perfect for my brother. Caine's ridiculous too… Well, not all the time," she added scrupulously.
    The aisles of the straw market were crammed with people and merchandise, but not so crowded that Serena couldn't worm her way through in search of treasures. Spotting a large woven bag overhead, she pointed. Justin obligingly lifted it down to her.
    "It's nearly as big as you are," he decided as she took it from him.
    "It's not for me," Serena murmured, studying it minutely. "My mother does a lot of needlework; this should be handy for carting it around with her."
    "Handmade." Serena glanced down at the large dark-skinned woman in a rocking chair, smoking a little brown pipe. "Myself," she added, patting her generous bosom. "Nothing made in Hong Kong at my stall."
    "You do beautiful work," Serena told her, though the woman already interested her more than the bag.
    Lifting a large palm fan, the islander nodded majestically and began to stir the sultry air. Serena was fascinated to see a ring on every thick finger. "You buy something pretty for your lady today?" she asked Justin with a flash of white teeth.
    "No, not yet," Justin said before Serena could speak. "What do you suggest?"
    "Justin—"
    "Here." The old woman cut Serena off, turning to push back some cloth at her right. With a few wheezes and grunts she pulled out a cream-coloured dashiki-style tunic with a border of bold rainbow stitches. "Special," the woman told Justin, pushing it into his hands. "Lots of purple here, like your lady's eyes."
    "Blue," Serena began, "and I'm not—"
    "Let's see." Justin held it up in front of her, surveying the effect through narrowed eyes. "Yes, it suits you," he decided.
    "You wear it for your man tonight," the woman advised, already folding it into a bag. "Very sexy."
    "An excellent idea," Justin agreed as he started to count out bills.
    "Wait a minute," Serena pointed at him with the hand that still held the straw bag. "He is not my man."
    "Not your man?" The woman went into peals of laughter, rocking back and forth in the chair until it screeched in protest. "Honey, this is your man for sure, you can't trick a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. No indeed. You want the bag too?"
    "Well, I…" Serena stared down at the straw bag as if she hadn't a clue how it had gotten into her hand.
    "The bag too." Justin peeled off more bills. "Thank you."
    The money disappeared into her huge hand as she continued to rock. "You enjoy our island."
    "Now, wait—"
    But Justin was already pulling her along. "You can't argue with a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, Serena. You never know what curse she'll toss at you."
    "Nonsense," she stated, but glanced cautiously over her shoulder to where the big woman sat rocking. "And you can't buy me clothes, Justin. I don't even know you."
    "I already did."
    "Well, you shouldn't have. And you paid for my mother's bag."
    "My compliments to your mother."
    She sighed, squinting as they emerged into daylight. "You're a very difficult man."
    "There, you see? You do know me." Taking