The Far Side of Paradise Read Online Free PDF Page A

followed by his death. Guilt lay permanently in wait, making her wonder yet again whether her response had driven him to take that final, lethal step.
    If only she’d been a little less incredulous—if she hadn’t laughed—would he have made a different decision?
    If she’d stayed in England as he’d wanted her to, instead of coming home, would she have been able to help him get over her refusal?
    All those
ifs,
and no answers …
    The car skidded slightly. Feeling sick, she dragged her mind back to driving. Although the station road was well maintained, it still required concentration.
    At Anchor Bay she pulled up and switched off the engine. Cade Peredur’s big Range Rover stopped beside hers and he got out, appraising eyes coolly intent as he surveyed her.
    Tall as she was, a little more height would be a distinct asset when it came to dealing with this man. Taryn tried to dissipate another tingle of sensation by collecting her bag. As she walked towards Cade she felt embarrassingly self-conscious. She glanced away, gazeskimming a huge flame tree to one side of the bay, and caught sight of the house.
    It was a relief to be able to say something impersonal. ‘Oh, the bach is still here,’ she exclaimed. She’d half-expected some opulent seaside mansion, suitable for very rich holidaymakers, against the bush-covered slope that backed the lawn.
    ‘Bach?’
    ‘The local term for a small, basic cottage, usually by a beach or a lake.’
    Cade said, ‘Obviously you know the place.’
    ‘When I was at school, the previous owners allowed the school to hold its camps here—it’s a very safe beach. The bach was just a ruin then. Possums used to nest in the ceiling, and I’ve no doubt there were rats under the floor.’ She looked around reminiscently. ‘Over there, under that pohutukawa, when I was thirteen I was offered a cigarette by a boy I was madly trying to impress.’
    ‘And did you accept it?’
    She gave him a mock-scandalised glance. ‘Are you kidding? My parents are doctors! I stopped trying to impress him right then.’
    He smiled. ‘Good for you. Would you like to see what’s been done to the house?’
    It was difficult to match the abandoned shell she recalled to the house now. It had been almost completely reconstructed, its stone outer walls repaired and the timber ceilings stripped and oiled so that they gleamed.
    ‘It looks great,’ Taryn said, gazing around the long living room.
    Although it must have cost a mint to renovate, it didn’t look glossy or smartly out of place. Comfortable andbeachy and cool, it had shelves containing a large collection of books and some seriously good pictures hung on the walls. Somehow it suited Cade Peredur.
    He said, ‘There’s a changing room and a shower in the cabana over by the flame tree. You can leave your bag and your clothes there—I’ll join you in a few minutes and bring you down a towel.’
    She summoned a bright smile. ‘Thank you. And then I can prove to you how competent I am in the water.’
    Cade’s answering smile didn’t soften his face. In fact, Taryn thought as she walked across the coarse warm grass to the beach hut, the curve of his firmly chiselled mouth had made his striking, hard-edged face seem both cynical and forbidding.
    Safely in the small building, she wondered if anything ever did soften those arrogant features. When he kissed …?
    She tried to imagine being kissed by Cade Peredur. Heat sizzled through her at the thought, but she couldn’t see his face softening into a look of … well,
love
was out of the question, but what about lust?
    The word
soften
just didn’t fit the man. In his world it took an intimidating blend of brains, courage and formidable will to reach the top of the tree. When he kissed a woman it would be as a conqueror.
    Hastily, she stripped off her clothes, pulling a face as she discarded them. They smelt disgusting—a mixture of smoke and sweat. They looked horrible too, both shorts and T-shirt