‘Louise, come and meet Briony, Kieron’s wife,’ Marian instructed, and beneath the pleasant tones, Briony thought she caught a note of warning. Did Marian think that Louise might prove to be a tempting proposition which Kieron, man-like, might not be able to refuse, and that she, Briony, would be upset?
Even without Louise’s proprietorial attitude towards Kieron, they could never have been friends, Briony decided. The French girl was one of those women who plainly despised her own sex, although her eyes did narrow fractionally when Kieron raised himself up on his elbows to study Briony’s flushed face and enquire softly, ‘I hope you carried out my instructions.’
‘What is this, chéri?’ Louise pounced acidly. ‘What instructions did you give your wife?’
‘That she buy herself a sexy bikini,’ Kieron drawled, making Briony flush deeper.
Louise raised her eyebrows.
‘The English are so stuffy about these things, unlike us French, although if I were married to such a man as you, I think I should dispense with the bikini altogether,’ she finished provocatively.
Briony stiffened in outrage. Louise was flirting with Kieron right under her nose, and he, male that he was, was lapping it up. She glared at him with unguarded resentment, gasping when he turned to look at her his eyes narrowing with comprehension.
‘Ah, but then you see, Louise, my wife knows that I enjoy discovering her beauty for myself, especially when it’s temptingly packaged, with pretty wrappings and lots of bows,’ he added thoughtfully, his eyes resting for a moment on Briony’s slender hips almost as though he had already guessed what her packages concealed, and Briony’s cheeks burned anew, as she made a vow never to wear the green bikini when her husband was around.
It came as a shock to discover that Louise was staying at the villa.
‘It really is naughty of her to invite herself down here like this,’ Marian complained to Briony over lunch. They were eating some deliciously fresh bread and home-made pâté, Nicky seated between them enjoying something a little less rich. Louise had persuaded Kieron to take her into Nice, claiming that she hadn’t a rag to her back, and although Marian had suggested that François, the gardener and handyman, could take her, Louise had insisted provocatively that she wanted to go with Kieron.
‘You won’t mind lending me your husband for a while, will you?’ she had pouted at Briony. ‘After all, we are such close friends, and besides, Kieron tells me that you spend a lot of time with your little boy. Personally I find children extremely boring.’
Close friends! No doubt by that she meant lovers, Briony thought bitterly. Had Kieron been complaining to Louise that as a wife she left an awful lot to be desired?
As the heat of the sun started to increase, Briony took Nicky inside. He was telling her about how his daddy had taken him in the water and how he was teaching him to swim, and Briony listened halfheartedly with one ear while her mind tormented her with pictures of Kieron and Louise together.
When Nicky had gone to sleep she went to find Marian, but Héloise told her that the older woman usually rested in the afternoon.
‘As that Louise knows,’ she told Briony fiercely. ‘And so you are here all alone while that she-cat takes your husband.’
‘I don’t mind,’ Briony assured her unconvincingly. ‘I think I shall go and sunbathe for a while. Louise’s tan has made me feel quite envious.’
‘Your skin is fair and you will burn if you are not careful,’ Héloise warned her.
Bearing her advice in mind, Briony armed herself with some sun-screen and changed into a black swimsuit, picking up a towelling robe to cover her if she needed it.
She smoothed the cream into her arms and shoulders and lay back trying to relax.
The light touch of someone’s hand on her shoulder roused her, and she stared sleepily up at Kieron.
‘Where’s Louise?’ she asked, looking round for the French girl.
‘Still shopping,’ Kieron told her dryly. ‘I’d had enough and I left her to it. She can phone for François to pick her up when she’s ready. I wanted to come back and see my beautiful wife.’
‘Stop it!’ Briony demanded fiercely. ‘There’s only the two of us here and you don’t need to put on a show of being a devoted husband.
His fingers were toying with the strap of her swimsuit and she pulled away in irritation, her eyes darkening stormily as he said curtly, ‘What is this? Some relic from your schooldays? I thought I told you to get something new?’
‘And if I don’t choose to put myself on d
isplay like your “close friend” Louise, that’s my affair.’
‘We’ll see about that!’
Before she could divine his intentions he had scopped her up, and carried her kicking and protesting to their bedroom, where he dropped her on the bed, and held her there with one powerful arm, while the other rummaged among the packages she had left on the bed, a cruel smile curling his mouth as he stared at the one holding the beachwear.
‘Unless my memory is at fault we should find what I want in here. I think I can trust Tante Marian to carry out my instructions even if you won’t.’
His low whistle of appreciation as he picked up the minute bikini brought Briony’s rage to boiling point.