Temptation in Paradise. Joanna Neil

      

       About the Author

      JOANNA NEIL had her future planned. She enjoyed her work as an infant teacher and didn’t envisage any changes to her way of life. But then she discovered Mills & Boon. She was surprised to find how absorbing and interesting they were and read them on a regular basis. The more she read, the more she had the overwhelming desire to write one. Encouraged by her family, she persevered until her first book was accepted, and after several books were published, she decided to write full time.

      Temptation in Paradise

      Joanna Neil

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      ISBN: 978-1-474-00432-9

      TEMPTATION IN PARADISE

      © 2015 Joanna Neil

      Published in Great Britain 2020

      by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

      All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

      By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

      ® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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       Contents

       Cover

About the Author

       Title Page

       Copyright

Note to Readers

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

       CHAPTER THREE

       CHAPTER FOUR

       CHAPTER FIVE

       CHAPTER SIX

       CHAPTER SEVEN

       CHAPTER EIGHT

       CHAPTER NINE

       CHAPTER TEN

       CHAPTER ELEVEN

       About the Publisher

       CHAPTER ONE

      ‘I’M REALLY GLAD you decided to come out to the Caribbean, Jessie.’

      Ben raised his voice above the sound of merrymaking going on inside the house immediately behind them, and for a moment or two his expression was solemn.

      ‘I didn’t expect you to come, you know—it must have taken a lot of sorting out and I feel really bad about pouring out my troubles to you and putting pressure on you that way. I shouldn’t have done it.’

      He pressed his lips together in a rueful grimace.

      ‘You had enough on your plate back in London, and I know I ought to have kept things to myself, but I wasn’t thinking properly. I just needed to talk to you. Somehow, you always manage to make me feel better when I’m at my lowest.’

      Jessie reached for his hand. ‘You’re my brother,’ she said softly. ‘I’ll always be there for you. You can depend on it.’

      He gave her fingers an answering squeeze. ‘I’ll do the same for you, Jessie. You’ll see.’

      ‘I know you will,’ she said.

      They were sitting on the terrace of a beautiful house, facing the sea, the darkness lit by flickering golden light from tiki torches planted at intervals along the paths and among the shrubbery. French doors opened out on to the patio to let the balmy tropical air circulate through the house, and in the background the heavy, rhythmic sound of steel drums beat out a lively calypso melody.

      Inside the house, people were dancing, just as Jessie had been doing a short while ago with a number of eager partners. She hadn’t taken any of them up on their pleas for future romantic dates. Having her fingers burned back home had been warning enough and she