David filled the circular tub with hot water and turned on the jet streams. He uncorked a bottle of champagne and lowered his muscular frame into the water. Laura loosened her robe and began to take it off. Talk about paradise. Everything was perfect. The phone rang.

Laura rolled her eyes. ‘I better get it,’ she said reluctantly, retying the silk cord and heading back into the bedroom. David leaned back, his legs floating in the water. He felt the warm streams massage his aching body. His muscles were still sore from the rugged play-offs even though they had ended almost a month ago. He smiled. The Celtics had won so it was a good ache.

‘Who was it?’ he asked when she came back in.

‘Nobody.’

‘Nobody called us in Australia?’

‘It was just the Peterson Group.’

‘The Peterson Group?’ David repeated. ‘Aren’t they the company you’ve been trying to get to carry the Svengali line in the South Pacific?’

‘The same.’

‘The company that you’ve been trying like hell to set up a meeting with for the past six months?’

‘You got it.’

‘So?’

‘So they want to meet with me today.’

‘When are you going?’

‘I’m not.’

‘What?’

‘I told them I couldn’t meet with them while I was on my honeymoon. My husband is very possessive, you know.’

David sighed out loud. ‘If you blow this opportunity, your husband is going to kick your ass. Besides, how are you going to support him in the style to which he’s become accustomed if you blow big opportunities?’

Laura’s robe fell to the floor and, though he had seen her body so many times since they fell in love two years ago, he still found himself gaping. She joined him in the tub, her eyes closing as she released a long breath. David watched the water surround her breasts. Her black hair cascaded down her shoulders, framing that incredible European-exotic face.

‘Don’t worry,’ she said, opening her sparkling blue eyes with flecks of silvery gray. She gave him a look that could slice through solid steel. ‘I promise you’ll be well taken care of.’