The lovable, jealous old bitch, Eve thought. She'd undoubtedly pictured the scene and decided… probably snapped at her husband in Spanish, "You never mind, you old lecher! I will go. Your evil eyes have ogled her shameful nakedness too much already!" And maybe that was so, because it was always the same with her after losing a lover… this random vindictiveness.

"Yes, Miss Eve?" the buxom, black-haired woman questioned, her handsome, dark-eyed face emotionless.

"Bring me a gin-tonic, Conchita… and tell Manuel I dropped a glass in the pool," Eve said, sitting up on the raft to let her long, shapely legs dangle in the water, her naked breasts swaying with the effort. "He can fish it out in the morning when he cleans it."

"Yes, Ma'm."

"And… tell me once more, Conchita, what did Mr. Garrett, our next door neighbor have to say yesterday when he came?"

"Well, he was quite put out, Miss Eve, that you hadn't called him," Conchita replied, her clear brown-eyes level with the wide, sultry green ones of her employer. "I-I told him you were ill, but at first thought you could still set for his sketches."

Eve smiled. "That was clever of you, Conchita. Was he angry when he left?"

"He didn't show it if he was. I believe he understood, Ma'm… or at least, accepted my word for truth," her maid, cook, and priceless nurse of a half-dozen years replied, dropping her eyes. "But as you know, I don't like to tell lies."

Eve continued to smile. "Sometimes they're not only necessary, but pay dividends, Conchita," the near-naked, blonde girl advised. "For instance, there'll be a bonus included in your check this month. Now… please get me my drink."