They flew for a long time in silence, Trey studying a report on power-generating windmills he’d brought with him in between watching her. He’d been right to call her exotic. Though she spoke like an American, she acted more like the French women he’d known-haughty, aloof, indifferent at times. And then there was a bit of Polynesian in her, as well, in her dress, in the careless addition of a flower behind her ear, in the sexy little tattoo above her ankle.
She glanced over at him and caught him staring. Trey quickly turned his gaze back to the report.
“What are you reading?” she asked.
He held it up, showing her the cover. “Just researching an idea I had. It’s nothing.”
“Windmills?”
“They’re ecologically friendly,” he said.
He’d been turning the idea over in his head ever since his father had put him on the payroll. Why not build an eco-friendly resort in the South Pacific? He’d have to deal with the problems of providing power and water to a small island anyway and there were now methods to do it without impacting the environment.
“This is not really a good season to be seeing our islands,” Sophie said.
“I’ve noticed it rains a lot.”
“It’s the rainy season,” she said with a smile. “Sometimes, it rains for days.” She looked out the window of the plane. “Today is a good day. I can’t promise you that tomorrow you’ll even be able to see anything below us.”
Trey grabbed his messenger bag from between his feet and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. “Tell me everything you know about Suaneva,” he demanded, anxious to keep her engaged in conversation.
He listened, silently taking notes as she explained the physical topography of a Polynesian atoll in comparison with an island. But he was less interested in the facts than he was in the sound of her voice.
“Suaneva is an atoll. An atoll begins with a volcano sticking out of the water,” she explained. She let go of the controls and turned to him to gesture with her hands. But when she saw the startled look on his face, she sent him an apologetic smile. “I set the autopilot.”