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What he could not see was who had been standing close enough to her to propel her into the damn pool because his full attention had been fixed exclusively on her.

"So the cuckoo almost drowned and I missed it," a disappointed voice drawled beside him. "What a shame."

In no mood for Elizabeth Smith's twisted kind of humor Scott intoned flatly, "You lead a sad life, Elizabeth," then walked away, over to the almost deserted pool bar and ordered a drink while he awaited Vivian's return.

By the time the two women walked out of the house again he was the only person left on the terrace. As a foil for each other Vivian's darkness next to Michele's flame was pretty much as good as it could get, Scott observed. Then his full attention had welded on Vivian's transformation from wet and bedraggled to long and curvaceous, a seriously slinky siren which almost blew his edgy control to bits.

She was wearing a figure-hugging strapless black tube of a dress that was nothing short of mind-stopping. F