Read Online One Night in the Orient by Robyn Donald - Free Book Online

the kind of effortless luxury known only to plutocrats. It was set up to be what estate agents called “a media room”, with sofas and a large television screen.
    Siena was determined to appreciate the whole experience. It would be the only time in her life she travelled like this.
    Nick indicated a couple of chairs side by side, theirsole concession to airline safety the seatbelts neatly arranged across them. “We’re almost ready to go, so sit down and fasten the seatbelt. And what exactly
did
you think?”
    “I didn’t realise we were travelling privately.” But she sat down, her stomach fluttering.
    Nick examined her face with a frown. “Would you rather be in a big plane?”
    “No. I’m not afraid of flying.” The treacherous pulse throbbing in her throat was due entirely to his closeness. Hastily she said, “I’m just not used to such luxury. But don’t worry, I plan to enjoy it to the full.”
    He sat down beside her and asked, “Did you get all your emails off?”
    Siena pulled herself together. “Yes—and an answer from Dad.”
    “You’re a close-knit family.”
    It was the sort of thing any friend might say, but a note in his voice caught her attention. Perhaps it was also the sort of thing the product of a broken home might say. Did Nick have any relatives at all? He’d never mentioned any. She did know his mother had died shortly after Nick had bought her a home overlooking the harbour on Auckland’s North Shore. Almost immediately afterwards Nick had left New Zealand.
    Without looking at him, Siena said, “I needed to tell them about the change of plans.”
    She’d also laboured over a very short, extremely difficult email to her ex-fiancé, about whom she’d somehow developed an uneasy guilt.
    If only she hadn’t kissed Nick, she thought, then caught herself up. She couldn’t blame him for her suspicion that she’d somehow short-changed Adrian.
    While she’d been struggling with the email, the prospect of spending a night in Hong Kong with Nick had kept intruding, bringing with it such a turbulent combination of excitement and foreboding that she’d felt like a hypocrite.
    In the end she had forced herself to finish what had turned out to be a banal, stiff note.
    Nick asked, “How are your parents enjoying their cruise?”
    “They’re having a glorious time. Dad’s checked out every deck game and the library, and Mum’s made several friends already. And they’ve danced until the small hours each night.”
    “And how is Gemma?”
    Siena felt the jet begin to move. She looked out of the window, saying a silent goodbye to London.
    “She sounds much better.” She glanced at him and then away. “She’s very sensitive.”
    His raised brows irritated her, but the jet’s engines picked up speed and the plane began to move down the runway. Relieved, Siena leaned forward a little, watching the earth fall away as they finally soared into the hazy air.
    A strange sensation gripped her, as though she’d left her everyday life behind and somehow slipped through into another dimension, one both exhilarating and rather ominous, a place where the dictates of ordinary life were suspended. Unbidden and unwanted, a feverish anticipation licked through her, summoning dangerous thoughts.
    Perhaps this was what travelling in a private jet did, she thought fancifully.
    Be sensible,
she warned herself, and asked, “Do you always travel in your own plane?”
    “Usually. It saves time and hassle, gives me space to work while I’m travelling, and generally is simpler all round.”
    “I’ll say!” Siena sighed. “This trip is going to spoil me for ordinary travel.”
    Nick’s smile held more than a hint of irony. “I doubt it.” He glanced at his watch. “I find it helps to avoid jet-lag if when I board I start operating on the current time at my destination. Once we reach cruising height I’ve ordered tea, but would you prefer something else to drink?”
    “Tea will be lovely, thank