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said. ‘If it’s dangerous, Torquil will do it.’ But where there should have been a certain amount of respect or admiration in her voice, something more heartfelt took its place.
    I checked the mirrors and slid the Merc out into traffic. ‘You don’t like him very much, do you?’
    ‘I—’ She flicked me a telling glance and lapsed into glum silence for the next couple of blocks before finally admitting, ‘It’s not that. He just doesn’t know when to stop, you know? Like, it’s not funny until someone gets hurt.’
    ‘Yeah, and then it’s hilarious,’ I muttered, glanced across and caught her frowning. ‘So, why are you going to all this trouble over his birthday? Your mother obviously didn’t want you to go, and you’ve admitted you don’t really like the guy …’
    ‘It’s not for Tor—,’ she began, biting off whatever she’d been about to say next. ‘Oh, never mind!’
    I wasn’t being paid to be easily offended so I just shrugged. ‘OK.’
    We drove on in silence, with Dina staring pointedly out of the window. It was the first hint of discord, of temperament, she’d shown in the three days since I’d been assigned to her.
    Dina swam every morning in the heated outdoor pool on the lower terrace, while I made a show of apparently lounging around, keeping her company. At varying times we rode out on the beach – Dina on the showy white Cerdo, and me on an elderly chestnut Quarter Horse that had apparently been her previous mount.
    Dina had been friendly and chatty enough, without actually revealing much of herself to me, nor enquiring too deeply in return. She seemed most interested in my riding skills, acquired in my childhood and not used much since.
    Apart from that, she’d shopped, and gone to hairdressing and beauty appointments, all with me firmly in tow. I’d done my best not to crowd or irritate her and it had seemed to be working fine ’til now. When she’d lunched with her mother at a fashionable restaurant, I’d excused myself to the adjoining bar area and kept a discreet watch over the pair of them from there. If body language was anything to go by, they ended the meal in excruciatingly polite disagreement over something. I didn’t ask, and Dina didn’t tell. We didn’t have that kind of relationship.
    And today, she’d quickly accepted that I was not going to act as her own personal pack mule, not that she’d bought much so far. Certainly nothing suitable as a birthday present for the thrill-seeking only child of a billionaire.
    I checked my mirrors again before changing lanes, indicating late before our turn-off to flush out a possible tail. There had been no hint of anything so far, but it did no harm to be cautious.
    Our destination was a shopping mall that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see in all directions. My heart sank at the prospect of a long afternoon’s continued dithering, but when I parked up near the main entrance, Dina made no immediate moves to get out.
    ‘I’m sorry about … before,’ she said in an awkward rush. ‘But, you see, there will be other people there – at the party. People I kinda like …’
    ‘So, putting up with an evening of Torquil’s dubious sense of humour is the price you’re prepared to pay.’
    ‘Yes … I guess it is.’ She gave a wan smile. ‘Doesn’t make it any easier to choose a gift for him, though.’
    So, her earlier dreaminess had been strictly for the necklace. I sighed. ‘From what you’ve said, it sounds like you can’t hope to buy anything that’s going to impress him, so why not get him something quirky instead? Something that will make him smile. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune.’
    She stared at me like I’d suggested she dance naked in the streets. ‘Like what?’
    I resigned myself to yet more shopping and nodded to the mall looming ahead of us. ‘Let’s go and find out, shall we?’

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    In low heels and an all-purpose evening dress, I leant on the balcony rail