Page 135 of Original Sin

‘Candy Cooper!’ he cried, as the crowd went wild and an incredibly curvaceous brunette wearing a sash reading ‘Miss Asgill Hawaiian Glo Oregon’ stepped up to be crowned Miss Asgill Hawaiian Glo.

It took Tess ten minutes to push through the sea of people heading for the free bar once the official ceremony was over. Where is he? seethed Tess. After I rushed all that bloody way …

Finally she saw a poolside gazebo that seemed to be doubling as the VIP bar. As she turned the corner, she saw Sean engrossed in conversation with Candy Cooper.

He glanced up and his face fell.

‘Aloha,’ said Tess, sitting down next to him and Candy.

‘So the nanny’s finally arrived,’ Sean deadpanned.

‘Finally?’ said Tess as casually as she could.

‘My mother phoned about three hours ago. Apparently you and I were supposed to have a meeting before the pageant to discuss press coverage.’

Tess didn’t speak, determined not to show her discomfort.

‘I said you hadn’t checked in and presumed you weren’t coming.’

‘You said what?’ she replied, her cool cracking.

Sean’s face creased up and he started to chuckle. ‘I could have said that, but I didn’t,’ he laughed. ‘I said we’d just touched base and how you had everything under control.’

Tess was grateful but didn’t want to show it too much. ‘My flight was delayed,’ she said crisply.

Candy Cooper flicked her long bouncy beauty–queen hair over one shoulder. ‘I hate flying, don’t you?’ she said, oblivious to the conversation. ‘It’s so bad for the skin.’

Tess nodded politely, trying to assess Candy’s age – sixteen? Eighteen? – when she saw Candy’s hand casually slide up Sean’s thigh.

‘Okaayyy,’ said Tess quickly, standing up and taking Candy’s arm. ‘I think it’s about your bedtime.’

Candy pulled her arm away, pouting. ‘Says who?’

‘Says me,’ replied Tess. ‘I’m the personal representative of Meredith Asgill, the woman who has the final say on whether your face ends up on a thousand Hawaiian Glo posters or whether winning this pageant is the highlight of your career.’

‘Tess,’ said Sean angrily.

She glared at him, then turned back to Candy.

‘Beauty sleep time,’ she said, pointing towards the hotel.

Sulkily, Candy did as she was told. Sean stood up and

stormed out of the gazebo. Tess followed, matching him stride for stride. As he reached the beach, he stopped and turned to face her.

‘What the fuck was that all about, exactly?’

‘That was about Candy Cooper being a statutory rape allegation waiting to happen.’

‘Well, if you’d been there at the beginning of the pageant you’d have heard that Candy is nineteen,’ said Sean sarcastically.

‘Which makes it okay to have sex her?’ asked Tess, her hands on her hips. ‘And anyway, what about that actress, what’s her name? Annabel something? Aren’t you supposed to be dating her?’

‘Like you care about Annabel,’ snapped Sean.

‘Sean, I care about doing my job.’

‘Well do it without being such a bitch then!’ he shouted.