The Seduction of Suzanne Read Free Page A

in good hands.”
    “Sounds perfect. I’m keen. I really haven’t seen anything other than the beach so far.” He raised his eyebrows at her expectantly, taking hold of the top rung of the ladderback and leaning back in a classic rower’s pull, the picture of ease in his board shorts and ragged T-shirt. All he needed now was cheap rubber jandals to complete the picture of the down-at-the-heels local surfie.
    Hinemoa – the curvy and serene waitress – chose that moment to interrupt them with the quiche and nachos. She smiled on them benevolently then glided on, big hips swaying. A savoury, cheesy aroma drifted up from the two plates. Suzanne inhaled deeply in anticipation, and took her time unfolding the napkin wrapped around her cutlery and smoothing the fragile paper over her knees.
    “I think I’ll have to pass on that. But do have a great time .” Dismissal was clear in her tone.
    His grin re-emerged . “That’s just too bad. But I’m going to be on the Barrier for awhile. Months. I’ll certainly be seeing you around. So you can let me know if you change your mind.”
    “Lovely,” she said through gritted teeth. “Will do.”
    He got up and sauntered off to an outside table, the only one free in the café, to all appearances quite pleased with himself.
    The moment he was out of earshot, Anita said: “Good God! How could you possibly turn him down? What were you thinking?”
    “He’s not that irresistible.”
    “Yahuh, yes he is.”
    “Well if you like him so much, you go on over there and offer to be his tourguide. He’s too much like Gavin for my taste.”
    “Don’t think I wouldn’t. If he had looked at me for one second the way he just looked at you for two minutes, I’d be all over him like white on rice. And what do you mean he’s like Gavin? Who’s Gavin?”
    Suzanne laid down her fork and started to twirl the straw in her drinking glass, her eyes on the table. “Gavin’s that guy from Napier who was here the summer at the end of Year 12,” she said quietly, not looking up. After a moment she relaxed her tight mouth and deliberately took a sip from the bottle beaded with water, rolling the apple and guava juice around on her tongue before letting it slide down her throat.
    “Oh. Yeah, I remember him I guess.” Anita gave the matter some thought, playing with her artfully dyed blonde hair. “I wouldn’t have said he looks like Justin here though. Didn’t he have black hair?”
    “Both good-looking, both confident and smooth, both just visiting for a couple of months. I think they’ve got a lot in common.”
    Anita looked at Suzanne with dawning consternation. “Suzanne, that guy was an arsehole. And maybe we didn’t pick up on it till it was too late, but I think we’d see him coming a mile away, now. I mean, you wouldn’t make the same mistake these days, would you?”
    Suzanne bit her lip.
    Stupid to drink too much. Stupid to trust a guy just because he looked beautiful and his admiration made her feel good. Stupid to take chances.
    She had never been so stupid again. Ever.
    The memories were enough to make her sick to her stomach. She pushed away the last few bites of her quiche, saying: “No, I think you only make that sort of mistake once. Once is enough. Quite enough.”
    “He was revolting. I do remember. I didn’t realise you were still hung up about it.”
    Suzanne looked down into her lap, pleating the paper napkin into precise folds.
    “Seventeen-year-olds are allowed to get things wrong you know,” Anita grimaced. “You have permission to forgive yourself and let it go. Trusting him doesn’t make you an idiot. It makes him an idiot. For taking something precious and trading it for kudos with his friends. He’s the loser. Stop giving him this power over you. You deserve the right to seduce a hot guy like that one over there.”
    “Oh I wouldn’t even know where to start with a seduction. I haven’t got the first idea. Even if I wanted to.”
    “Well if