‘Morning, Lemmer.’ The musical tones were back in her voice. She sat on the chair beside me. ‘Morning, Emma. Coffee?’ ‘I’ll get some in a moment, thanks.’ The flaps of the bathrobe slid back to expose her tanned knees. I concentrated on the animals that I had been watching. ‘Baboons,’ I said, pointing at the troop on the opposite riverbank on their way to water. The males, like bodyguards, kept watch over the females and little ones. ‘I see them.’ I drank my coffee. ‘Lemmer …’ I looked at her. The idea that she might be wearing nothing under the bathrobe interfered with my concentration. ‘I’m sorry about yesterday.’ ‘No apology necessary.’ ‘It is. It was wrong and I’m sorry.’ ‘Forget about it. It was a rough day, with the snake and everything.’ ‘I can’t use that as an excuse. You were irreproachably professional and I respect that.’ I couldn’t look at her. The irreproachably professional bodyguard was battling his imagination, which had inexplicably crept under the soft white towelling of the bathrobe.
