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He blinked. Over in the corner of the room a child was jumping up and down with excitement. Another couple—clearly on their honeymoon—kept stopping on the gangway to take pictures. The whole check-in hall was buzzing.
He hadn’t been on a holiday in so long that he’d forgotten about the build-up and the expectations. Last time he’d gone on holiday a few years ago he’d booked a flight and hotel and had left later that day. Nothing had been planned.
But according to Lara she’d planned this for years. She’d wanted to go on a cruise ship since she was a child and after finally saving up the money had spent weeks choosing between different cruise liners and itineraries. No wonder she was nervous. It was kind of cute.
He stopped her in front of the ship. ‘Wait a minute. Let’s take your picture before you board.’
She gave him a smile as she glanced up at the gleaming hull. For the next two weeks four thousand passengers would live in a different world, leaving one port at night and waking up in another. Would not have to worry about making breakfast, lunch or dinner and be able to choose between relaxing on board or visiting a different city every day.
On paper it actually sounded quite good. The reality of being trapped on a ship with four thousand people he might not actually like for a fortnight gave him a whole host of other thoughts.
Lara pulled her sunglasses down from her head. She was wearing the sunny yellow dress and wedges. It suited her—complimenting her long legs—even though he’d noticed her pulling it down a few times. He lifted up his phone. ‘Smile. We finally got here. You’re about to have the holiday of a lifetime.’
Her smile wavered for a second and he could see her take a deep breath. She’d spent the last two days in a complete flurry. To be frank, he was surprised they’d even got here. He’d never known anyone double-check on twenty occasions that they had their passports, tickets, itineraries and boarding passes. He snapped the picture quickly. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Let’s get on board before they leave without us.’
* * *
His hand was at the small of her back again. Although her summer dress covered every part of her, the fabric was thin and she could feel the warmth from his palm. It didn’t matter that the summer sun was scorching down on her shoulders and face, all she could concentrate on was the heat at the base of her spine.
All the crew were impeccably dressed in white and nodded and greeted each of the guests in turn.
The main reception area of the cruise ship had a central open space, right up the middle of the ship, with a grand piano at the bottom with a curved bar. Lara let out a squeal when she saw the stairs. ‘Look, Reuben, they’ve got crystals in them. Aren’t they gorgeous?’
He was obviously amused at her delight. ‘Want your picture taken on the stairs?’
She glanced down at her dress. ‘Should I wait until I’m wearing one of the evening dresses?’
‘Why don’t we take a picture in every outfit?’ The easy smile he gave her sent little ripples up her spine. She could see a few other guests smile at his accent. Sex appeal just dripped from this man.
‘Sure, why not?’
It was odd. At Addison’s house in London she’d been comfortable around Reuben. When the two of them were in the house together there was definite underlying current. But it was pleasant. It made the air around them buzz.
But here—somewhere new—the buzz felt a little different. Sparkier. More sexual. Maybe it was because she could see other people reacting to the man she was with. Maybe it was because she was officially on holiday and was just excited by the cruise. But she had a sneaking suspicion it was more to do with the man, rather than the place.
There was something more restrictive about being under the roof of her employer and Reuben’s friend. Here, there was no one to answer to. No one to catch them doing something they shouldn’t.
Where had that come from?
Reuben had pressed the button for the glass elevator and gestured her over. ‘Let’s check out the cabin then we can go up on deck and grab a drink for the cast off.’
The elevator slid up smoothly to their floor and they walked along to their cabin. Part of the expense of the trip had been her superior cabin selection, larger than average with a balcony she intended to sit on every night.
But the number of this cabin corresponded with a higher floor. She was curious.
He slid the card they’d received at check-in into the door as her stomach flip-flopped over. And it nearly flip-flopped over onto her new wedges.
This wasn’t a cabin—it was a suite.
The place was stunning. A deep red carpet covered the floor of what looked like a sitting room. There was a huge comfortable sofa and a large-screen TV fixed on the wall. One side of the room didn’t have a wall—it was pure full-length glass windows with a balcony running along the length of the cabin giving spectacular views.
She almost couldn’t speak. ‘Great,’ said Reuben, walking easily across the room to the small bar in the corner. Her feet carried her forward. The first door on her right led to the bathroom. Second on the right was the bedroom. Now she nearly did fall over.
One enormous king-sized bed took up most of the room.
‘I phoned them,’ she said quickly. ‘I phoned them to ask for it to be changed to two beds.’ She spun around and held out her hands. ‘And this can’t possibly be ours. I didn’t pay for a suite—just a superior cabin. There must have been some mistake.’
Reuben didn’t blink, just strode over and jumped on the bed, lying back amongst the array of pillows with his arms behind his head. ‘No mistake. I paid to upgrade us. Figured we might as well do this in style.’ He gave her a wink. ‘As for the bed, I don’t mind if you don’t.’
Her feet were frozen to the floor as her stomach tumbled over. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Of course she’d booked a king-size bed when she’d thought she’d been coming on the cruise with rat boyfriend. But as soon as Reuben had suggested he come along instead, she’d amended her booking.
‘Let...let me go and speak to the concierge,’ she stumbled. ‘Maybe they could put two beds in here instead?’
Reuben rolled on his side, head on his hand, facing towards her. ‘Why bother? Look at the view you’ve got from that balcony. What if the only other cabin is down in the bowels of the ship? No view. No balcony. I imagine a cruise like this is pretty much booked out.’
She swallowed. He was probably right. But surely it couldn’t hurt to check?
He propped himself up a little further. ‘Look at the view we have of Venice right now. Imagine coming into port at Barcelona and getting to see the whole city. And what about Monte Carlo? There’d be a view of the race track, the casino and all the mountains.’
He was right. She knew he was right. But the thought of sharing a bed with Reuben Tyler was doing strange things to her senses. It was almost as if his woody aftershave, laced with pheromones, was snaking its way across the room to her like a big lasso. If this was how it was just being in the same room, what would it be like sharing a bed?
She knew it. She should have brought the onesie.
And he was relishing every second of her uncomfortable squirming. She could see the gleam in his eye from here.
‘Come on, Lara. I don’t bite. You’ve lived under the same roof as me for the last two weeks. You know that.’
‘But we haven’t been in the same bed.’ The words were out before she could stop them as the heat flushed into her cheeks.
He starfished across the bed. ‘But look how big it is.’
His T-shirt had crept up a little, revealing the dark hairs leading down to...
He turned on his side again as she gulped. ‘Look, this bed is enormous. If you find me that irresistible you can put some pillows down the middle to stop you from sneaking over to my side.’ He demonstrate
d by moving some of the pillows from behind his head into the middle of the bed. The ratfink. He was enjoying every second of this.
‘What do you wear in bed?’ she blurted out.
‘Nothing.’ It was a rapid-fire answer complete with wicked gleam.
The heat from her cheeks was starting to spread down the rest of her body. Soon she’d light up the room like a glow-worm. ‘You can’t wear nothing!’
He grinned and put his arms behind his head again. ‘What do you want me to wear?’
‘Something. Anything.’
He moved off the bed and walked over to her, grabbing her arm, pulling her away from the doorway and letting the door slam behind her. The room instantly shrank in size. The suite didn’t feel so extra-large any more.
Now her nostrils were full of his scents—aftershave, soap and the biggest whiff of pheromones possible. Her vision was completely taken up by his chest and shoulders. And he hadn’t let go of her hand. ‘I’m sure when it comes to bedtime,’ he said huskily, ‘I’ll find something entirely appropriate to wear.’
