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Her gaze faltered and dropped down to his hands then slowly up to his face. He wondered what she was about to say and it made his gut twist a little. But after a few seconds Lara smiled and laughed. ‘Or when I’m old and grey and in my rocking chair on the porch I can tell my grandkids about this man who hijacked my cruise and introduced me to the high life.’
Something inside him plummeted. Was that really how he wanted to be remembered? As the man who’d hijacked her cruise? It wasn’t exactly complimentary. It certainly didn’t have any emotion attached to it. He could be anyone—anyone at all. And that’s what bothered him most.
It was almost like putting up an automatic shield around himself. ‘Introduced you to the high life, eh? Was that what you wanted?’ The words didn’t seem to come out quite right.
She shook her head. Her hands were still on both of his shoulders and his hands lifted and settled on her hips. She shifted her head from side to side before locking her blue eyes on his. Her voice was low.
‘I think this is definitely how the other half lives. Even in another lifetime I couldn’t fit in here if I tried.’ Her voice sounded a little melancholy and a rueful smile spread across her face. ‘But I don’t know that I’d want to.’ She pointed to her drink. ‘It’s nice for one evening—to feel like another person, with the world at their feet. But I kind of like being grounded in reality, and there’s nothing like cleaning the muddy football boots of a five-year-old and sticking plasters on bloody knees for that.’
He couldn’t help but smile. Just when he’d thought she might disappoint him—even a little—she brought him back to earth with a bang.
Several other women flitted through his mind—women who would have put the entire stash of chips on one bet without a moment’s thought. Lara had only used one. She didn’t seem that interested in using any more. She knew the value of money better than he did. It was humbling.
He spun her around. ‘Let’s try once more before we leave the table.’
She gave a nod and picked up one more chip.
‘Wouldn’t you like to raise the stakes a little higher?’
She met his gaze again. ‘I think the stakes are high enough already, don’t you?’
He swallowed. For a woman with a certain vulnerability about her she was much better at this than she should be.
She reached across the table and set her chip on the line between fourteen and seventeen. ‘There you go. This time I’ll try a split bet. Let’s see if I can get lucky tonight.’ Her cheeks flushed a little.
He laughed. The innuendo level was going off the scale. He pulled her back against him, letting her make no mistake about what her words were doing to him.
The croupier spun the wheel and set the ball in motion. Lara leaned forward again to watch the spinning wheel. Her dress hitched up a little at the back and he tried his best to avert his eyes but the hormones flooding through his system really didn’t want to.
The wheel started to slow and Lara shifted from foot to foot.
Her hands clasped together in front of her chest as the wheel and ball simultaneously slowed. She leaned even further forward, her attention rapt. The ball seemed to tease tantalisingly as it jumped from number to number, easily slipping past seventeen.
As it moved excruciatingly slower Lara couldn’t hide her excitement. She started to clap her hands together and shift more rapidly from foot to foot. ‘Oh...look, look, it’s getting closer.’ The ball tripped over one, then twenty, then seemed to dangle between twenty and fourteen before finally falling over into the red fourteen.
‘I’ve won!’ Lara’s shout echoed around the casino, much to the amusement of some of the turned heads. She flung her arms in the air and spun in Reuben’s grasp, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting her lips firmly on his.
For a second he was stunned. He knew it was excitement. He knew it was the thrill. But there wasn’t a single cell in his body that didn’t ache in response.
She tasted of raspberry—and of champagne. His hands slid from her hips to her bottom as he edged her lips apart.
This was totally different from their first kiss. The first kiss had been instinctual. An act of self-preservation—all on his part, with no real thought or consideration about Lara. Until he’d got one hint of her hidden passion and only scratched what lay beneath the surface.
This time it was pure, unadulterated pleasure.
Right now he was wearing his bad-boy label with pride. A more sedate man might have decided those few drinks were enough to impair Lara’s decision-making processes.
But Reuben didn’t doubt her decision-making at all. Not right now anyway. She was finally letting the walls and barriers she’d built up around herself tumble down.
Tonight she had an edge of confidence he hadn’t seen before.
Deliberately or not, she’d just aligned her hips with his, pressing the length of her body with its warm curves against him. It was hitting all the right spots.
His fingers trailed down the side of her cheek to the base of her neck where her pulse was beating a rapid tune against his fingers.
She tilted her head to the side. He could sense one leg lifting from the floor as she tilted her pelvis towards his. Her lips parted, her tongue brushed along his bottom lip. Tantalising.
A wave of anticipation swept his body, making his stomach clench. All of a sudden the walls of the sumptuous casino were pressing in around them. The tiny hairs at the back of his neck stood on end. It felt as if every eye in the house was on them.
He drew back. Lara’s heavy eyelids fluttered open, her eyes dark with desire. Her lips were swollen, still open, and her breathing choppy.
She looked almost stung that he’d pulled his lips from hers.
It seemed he wasn’t the only one caught in the wave of anticipation.
He sucked in a steady breath, ignoring the amused eyes around them, and picked up their chips from table. He nodded his head at their fellow players. ‘Ladies, gentlemen, if you’ll excuse us?’
He didn’t wait for their acknowledgement, didn’t need to see their knowing glances.
He just grasped Lara’s hand firmly in his and crossed the casino floor in swift steps.
She hadn’t said a single word and he could hear her footsteps pitter-patter behind him as they crossed the impeccably tiled floor. They burst through the casino doors and back out into the cool evening air.
This time he did stop. The fresh air was just what he needed. His arm slid around h
er waist.
He expected her just to stand there for a few seconds, to let the air cool her heated skin and dampen the electricity between them.
But it seemed he didn’t know Lara as well as he thought.
She stepped directly into his line of vision. Her bright blue eyes were flooded with passion and a steely determination. She placed one hand on his chest, under his jacket, the palm of her hand pressing against his thudding heart. Her other hand rested on his jawline.
It was an intimate gesture. A gesture almost of promise.
‘What was that?’ There was no vulnerability to her voice. No uncertainty. Lara Callaway wanted an answer to her question.
‘I don’t know,’ he said quickly. Because he didn’t. He wasn’t used to a woman putting him on the spot and calling him on his actions. Mainly because his actions were always invited and definitely reciprocated. He was always straight with women. Things were never going anywhere—his job and lifestyle dictated that, so he made no pretences.
But everything with Lara had started differently. He hadn’t met her in a club or restaurant. They hadn’t gone for a few drinks together, knowing exactly where things would end.
It didn’t matter that they had a room together. In fact, it was probably the biggest problem of all. The biggest elephant in the room.
For Reuben, going to a hotel room with a woman meant just that. One night, sex, with a quick retreat in the morning.
Here, there was no retreat. Nowhere to hide.
Lara’s eyes flashed at him again. She leaned forward. For a second he thought she was going to kiss him. Thought he might have a chance to taste those lips again.
There was a roaring in his ears. A flashback to the other day and the hurt and pain he’d witnessed in her eyes. Lara Callaway wasn’t someone to be played with. She wasn’t someone to have a casual fling with and dump when they got back to London.
He knew her.
And if this went any further he would be the person causing the hurt in her eyes.
