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Claudia nodded. Speaking. She could do that. She cleared her throat. ‘I was thinking about...’ His bare chest was distracting in her peripheral vision. ‘The whole spa idea. About...’ He rubbed at his jaw again and the rasp went straight to her nipples. They tightened in blatant response, almost as if he’d scraped his chin over the sensitive tips, and she was thankful for the palm-tree pattern disguising their reaction.
Dear Lord, where was she? She cleared her throat again. ‘Catering to that end of the market.’
‘Yes?’
His slight accent dragged sticky fingers across her belly and she absently placed her hand on her midriff, pressing slightly to relieve the tingle. ‘I was thinking about how we could offer the spa customers a fuller service, including exclusive accommodation. Have you seen those deluxe tents with four-poster beds that sit on raised wooden floorboards and are draped in the most luxurious georgette screening? They open to the ocean and look like something out of Arabian Nights?’
Luke knew the type Claudia was talking about—one of his clients dealt exclusively in that style of accommodation—but her hand resting where it was had become very distracting. Her fingers drummed against her belly as she spoke and he was beginning to have very bad thoughts indeed.
Which was not conducive to his nakedness.
Also, this was Claudia!
He pulled his legs up, tenting the sheet. ‘I think it sounds perfect for the Tropicana—we have enough land to make it a really exclusive set-up.’
Claudia nodded, temporarily forgetting in her enthusiasm Luke was wearing nothing but a sheet. She even took a step towards his bed and propped her knee on the end of the mattress. ‘If we set it up right the two parts of the resort could be kept separate but co-exist quite happily.’
Luke chuckled as Claudia’s blue eyes shone like polished topaz. ‘You look exactly like you used to on Christmas Eve,’ he teased.
Claudia smiled back. ‘I can’t remember being this excited about anything since that Christmas I got that amazing bike from Santa but I was more interested in the clipboard your parents gave me. Do you remember? I think I was ten.’
His smile broadened into a grin at the memory. It must have cost his parents next to nothing but she’d loved that damn thing. ‘And you walked around pretending you were Julie from The Love Boat.’ He laughed.
‘And hardly ever rode the bike,’ Claudia said, laughing too.
They laughed together for a while until it petered out and the intimacy of the situation invaded again. They were alone in Luke’s room and one of them was naked.
Claudia withdrew her knee from the bed. ‘Anyway...sorry for waking you, I just...’
Luke waved her apology away with his hand. ‘You’re forgiven. Just make sure you bring coffee next time.’
‘What makes you think there’ll be a next time?’
‘You mean you’re not going to make a habit of barging into my room at ungodly hours?’
Claudia rolled her eyes. ‘It’s seven. And you’re leaving tomorrow, remember?’
‘I’m still on holiday today.’
‘Some holiday,’ she snorted. And then they were grinning at each other again.
‘Get out of here,’ Luke said as their grins faded.
Claudia crossed her arms again. ‘You’re not going back to sleep, are you?’
‘Nope. I’m getting out of bed and hitting the shower. I just figured you wouldn’t want to be here when I peeled this sheet back.’
Claudia couldn’t help herself—her gaze dropped to the sheet covering his tented knees. Suddenly the familiar easiness between them evaporated and a more loaded atmosphere took over.
‘Right. No,’ she said, willing her legs to move, but somehow remained rooted to the spot. ‘That would be...too much information.’
Luke chuckled at her understatement. ‘Amongst other things.’ He waited for her to move and chuckled again when she remained stationary. ‘Claude?’
Claudia sprang into action this time, embarrassed by her inertia. ‘Right. Yes,’ she said, pulling down the hem of her skirt a little and brushing imaginary lint from her sleeves. ‘I’ll just...I’ll catch you...later.’
She didn’t wait for his reply and two seconds later Luke was practically staring at her dust. He fell sideways onto the mattress with a groan.
He didn’t like this...vibe...between them now. He and Claude just didn’t do vibes.
It would be good to go home tomorrow. Put some distance between them and get back to his job, to a career that was finally on the up again. Especially now Claudia and he were on the same page for the direction of the resort.
