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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 demonstrated 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.’
She could almost feel his voice skitter over her skin. That Irish accent was so sexy, so enchanting that one tiny Amazonian part of her wanted to drag him back to the bed right now, throw him down and just leap on board.
She wasn’t normally as uptight around other people as she was around Reuben.
She sucked in a breath and looked up at him. Those dark brown eyes were fixed on her face. The intensity was shocking. Thank goodness for the little twinkle that was still there.
‘You’d better,’ she said firmly, ‘or this is going to be a long two weeks for you on a hard floor.’
The edges of his lips turned upwards. His breath touched her skin. ‘Whatever you say, Lara.’
She nudged her shoulder into his chest and pushed past him. ‘Let’s get changed,’ she said quickly. ‘There’s a whole world out there and I don’t want to miss a second of it.’
And just like that she’d agreed to share her bed with a man she’d only known for two weeks.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE SHIP GLIDED along the Grand Canal. It was one of the final cruise ships allowed along the Grand Canal before plans changed and they all had to moor outside the canal.
Reuben hadn’t expected any of this. Everything about this had been last minute for him and, to be honest, he’d been treating it all like a bit of a joke.
Yes. He needed a holiday. After four years with none at all he deserved one.
More importantly he needed some time away from his current business dealings before his partial eruptions turned into a full-blown Vesuvius version.
Lara’s face in the cabin had been a picture. He hadn’t even given any thought at all to the sleeping arrangements but it seemed she had and her plans had gone awry.
It was clear she didn’t realise just how cute and sexy she looked with that wrinkled nose and wide eyes.
So the wonder of Lara, coupled with the wonder of Venice, was doing strange things to him.
The thought of a short fling with Lara was growing more appealing by the second.
They stood on one side of the ship as they passed the Piazza San Marco, the Doge’s Palace and the campanile of San Giorgio Maggiore. The multicoloured buildings, some old and tired with peeling plasterwork, others still proud and pristine with arched windows, balconies and overflowing window boxes, kept them enthralled. There was something about Venice that couldn’t actually be captured in a photo or in a travel book. You had to actually be there to experience the colours, the sights, the noise.
It seemed that every holidaymaker on the cruise ship was standing on deck to watch their passage out to sea. The sun was beating down on them and after a few minutes Lara gave a little sigh and leaned against him, taking a sip of her cocktail. ‘This is just how I imagined it would be.’ Her voice sounded sad and without even thinking about it his hand slid around her waist and anchored her to him.
