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She spun on her impossibly high heels. The gold jewels and fringes on her dress spun out as she turned, catching the lamplight from the casino, refracting and lighting up the street around them like disco balls as she ran down the steps and jumped into the nearest cab.
Reuben’s breath had caught somewhere in his throat. He could hear the theme tune of a movie play in his ears.
Every part of him was cringing. He’d handled this so badly. She didn’t realise he was walking away because he actually felt something for her.
If anything, he wasn’t good enough for her, not the other way around.
He turned his head towards the ship moored beneath them as he kicked his heels.
Maybe the walk back would cool him off?
One thing was for sure. He certainly needed it.
CHAPTER NINE
LARA WAS MORE than mad. Reuben Tyler had ruined her night’s sleep in the world’s most comfortable bed, with a stunning view of Monte Carlo. Selfish git.
He hadn’t kissed her since that day in the café, so when she’d kissed him last night in the casino she hadn’t expected to have to draw him a diagram of what came next.
The guy was supposed to be a bad boy.
So bad, that he’d pulled away from their kiss and practically frog-marched her out of the casino. What on earth had she done that had been so wrong?
Was it against the law in Monte Carlo to kiss in the casino?
She wasn’t even sure where he’d gone last night and that made her even madder. She’d been too tense to sleep. Had Reuben gone back to the casino to find a more ‘suitable’ woman? She had visions right now of finding a huge pair of scissors and shredding all his clothes and tossing them over the balcony.
Now she was lying in bed wondering what on earth to say when he finally showed up.
She hated feeling like this, hated feeling as if she wasn’t good enough. She’d already had one dose of that from Josh and she certainly didn’t need it from Reuben.
What made her cringe was the fact that she must have read much more into their kiss than he had. He couldn’t possibly know the way it had sent electric pulses racing through her senses. The way it had scrambled every sensible thought in her brain. And the way it had sent her imagination into overdrive.
She hadn’t wanted him to stop. She’d had very vivid ideas of what she’d wanted to happen next—but he obviously hadn’t.
It was embarrassing. It was humiliating. Maybe this was normal behaviour for Reuben because, let’s face it, she didn’t really know him that well. Two weeks trapped under the same roof as someone didn’t mean that you got to know them. It was clear she’d barely scratched the surface.
He’d mentioned no relationships. He hadn’t even talked about his family. Just a few hints about bad blood between him and his parents. There were enough pictures of him online with pretty girls to fill a hundred albums. So this was it for him. Find a girl. Kiss her.
Something twisted inside her gut. There was no way bad-boy Reuben didn’t follow through to the next event. So what exactly was wrong with her?
She flung the covers back, grabbed some clothes and stomped into the shower. Today’s stop was Château d’If. She didn’t care one bit what Reuben’s plans were. She’d dreamt about this place since she’d first read The Count of Monte Cristo. There was no way she was missing this place for any man.
* * *
Reuben’s face creased into a rueful smile as he opened the door of the suite and heard the bang of the bathroom door.
She was up. The fireworks would start any time.
He’d spent the night in one of Monte Carlo’s sumptuous five-star hotels. Surprisingly, the bed had felt strangely empty and cold. It might have been just what he’d needed last night, but this morning he could do with a little heat again. And that little flash of satin nightdress and glimpse of leg might be all it would take.
What was wrong with him? He was a fully functioning man. It was inevitable that women would have instinctual reactions to parts of his anatomy. Normally, when he knew the attraction was mutual he wouldn’t hesitate to pursue it.
But with Lara? Things felt entirely different.
He was getting to know her in ways he didn’t normally get to know other women.
He’d seen the primal fight for survival when he’d first met her, closely followed by the hurt in her eyes and a glimpse of vulnerability. That’s what had done it for him.
That’s what had made him want to pound Josh into the nearest wall. That’s what had made him want to make sure that he didn’t hurt her in a similar way.
He loved her one-liners and quick comebacks. He knew that part of it was self-preservation—that wall that she kept around herself. He just wasn’t entirely sure what was stopping him from bursting through it to get exactly what he wanted.
