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.’
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.
‘It’s gorgeous,’ he said quietly. ‘I never even gave this much thought. I knew that Venice was a group of islands but I didn’t realise quite how many. Or how different they all are.’
The ship had moved on, passing the island where Murano glass was made and moving past one with that was used mainly as a cemetery. He turned his head a little to face Lara. There was a tear gently rolling down her cheek.
‘Hey.’ Reuben caught her shoulders and turned her to face him. ‘What’s wrong? Isn’t this the trip of a lifetime? The one you always dreamed of?’
Was this because of him? His teasing earlier about the sleeping arrangements? Lara had always seemed able to play him at his own game, but maybe he’d just stepped too far.
She gave a little nod of her head. ‘It is. I know it is. It’s just...different from what I expected.’
‘How?’ Now he could feel his insides curling up.
She gave the tiniest shake of her head and sighed, wiping away another tear. ‘I expected to be really excited to be here. To love every minute. But the last few weeks and all the trouble with Josh have just...taken the gloss off things for me. I spent so much time thinking about where we would be going, what we would see.’
She gave the wryest smile he’d seen. ‘Now I’m standing here, watching Venice glide past, I’m just realising I’ve been dumped in the most horrible way. He wasn’t even sorry. He didn’t really care that I’d caught them. Then to throw away all my things, knowing how that would upset me, and that I wouldn’t be able to replace them.’ She gave her head a little shake.
‘I know it’s silly to get upset over an old book.’ She pressed her hand against her heart. ‘But it meant something to me. I guess things have just hit me all at once. I’ve been treated like I’m not good enough by a man who is lower than the belly of snake. It doesn’t really say that much for me, does it?’
There was an instant burn inside him. He recognised it well. Rage. Fury. The kind of feelings usually channelled into his business dealings. It helped when dealing with some of the volatile sports stars. Not the kind of rage he used in everyday life.
Not since that night with Caleb.
‘Garbage.’ He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards a set of steps, ushering her up towards one of the exclusive bars.
‘Where are we going?’
He pointed to one of the bar stools that gave a view out of the full-length glass windows and gestured to the barman, pointing to a bottle of pink champagne.
The barman didn’t hesitate. He produced two champagne glasses, an ice bucket and popped the cork quickly.
Reuben took the champagne and poured it into glasses, the froth and bubbles almost spilling over the edges of the glasses. ‘Here.’ He handed her one.
‘What are we doing?’ Her brow was furrowed.
‘We’re toasting the end of a bad relationship. We’re celebrating the fact that Josh didn’t manage to ruin your dream. We’re saying goodbye to feeling like rubbish and raising our glasses to a new future and a new adventure. No negative thoughts allowed. From here on, it’s fun, fun, fun.’
He clinked his glass against hers. He wasn’t usually so gung-ho. So nice really. But there it was again. That weird thing about being around Lara and her sad face doing strange things to his insides. He seemed to have a low threshold for her being down.
When he’d first met her two weeks ago she’d been fiery—and still quite angry. And even though she still joked with him it was almost as if uncertainty was taking her over. She’d obviously had too much time to think about all this—too much time to let her confidence falter.
He looked around. In his opinion Lara Callaway was the best-looking woman around here. And apart from being funny, she was quirky and she had a good heart. She had passion. She said she loved looking after Tristan and after a few false starts in life obviously thrived in the job she was
currently doing. Maybe if she’d been working the last two weeks she might have been too distracted to get down. Now he was feeling guilty for not being around much, contract negotiations and temperamental clients having filled up most of his days and evenings in London.
But the next two weeks would be entirely different. The next two weeks he’d be around her morning, noon and night. And where might that lead?
Maybe Lara would consider a fling? Some fun on the cruise? Because that’s all it could be. He wouldn’t be able to offer the Caleb and Addison lifestyle. The happy-ever-after and for ever. He wasn’t that kind of guy. He didn’t come from that kind of family. But two weeks to try and build a beautiful girl’s self-confidence? He could do that.
He shifted on his bar stool. That single thought had sent an imaginary cool breeze over his skin and blood rushing to places it shouldn’t. Strange how these things sneaked up on you.
Lara gave him a smile that almost made him sigh with relief. She clinked her glass against his. ‘You’re right. I know you’re right. This year is the end of all ratbag boyfriends. And the start of something new entirely.’ She tipped back her head to swallow some of the champagne.
He gulped. Her scent was drifting around him—the same scent she’d worn that day he’d kissed her in the café. And right now he had a prime view of that soft skin at the bottom of her neck...
What was wrong with him?
Reuben Tyler didn’t take time to fantasise about women. Normally, he didn’t have the time. Plus the fact he usually just acted on instinct. He could spot a flirtatious glance from a million miles away. All he usually had to do was decide whether to go with the flow or not. But Lara was entirely different.
Sure, there was buzz between them. Sure, her lips tasted like no others.
But most of all he’d actually got to know her a little. He knew what kind of coffee she liked. What kind of cake. He knew the type of wine she liked to drink and what kind of takeout food she enjoyed best. All of these superfluous things usually just passed him by. But living under the same roof as Lara for the last two weeks had kind of imprinted them on his brain in a way he couldn’t really understand.
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