Harlequin KISS August 2014 Bundle

by Amy Andrews, Aimee Carson, Avril Tremayne

  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.

  An image of Claudia’s fingers drumming against her belly slid into his mind.

  He reached for a pillow and pulled it over his head. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

  * * *

  ‘Surprise!’ Avery said as Claudia entered the large bright dining room populated with potted palms and an underwater-world mural taking up one entire wall. She couldn’t get used to seeing it so empty, bereft of the usual bustling morning breakfast crowd.

  Both her and Luke’s parents grinned at her from a nearby table.

  Claudia almost dropped her clipboard at the sight. She’d told them not to dare cut their big adventure short, that there was nothing they could do here anyway. When the cyclone had been building and finally hit, the intrepid adventurers had been out of reach on safari somewhere in the Great Sandy Desert and hadn’t even been aware. But as soon as they’d returned to civilisation and seen the news they’d been on to Claudia.

  They’d insisted on coming home but Claudia had begged them not to. She didn’t need to worry about four grey nomads driving a massive RV at breakneck speed, especially when they were over five thousand kilometres away and the roads were still a treacherous mess.

  But damn...it was good to see them.

  An immediate lump lodged in her throat and she forced it down—she’d done her crying. No more tears. ‘Mum? Dad? When did the road open?’

  ‘This morning.’ Lena, her mother, smiled.

  ‘You didn’t have to come,’ she said. ‘We’re managing.’

  ‘We know. But we couldn’t not.’

  And then she was swept into their arms and there were hugs all round and everyone talking at once. The whole disaster and clean-up was retold as Tony served breakfast then sat at the table and ate with them, adding his own embellishments about the worst storm he’d seen in all his forty years.

  ‘Where’s Luke?’ Gloria, his mother, asked. ‘He’s not still asleep, is he? It’s not like him to lie in.’

  ‘I think the jet lag’s really knocking him around,’ Avery said.

  ‘We’ve been working him pretty hard. Getting those soft office hands all dirty.’ Jonah grinned.

  Cyrus, Tony and Brian, Luke’s father, laughed. ‘He should be down soon,’ Claudia interrupted. ‘He was getting up to have a shower when I left him.’

  The table fell instantly silent and every set of eyes swivelled to her. It took a moment for Claudia to figure out why until she glanced at Avery’s huge goggle eyes.

  ‘Oh...not like that,’ she said hurriedly. ‘I was just telling him about my ideas for the resort. I thought he was an early riser too. I didn’t think he’d be asleep when I went through the connecting door.’

  More silence. ‘He was asleep?’ Gloria finally asked.

  ‘Like a log,’ Claudia confirmed.

  Luke’s parents looked at each other and Claudia was struck as per usual by how Luke was a perfect combination of both of them. His father’s build, his mother’s brown eyes and gorgeous complexion. ‘Does he still sleep in the buff?’ Brian asked.

  Claudia averted her gaze as a tide of heat rose to her cheeks, missing the wink Brian shot Jonah. ‘Apparently,’ she said, forcing her voice to sound normal and not crack as she thought about those abs.

  That happy trail.

  She glanced at Avery, preferring not to be looking at Brian as she thought about his almost naked son. Brian who was very much the blueprint for Luke. Avery was sharing a loaded look with Gloria.

  ‘He’s leaving on the evening plane tomorrow,’ she blurted out. Claudia wasn’t exactly sure why she’d said it but it seemed important for them all to know that Luke wasn’t part of the Tropicana equation.

  Wasn’t part of her equation.

  ‘Well, that’s a shame,’ Gloria said.

  Claudia couldn’t agree more but for some strange reason she felt compelled to defend him. ‘His career is important to him.’

  Gloria patted Claudia’s hand. ‘Yes, dear, we know. Now...’ she picked up her cup of tea ‘...tell us about these plans you were discussing with Luke.’

  Pleased for the change in subject, Claudia launched into her spiel with enthusiasm. There was so much she didn’t know yet, so much she still had to figure out, but she couldn’t deny the excitement that fizzed through her veins.

  The last year or so she’d felt as if she’d been going through the motions. Sure, she loved the Tropicana unconditionally, had never thought to change a single thing, but now change had been forced upon her whether she liked it or not.

  It had been a revelation realising that she’d never been particularly challenged here—she could do what she did in her sleep with her cli
pboard tied behind her back.

  It had been a revelation realising that she wanted change.

  Still, she was nervous. Ownership of the resort wasn’t hers—their parents had just handed over management rights. She had to convince them. Get them on board.

  Their enthusiastic nodding helped put her mind at ease. Avery was over-the-moon excited.

  ‘And Luke supports this too?’ Gloria asked.

  ‘He sure does,’ came a voice from behind them.

  Claudia watched as first his parents then her parents embraced Luke. It was heartening to see how close he was with her family too. He was wearing another pair of boardies and a T-shirt and the hem lifted a little to reveal a peek of those smooth abs she’d seen in full Technicolor not that long ago. She dragged her gaze away.

  When the greetings were finally done he pulled up the chair beside her and gave her a smile. ‘It’s like a family reunion,’ he said.

  Claudia smiled back, forgetting the abs for a moment. It had been a long time since they’d all sat down to a meal together and she felt strangely nostalgic.

  ‘So you’re leaving tomorrow?’ Lena, Claudia’s mum, asked. She was petite and blonde like her daughter and always cut straight to the chase.

  Luke nodded. ‘No need for me to stick around. The clean-up is largely done and Claude and I are both on the same page with the direction of the resort. I can leave it in her very capable hands and we can communicate via email.’

  Luke didn’t notice the look his mother and Claudia’s mother shared with Avery. He was tucking into the bacon that Tony was renowned for. Claudia didn’t either. She was trying to not think about eating bacon off Luke’s abs.

  SIX

  By the end of the day Claudia had almost burned through their entire download quota as she madly surfed the net for any information on spas and the kind of exclusive accommodation and experience she had in mind for the new and improved Tropicana. Thank goodness the web was up and running after a week without.

  She and Luke talked extensively, working together in the brief time they had left to throw ideas around, and she made copious notes. She refused to dwell on the fact that he’d be gone tomorrow, that the resort still meant so little to him that he could just walk away, especially after it had been so devastated. If anything the disaster that had befallen the Tropicana had only brought her closer to the grand old dame.

  This was where she belonged. Right here.

  Walking away just wasn’t an option.

  Occasionally Claudia glanced up to find her and Luke’s mothers in a huddle with their fathers or with Avery or with Avery and Jonah. Sometimes with Isis and Cyrus involved. Even Tony had come out of the kitchen at one point. But she figured they had a lot of catching up to do and everyone was still going about their assigned chores so who was she to complain?

  It wasn’t until they were sitting around eating their evening meal that night that she began to suspect there was more at play.

  ‘You two were very busy today,’ her mother murmured, flicking her glance over them both.

  ‘Lots to plan.’ Claudia shrugged.

  ‘How soon do you think you can get started?’ her father asked.

  ‘Not sure, Harry,’ Luke said. ‘Nothing can really be accomplished until the insurance money comes through. The government and the insurance companies have promised the industry that claims will be processed speedily but...’ he shrugged ‘...that doesn’t mean it’ll actually happen.’

  Her father nodded. ‘So it could be quite some months before we’re back on the road again.’

  Claudia looked up, alarmed. ‘No...Mum, Dad.’ She reached over and squeezed her mother’s hand. ‘Brian and Gloria,’ she said, looking at them both individually. ‘Go back to your trip. You guys slogged your guts out here for twenty years and this is supposed to be your retirement. Your dream trip. We’ll be just fine without you, won’t we, Avery?’

  ‘Hmm,’ Avery said noncommittally, avoiding Claudia’s gaze. ‘I suppose...’

  Claudia frowned at her friend, who’d been wildly enthusiastic this morning, before turning back to face the parents. ‘We’ll be fine,’ she assured.

  ‘Of course you will be, darling,’ her mother said, squeezing her hand back. ‘But...we can’t just leave you to do it on your own. Not with your management partner heading back to London. That wouldn’t be fair.’

  Claudia glanced at Luke. She wished he weren’t leaving but the truth was she’d managed without him for over a year and she wasn’t going to pressure him into staying.

  ‘I’m not on my own. I have Avery.’ Claudia glanced at her friend, who wasn’t looking so confident all of a sudden. Maybe she was thinking how much time it was going to take away from her relationship with Jonah?

  ‘We turned the resort around last year,’ she said. ‘We can rebuild it.’

  ‘No.’ Her mother shook her head. ‘We’ll have to stay. We can’t just abandon you. Rebuilding is different from refurbishing—it’s a much bigger undertaking. No,’ she declared again with a determined shake of her head. ‘With Luke gone we’ll stay as long as it takes to get the resort on its feet again.’

  Luke’s mother nodded wildly in agreement. ‘Of course, we really don’t know anything about the kind of high-end stuff you’re talking about doing so we may have to...modify some of the things you were talking about. I mean, the Tropicana clientele really don’t expect to be pampered like that when they’re here with their kiddies. I’m not sure we should be so...exclusive. We don’t want to put anyone off.’

  Claudia could feel it all unravelling as Gloria and her mother nodded in unison. She glanced at Luke to find the same kind of alarm written all over his face.

  ‘We’re hoping to attract a different clientele,’ Luke said through a forced smile.

  ‘Well, of course, darling,’ Gloria said. ‘But it’s not really the spirit of the Tropicana, is it?’

  ‘I agree,’ Harry said. ‘One of the resort’s charms is that it’s not pretentious.’

  ‘And surely the objective is to get the place up and running as soon as possible?’ Gloria added. ‘We can do that blindfolded if we keep it the way it was. Creating this whole new...concept will add a lot of burden to the process.’

  ‘I think your mother’s right,’ Brian said, sliding his hand on top of Gloria’s. ‘I think the resort is a little too old to be changing its spots now. It’s increasingly difficult to attract the tourist dollar. I surely don’t need to tell an ad man that, do I, son? I think if we stay we’re better off sticking with the devil we know.’

  ‘I guess we could turn one of the rooms into a massage parlour,’ Lena added. ‘We could employ some of those lovely commune people down at the markets who offer fifteen-minute neck and shoulder massages. You know how we feel about local employment.’

  Claudia watched as her shiny new dreams disappeared slowly into the ether; her shoulders sagged a little. ‘Well, of course...it’s still your place,’ she said carefully. ‘We can’t do any of it without your support. If you’d prefer we keep it as is...then, of course, that’s what we’ll do.’

  It had been a long shot anyway. Pie-in-the-sky stuff. And their parents were right—why mess with a winning formula?

  Luke could feel Claudia’s dismay without even having to look at her; it rolled towards him on a heavy cloud of doom. She’d started the day, her eyes sparking with possibility and now she was practically hunched over her untouched meal.

  He looked at his parents, then at hers.

  They had to go.

  In one brief conversation they’d sucked all her joy away.

  ‘Or you could place some faith in us and let us do our thing. Go back to your holiday and trust us,’ he said.

  ‘But it won’t be your thing, will it?’ Lena said. The rebuke was gentle but Luke heard i
t nonetheless. ‘You’ll be in London and it’ll just be poor Claude left to cope and carry all the responsibility. No.’ Lena shook her head. ‘She’s twenty-seven years old—she’s too young for that kind of pressure. We’re not going to let Claude start from scratch all on her own, not with such a big venture.’

  It was on the tip of Luke’s tongue to remind them they’d already left her all on her own. But of course they hadn’t, had they?

  He had.

  ‘Mum, I’m fine,’ Claudia dismissed.

  Lena smiled at her daughter. ‘Of course you are, darling. And you will continue to be so because we’re going to be here every step of the way.’

  Claudia smiled at her mother wishing she didn’t feel suddenly trapped and smothered by their love and thoughtfulness. She’d never felt it before, but then she hadn’t had this much freedom before. She’d been running things solo since their parents had taken off and that had been really freeing.

  She wasn’t sure she wanted to go back.

  Claudia’s head throbbed at the thought. ‘Actually, if no one minds, I think I’m going to turn in. I’ve got a bit of a headache.’

  ‘Of course not, darling,’ her mother said as Claudia stood. ‘Have you got some tablets you can take?’

  Claudia nodded. ‘Yes...thanks.’ She smiled at the group sitting around the table, deliberately avoiding Luke’s gaze. ‘I’ll see you in the morning,’ she said.

  Luke glared at them all as they watched her go. ‘I hope you’re all happy now,’ he said.

  ‘What on earth do you mean, Luke?’ his mother asked.

  Luke stood. ‘Forget it,’ he said, throwing his napkin on the table, and took off after Claudia.

  The table waited until Luke had left the dining room before they grinned at each other and Avery leaned across the table and high-fived Gloria.

  * * *

  Luke caught up with Claudia on the stairs. ‘Claude, wait,’ he said, taking them two at a time. She kept going. ‘Claudia,’ he called again and she stopped as he caught up with her.

  ‘I’m fine, Luke,’ she said wearily. ‘Just tired.’