Harlequin KISS August 2014 Bundle (19 page)

Raoul, ever the gentleman, bowed slightly and took his leave. Claudia watched him weave through the dancers, collecting herself for a moment before turning to face Luke.

Luke in a tux.

Her stomach dropped at the mere sight of him, her heart rattling along like the lid on a steaming kettle. But she was determined to play it cool.

‘You made it,’
she said as he held out his arms and she slid into a polite waltz stance and started moving, careful to keep her distance, hoping he couldn’t feel the flutter of her pulse at her wrist. ‘I thought you must have changed your mind.’

She felt him tense for a moment. ‘I said I would be here. I’m here.’

‘Why, Luke?’

Claudia was proud of the steadiness of her voice, considering she wanted
to stamp her foot and beat her hands against his chest like a spoilt princess or a toddler having a tantrum.

‘What’s the point when you’re just going to turn around and go back to London? It’s a long way to come for three lousy days.’

It had been two weeks since Luke had wanted to shake her but only a minute back in her company and the urge returned with a vengeance. ‘Because I love
you, you irritating woman,’ he said, then promptly dipped her and pashed her in front of everyone.

TWENTY

Despite her
shock, it didn’t take Claudia’s heart—or hormones—long to betray her. Her senses filled up with him and she clung to his lapels, kissing him back, two weeks of sexual frustration bubbling up inside her.

It wasn’t until the racket of applause finally penetrated their passionate bubble that sense returned and Claudia pushed against his chest, struggling for
release. He yanked her up and let her go to more applause from the crowd.

She smiled awkwardly for a moment, then glared at him before muttering, ‘Follow me.’

She marched ahead, furious with him and herself. She kicked her stilettos off as she hit the beach, leaving them where they were as she gathered the hem of her dress and made a beeline for the shoreline, conscious of him following
more sedately behind.

‘How dare you?’ she said, turning on him when she was close enough to the water to drown him in it should the urge take over.

Luke held up his hands. ‘Claude.’

‘Don’t you Claude me,’ she snapped. ‘Don’t you come here acting all he-man. All...’ she took in his particular brand of delicious in his tuxedo and nearly swooned at his feet ‘...Captain Sexypants and
act like a Neanderthal and expect me to drop at your feet.’

Captain Sexypants?
‘Okay.’

‘And don’t you okay me either,’ she seethed, completely oblivious to the romance of the stars overhead and the lapping waves. ‘You expect me to believe that you suddenly love me? That this isn’t about you being a horny, jealous, possessive jerk?’

Luke had to admit she made a good point. ‘Oh, no,
it’s about all of those things as well,’ he admitted candidly. ‘When I saw you across the avenue before, it was absolutely about getting you into bed in the fastest possible way. To be honest, it was a relief to feel such a strong physical connection because then I didn’t have to think about anything deeper. And then Raoul showed...’

‘And you decided you’d come over all territorial and stake
your claim?’

Luke wasn’t going to apologise for going after what he wanted. A decade in advertising had taught him to hold firm. ‘No. I realised what I feel for you goes way beyond the physical.’

Claudia snorted. She refused to let his pretty words sway her. ‘Really? Well, too bad. You can’t just waltz in here, throw the L word around and use me for three days before you waltz out again.
I’m not going to be your little Aussie bonk-buddy.’

‘I’m not interested in something casual. I love you, Claudia Davis.’

Claudia shook her head, quashing the excited flutter in her chest. No. She wasn’t falling for that. ‘You told me two weeks ago that you
couldn’t go there again
after your divorce. You expect me to believe that’s all changed in just two weeks? That you’re suddenly over
the most emotionally devastating experience of your life and that you’ve fallen in love with me? In
two weeks
?’

Luke shook his head. ‘Tonight, actually. I fell in love with you tonight.’

‘Oh,
great
. That’s
so
much better,’ Claudia said, folding her arms across her chest.

‘What happened with Philippa...the divorce...you’re right, it was devastating and I’ve been clinging to that
as an excuse to focus on my career. But I looked across at you tonight and suddenly, all the hurt and humiliation, none of it mattered any more. Yes, I loved Philippa but the truth is, I didn’t
fall
in love with her. Not like just now.’

He took a step closer to Claudia because he needed her to hear him. ‘We fell into a relationship, we were a convenient couple. We were always at work together,
we had a lot in common but I didn’t
know
her. Not like I know you. You’ve been part of the fabric of my life for ever. You’re in my DNA, Claude.’

Claudia glared at him, not sure she liked the biological comparison. ‘How romantic. I sound like a disease.’

Luke ignored her sarcasm. ‘I guess you are,’ he admitted. ‘You infected me a long time ago and you’ve been lying dormant inside me
until today and now you’ve totally overrun me. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to see what was right in front of me.’

Claudia wanted nothing more than to throw herself into his arms. To take his words at face value and make a grab for her happiness while it was standing right in front of her. But it all just seemed too good to be true. Could love between old friends ever be that simple?

He lived on the other side of the world, for crying out loud!

‘Oh, yeah, and how do you see it working between us?’ she demanded. ‘With you in London and me here?’

Luke shrugged, unfazed. It had taken him a long time to trust enough to love another woman—he wasn’t going to do it by halves. ‘I don’t want to be anywhere you’re not and if that means here then so be it.’

Claudia
couldn’t believe the words coming from his mouth. In just about every way possible it was exactly what she’d wanted to hear. Except
if that means here
was hardly a ringing endorsement. She’d loved Luke most of her life—he’d definitely been in
her
DNA. She knew how much he’d wanted London. How much he’d wanted to be at the forefront of the global advertising industry.

How long before he resented
his choice? Before he resented her?

‘Come on, Claude,’ he murmured. ‘I think you might love me too. Give me a chance.’

Claudia looked at him and shook her head, her heart breaking just a little bit more. Of course she loved him. She loved everything about him. Including his pride and his self-respect and how much his career was wrapped up in that.

‘So what are you going to do?’
she asked. ‘Play hotel manager with me? Something you’ve already rejected?’

‘No.’ Luke shook his head. He loved the Tropicana but he needed something else. ‘Start my own business here, I guess.’

Claudia snorted—it didn’t sound as if he’d put a whole lot of thought into it. ‘You
guess
?’

Luke raked a frustrated hand through his hair. ‘I know it sounds like I’m making this up as I
go along but I didn’t realise how...over London I was until I came back here. I’d put my dissatisfaction down to work...to the divorce. It wasn’t until I came here I realised... This place kind of got to me again. I took it for granted growing up—that was stupid. I really enjoyed working on Jonah’s budget campaign. It felt...grass roots. I think I could make that into something.’

Luke surprised
even himself with his words but it suddenly felt
right
. Like being here with Claudia did.

‘I thought you needed the bright lights?’

‘Yeah,’ he admitted. ‘I did. But I was eighteen, Claude. I’ve been there and done that. People are allowed to change their minds.’

‘I didn’t.’

Luke smiled. That was just one of the things he loved about her—ever since his mother had given her that
clipboard for Christmas, she’d been so sure.

‘People are allowed to stay the same as well.’

Claudia looked at his beautiful face, nicely delineated by the slither of moonlight emanating from the quarter moon. Thanks to his close shave she could see every line and dip of his jaw and cheeks; she could even make out the remnant of his Crescent Cove tan not yet faded after two weeks in rainy
London.

She loved it. Loved every plane and angle. She even loved the ruthless smoothness of his face. But it was a blaring reminder of who he really was. She took a couple of paces towards him, lifted her hand and ran her fingers over his face. He watched her as she caressed his cheek, his jaw, his chin. The top of his lip.

All perfectly smooth. Perfectly London.

Not
Crescent Cove.

‘You shaved on the plane?’

Luke nodded. ‘Of course.’

Claudia dropped her hand. He thought he wanted to be here with her? She didn’t think so. Initially maybe when there was lots of sex and sunshine, and then what, when his business didn’t match up to his expectations and the bright lights called again? She couldn’t risk it. Having him for a while only to lose him again?

Maybe
he did love her—her breath caught at the thought, her heart tap-danced in her chest, but she quashed them instantly. She just didn’t think he’d thought it through properly. He was acting on lust and desire and a screwed-up sense of possession and she needed more than his jealous bullshit.

‘I have to get back,’ she said.

Luke took a pace towards her, worried at the sadness, the finality
in her tone. ‘Claude.’

‘Don’t,’ she said. ‘Don’t come here with half-arsed, on-the-fly plans.’ She picked her hem up again. ‘I have to get back,’ she said, turning away.

Luke watched her go, frustrated by her stubbornness but encouraged. ‘You never told me if you loved me,’ he called after her.

She turned to face him, walking slowly backwards. ‘I’ve always loved you. Doesn’t mean
it’s enough,’ she said before turning her back on him again.

Luke knew that was true. But it was a start.

* * *

Claudia was in her office working on the housekeeping roster, or pretending to anyway, the next morning when her mother knocked on the door. ‘Thought you might like a cuppa,’ she said.

Claudia smiled. ‘Thanks.’ She often thought rosters should be done with a bottle
of vodka but a cup of tea would suffice.

‘Last night was a huge success,’ her mother said as she sat in the chair on the other side of the desk. ‘The phone’s been running hot down at the retreat all morning.’

‘Yes. And we raised fifty grand too. Not bad at all.’

They chatted for a while about the party and the Tropicana before her mother gave her
that
look.

‘I saw you and Luke
disappear down to the beach last night.’

Claudia almost told her to stop but she’d noticed things were a little tense between her and Gloria and she didn’t want that. Maybe if they knew the truth they’d see there was never going to be anything between her and Luke.

‘It’s never going to happen, Mum. We want different things.’

Her mother put down her cup of tea. ‘Claude...we didn’t
give you this place to tie you down, to act like some kind of anchor to keep you here. If you want to be with Luke and he’s on the other side of the world then go and be with him. Do whatever you need to do. We can get managers in. I know you love the Tropicana but it’s not worth losing someone you love over.’

Claudia blinked, mentally rejecting the suggestion outright. Leave the Tropicana?
It had never occurred to her. She stared at her mother, who looked deadly serious.

‘It is okay, you know.’

Claudia opened her mouth to tell her mother no, but her quiet words of acceptance hit like a truck. Was it okay?

Maybe she’d been waiting for permission all these years. For someone to say it
was
okay to leave.

The thought was foreign; she’d never wanted to do anything
else, but hadn’t Luke said last night that people were allowed to change their minds?

What would she do, who could she be if she stepped outside the security of the Tropicana?

The thought was terrifying but if she had Luke?

She put her cup of tea down, her heart racing a little as she stood. ‘Thanks, Mum.’

She smiled back. ‘He’s down at the beach.’

* * *

Luke stood
on the near-deserted beach, his ankles in the water, looking at the Tropicana glowing white and proud in the morning sun like the glorious old relic she was. He could see the new spa building through the foliage and a couple of the luxury tents. In a year’s time the foliage regrowth would obscure most of it, hopefully.

A surge of satisfaction rose in his chest. He was looking forward to that.

Now he understood what Claudia had been rabbiting on about every time she mentioned their legacy. This place—the place of his childhood, the legacy of his heart—was in his DNA as surely as she was.

Sure, he’d thrived in London. Hell, he’d
needed
London. He’d had to go away to appreciate what he’d really had. What had been right under his nose.

Including Claudia.

But he got it
now.

A movement in his peripheral vision caught his eye and he glanced over to find Claudia coming his way looking resplendent in polyester and a ponytail. Avery had shown him the new sample uniform last night and it was a vast improvement but in some ways he’d be sorry to see the old, ugly one go—it had some very hot memories.

She didn’t bother greeting him, just stood in front of him
with folded arms and said, ‘You love me?’

Luke’s heart pounded. Could this be...? ‘Uh-huh.’

She looked at him a bit longer. ‘I’ll come to London with you,’ she said and turned to go.

Luke frowned. Wait.
What?
‘No.’

Claudia whipped around. ‘What do you mean, no? You love me, I love you. Let’s just go to London already.’

Luke chuckled at her crankiness. ‘No,’ he said again.

‘I swear to God, Luke, I’m trying to compromise here.’

‘No, you’re not. You’re trying to sacrifice what you want for what you
think
I want.’

‘London is where your career is. I’m not going to hold you back.’

‘I don’t care about London. Not any more. But you...
you
care about that...’ he pointed to the Tropicana ‘...and here’s a newsflash—I do too. I can do my job anywhere. I don’t
need a fancy office or a city skyline. But there’s only one Tropicana.’

Claudia glared at him looking all cool and clean-shaven. Even in his boardies and T-shirt the man screamed London. ‘You’re being impossible.’

He chuckled again. ‘I don’t think I’m the only one.’

She shook her head and turned on her heel and marched away.

* * *

The following morning, after another long,
restless night with her on the
other
side of the connecting door, Luke looked at himself in the bathroom mirror.

He knew women found him attractive. He knew Claudia found him
very
attractive. Hell—she loved him. She’d always loved him. That was what she’d told him. So why couldn’t he get her to take the leap with him?