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.’
‘Fine and dandy, huh?’ he mocked.
Claudia didn’t deign to answer. She turned away from him and continued up the stairs.
‘You should fight for what you want,’ he said as he followed a step behind her.
Claudia concentrated on her feet. ‘It’s their place, Luke.’
‘Is that what it is?’ he demanded. ‘Or are you just too chicken? You’ve had an original idea that just might turn this giant white elephant of theirs around but you don’t have the guts to go for it. You’re running scared.’
Claudia stopped as a well of anger rolled through her. She turned abruptly, narrowly avoiding a collision with Luke. Even with him on the lower step he was still taller than her. She clenched her fists to stop herself from placing them on his chest and pushing him down the stairs.
Or possibly tearing his shirt off.
This close she could see every fleck that made up the brown of his eyes, every single eyelash, every individual whisker valiantly trying to push through the skin to freedom before he once again ruthlessly mowed them down.
He couldn’t taunt her in that hybrid accent of his—not about this. ‘I think you’re the only one running around here, Luke.’
And then she turned again and ran up the remaining stairs, putting as much distance between them as possible.
When she got to her room she thanked her lucky stars her parents had decided to take a different room rather than reclaim this one. She didn’t fancy sharing with them again—not tonight anyway. And God knew, there were plenty of suites to choose from at the moment!
She didn’t turn the light on. She didn’t have a shower, she didn’t brush her teeth, she didn’t even put on her pyjamas. For the first time in her life, Claudia stripped straight out of her clothes and left them discarded on the floor where she stood before walking to the bed, yanking back the sheets and crawling between them.
She sighed as the thick, crisp sheets folded her in cool starched bliss. It felt heavenly even though she knew in this sticky tropical weather she was bound to wake up in a few hours with body parts sticking together. But right now she was just too damn exhausted—physically and mentally—to care.
And hey, if it was good enough for Captain Sexypants...
His outrageous accusation on the stairs came back to her and Claudia shut her eyes to ward it off. She took five deep breaths, tuning in to the gentle swish of the ocean floating to her on a breeze that rustled the balcony curtains. She would not let Luke under her skin. He was leaving tomorrow and things here would return to business as usual.
She shifted around in the king-sized bed trying to get comfortable, not sure this whole naked thing was conducive to sleep.
Sex, maybe, but not sleep.
Hot, sweaty, dirty sex.
She shut her eyes, trying not to think about anything hot, sweaty or dirty or how long it had been since she’d had any.
Not with Captain Sexypants right next door.
* * *
It was Luke’s turn to stay awake all night staring at the ceiling, turning the dinner conversation over and over in his head. Claudia’s disappointed face burned into his retinas. Her accusation taunted him on automatic replay.
I think you’re the only one running around here.
He couldn’t stay, for crying out loud. His career was at a crossroads. He was back to the point he had been a few years ago before his wife had screwed him over. He just needed to lure this one big client, to bring their multimillion-dollar account to the firm, then he’d be back on top again.
He was almost there.
People depended on him at work—both his clients and his team. He couldn’t abandon them.
But could he really abandon Claudia now?
Again?
Sure, she had a team too, a very devoted team, but he couldn’t bear the thought of her stuck in the resort-that-time-forgot where it was Groundhog Day twenty-four-seven. Not after the excitement—the anticipation—he’d witnessed today.
It was as if he’d taken her to the gates of paradise and opened them a crack so she could see inside...and then clanged them shut in her face.