Claudia would let their parents have their way. After all, she’d always loved the place just the way it was.
And she was a pleaser.
But would she still have that verve and bounce she was renowned for as each year went by and the if-onlys set in? If-onlys could cripple a person—he knew that better than most. If only he hadn’t been so trusting of Philippa. If only he’d been paying more attention to the signs. If only he’d followed his own advice about the stupidity of office relationships.
If only he hadn’t been such a fool...
If-onlys could eat you up inside. They could make you bitter; they could make you hard; they could wear you down.
He hated even the thought of that picture—Claudia with all the fizz and bubble gone. No more bounce. Lines around her eyes. A strained smile.
Hanging onto that damn clipboard of hers for dear life because if she didn’t she might just smash it over the nearest hapless tourist’s head.
He wouldn’t wish if-onlys on his worst enemy.
Goddamn it.
He rolled over and punched his pillow hard. He was responsible for building up Claudia’s expectations. He couldn’t walk away from it now.
He was going to have to stay.
SEVEN
After a night of tossing and turning and with his decision made, it was Luke’s turn to barge in on Claudia. He’d heard the pipes in her shower going earlier so he knew she was up and about.
He knocked briefly on the interconnecting door then entered the room.
Except, she wasn’t up and about.
The room was lit only by a slice of sunlight peeking through curtains ruffled by a stiff ocean breeze, but it was enough to see she was very much in bed. Very much asleep. And, he froze on the spot...
Very, very much naked.
For long moments he didn’t know what to do—too shocked for any rationality as his brain tried to compute what he was seeing and his body waged a war with his conscience.
What are you doing, jerk? Get the hell out of here.
But...
She’ll kill you if she wakes up and finds you staring at her like you’ve never seen a naked woman before.
But...
You are acting like a dirty perv. Stop it now!
And Luke knew it was true but he just didn’t seem to be able to drag his eyes off Claudia’s nakedness. He’d spent twenty-plus years of his life not thinking about her like that at all and within the space of a week he’d subjected her to a sleepy grope, was having erotic dreams about her and now he was perving at her in the buff.
He really needed to get the hell out.
But he couldn’t move. Her brea**sts drew his gaze like some horny fifteen-year-old boy at a peep show. She had both arms up over her head, one resting across her face, which drew her brea**sts up very nicely indeed. And there they sat, small, yes, but pleasingly pert with that enticing side-swell he’d felt in his hand a few days ago.
His palm tingled again in Pavlovian response.
Caramel-coloured areolas and nipp**les crowned the tips majestically and he swallowed as his blood sugar plummeted suddenly, his body craving a sugar hit.
A caramel hit.
Frightened by the urge to indulge, he fisted his palms as he dragged his gaze down. Her bare skin was pale and he absently wondered how she’d accomplished that living on top of a beach from the age of six. She’d told him she didn’t have time for swimming but he hadn’t thought she was serious.
Her waist was slender, boasting an equally petite belly button that sat out like a little pearl, just begging to be licked. Sucked.
He swallowed again.
Her hips flared into a gentle curve before the sheet hid the really interesting parts from his view. Although one leg was hidden in a tangle of fabric it managed to drag on the sheet enough to expose most of the other leg. His gaze wandered over her pink toenails, her delicate calf and one well-defined knee then all the way up to where the sheet stopped just shy of her groin.
He expelled a shaky breath. Claudia Davis was one sexy little package.
How the hell had he missed that?
A gust of wind blew the curtain, billowing it out, and the door creaked loudly behind him, dragging him out of his inertia.
Leave, leave now!
He turned to go. But another strong gust snatched the handle away just as he reached for it and the door slammed. Loud enough to wake the dead.
Sure as hell loud enough to wake the naked woman he’d been ogling.
He glanced over his shoulder as she sat bolt upright in bed and Luke’s heart slammed as well. Louder than the door. Louder than the clanging chimes of doom that were ringing madly in his head.
Claudia woke with a start, her heart thundering in her chest, her startled gaze flying to the windows, momentarily confused. Was it another cyclone or was she still caught in the nightmare from the last one? The noise didn’t come again and her pulse settled, her wild, dilated eyes constricting down to a more useful size. She looked around, her vision clearing to reveal a Luke of a different variety in her room.