Claire Elliot reread the resort brochure someone had left on her desk. The creators of the Fantasy Ranch bring you a tropical paradise on a private Caribbean island, an adult playground with every amenity, a hedonistic escape from harsh reality.
Come. Adventure awaits.
Claire frowned and clicked her French-manicured nails together. Her stomach formed a familiar knot, and she began to suspect that none other than her best friend and co-worker Lucy Walker had been the one to place the glossy magazine-size brochure prominently on the top of her inbox stack. In the midst of a slow afternoon at the travel agency, when the August Phoenix heat was keeping everyone indoors, it was impossible not to be drawn to the images of clear turquoise water, white sand beaches and palm trees casting shade over cool white buildings.
Claire had already heard about Escapade, of course. It was her job as the manager of Sunny Horizons Travel to keep up with the latest tourism industry news, and word of Mason Walker opening a new adults-only resort had spread like wildfire. She'd had clients calling months ago to book vacations there, many of them fans of Mason's other resort.
The Fantasy Ranch inevitably brought back memories she'd tried hard to forget, memories that haunted her at night when she lay in bed alone. Correction, make that memories of a certain man that haunted her on those long sleepless nights.
Mason Walker. The last man she wanted to think about. He was also Lucy's brother-in-law, and her friend had employed some pretty sneaky tactics trying to get Claire and Mason together.
Claire looked up from the brochure and spotted the person she was sure had planted it. Lucy was sitting at her desk trying hard not to look guilty, but she made the fatal mistake of glancing up at Claire's doorway, and the curiosity in her eyes gave her away.
Claire glared at her and crooked a finger in her direction. Lucy rose and came toward Claire's office like a woman condemned. She stepped into the office and closed the door, then flashed Claire a stricken look.
"Before you say anything, just hear me out," Lucy said.
"I thought you'd learned your lesson about match-making in Hawaii!" Claire still hated to think about the week she'd spent stranded in paradise with Mason, having been lured there by a fake invitation Lucy had concocted to get the two together.
Not to mention the bachelorette auction dating disaster and the subsequent accusations of a stolen Porsche. Their first encounter at Mason's Arizona resort had left Claire depressed and out of sorts over a man for the first time in the thirty years she'd been alive, and she had no intention of letting it happen again.
Whenever Claire and Mason got together, sparks flew, no doubt about it. But rather than anything sexually incendiary, they were more like the sparks from metal grinding furiously against metal.
"I just thought you should know all about the resort's amenities, that's all. Purely for professional reasons. You wouldn't want to get caught off guard by a client asking you about it, right?"
Lucy was becoming less and less convincing at the Little Miss Innocent act these days.
"And that's the only reason you put this on my desk?"
"Absolutely," Lucy said, but her gaze darted out the window over Claire's shoulder.
"You're a terrible liar."
Lucy tried to look offended, but in the end she smiled. "I just think there's something special about the two of you together."
"Yeah, special like an atomic bomb. I don't need any more explosive relationships." Claire dropped the brochure into the recycling bin next to her desk.
"Aren't you even a little curious about this resort? I mean, Escapade - it sounds scandalous. It's billed as being even wilder than the Fantasy Ranch, and from what Mason says, the place is really luxurious."
"What kind of idiot would build yet another resort in the already resort-laden Caribbean?"
"The same guy who turned a failing resort in the middle of theArizona desert into a smashing success."
"You're a little biased, considering." Considering Lucy had met the love of her life at Mason's Arizona resort. Judd Walker was Mason's younger brother and more than reason enough for
Lucy to feel biased with regard to all things Walker. Lucy smiled. "Maybe a little, but picture what he's done - sultry tropical setting, upscale accommodations, hedonistic atmosphere, a private island...."
"I'll just direct all interested clients to you for information," Claire said in a tone that indicated it was her last comment on the subject.
Lucy's expression fell. "Okay, fine. If that's what you want ..."
"It is!" Absolutely. Positively.
But Claire spent the rest of the afternoon feeling distracted and edgy, thoughts of Mason crowding her mind. This was dangerously close to the very same state of misery she swore she wouldn't endure again. She'd been sure she had finally overcome the obsession, yet here she was again, out of sorts at the mere mention of Mason's name.
After leaving the office, Claire navigated the streets of suburban Phoenix in her ragtop Mustang, the top up to protect her from the sun, wishing in the midsummer heat that she could give up her obsession with vintage muscle cars in favor of a nice late-model roadster with reliable air-conditioning.
Instead, she swiped at the perspiration that had formed on her forehead, then rolled down her window. Mirages of water glistened and then disappeared on the sweltering road ahead, and the nauseating scent of car exhaust filled the air.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from As Hot As It Gets by Jamie Sobrato Copyright © 2005 by Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.. Excerpted by permission.
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