Do Not Disturb (77 page)

“I’m too tired to argue with you,” she murmured, closing her eyes and sighing as he slipped a hand between her thighs. “I don’t have the energy.”

Lucas grinned. “Really? I’m not so sure. Let’s see how much energy you have, shall we?”

Three hours later, lying naked in his arms with the blanket curled around them as the waves lapped softly against the deserted dawn shoreline, Honor extended her limbs in a long, luxuriant stretch.

“It’s gonna be tough, you know,” she whispered, her lips brushing the top of Lucas’s ear. “Making this work. The whole long-distance thing.”

“What long-distance thing?” Flipping over onto his side, he turned to face her, pressing his broad nose against her cheek.

“Well, you’ll be in Paris, won’t you? Or Ibiza.”

“What makes you think that?” asked Lucas.

“Well…” she stammered. “Luxe America is kind of…dead, right? There’s no reason for you to stay here.”

“On the contrary.” Lucas smiled. “Now that Anton and Petra have rather bigger problems on their plate, I’m anticipating a miraculous easing in our legal and planning problems. As long as I’m on-site to push it, I can’t see why we wouldn’t be up and running by this time next year.”

“I do admire your tenacity, darling,” said Honor, kissing him chastely on the lips. “But you must realize you’re wasting your time.”

“Oh, am I indeed?” Cupping his hand around her right breast, he squeezed it tightly. “And why’s that?”

“Because,” she said, without a hint of irony, “Palmers is the greatest hotel in the world, and we’ll be up and running by Christmas. I’m sure your Luxes are lovely in their own way. But you can’t seriously hope to compete with me.”

Lucas laughed. “Actually, my darling,” he said, “I’m looking forward to spending the rest of my life doing exactly that.”

Photograph by Michael Pilkington

T
ILLY
B
AGSHAWE WAS
born in London and raised in a large family in the English countryside. She enrolled at Cambridge University and later launched a successful career as a headhunter in London. At twenty-six, she became the youngest-ever partner in the number-one global search firm, before changing course to pursue a writing career. After a brief stint at
The Sunday Times
, she followed her novelist sister’s example and wrote her first book. Today she is a happily married mother of four and author of ten novels, including
Adored, Showdown,
and
Sidney Sheldon’s Mistress of the Game
. In addition to her bestselling novels, Tilly has contributed to numerous British newspapers and magazines including
Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Elle, The Sunday Times, The Times,
and
The Daily Mail
. She divides her time between Los Angeles, London, and Nantucket.