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The moment she shut the door, Anna convulsed into a fit of giggles. “Oh my god.” She held her stomach, like it would fall out if she didn’t. “I don’t think I can lie on a bed next to you nearly naked and not burst out laughing.”

“Are you sure laughter will be your reaction?” Fully aware what he was doing—she liked his body, she’d made that perfectly clear—he released the tie of his robe in two quick, cocky flicks. Slowly, deliberately, he eased the robe off and let it drop to the floor.

Her eyes skimmed over him from head to toe and her body rippled in a full body shudder.

Feeling smug, he sat on the nearest massage bed. “Your turn.”

“Oh no.” Her throat worked as she swallowed. “I’m not . . . I can’t do that seductive routine you just pulled off.”

“Come here, Anna,” he said roughly.

She shuffled forward. From his position sitting on the massage table his eyes were pretty much aligned with hers. He reached for the tie of her robe. “Can I?” When she nodded, he released the knot and parted the robe.

His breath got trapped in his throat. Carefully, gently, he slipped the robe from her shoulders.

Arousal pumped through him, every muscle in his body primed, ready to pull her soft curves against his hard edges. “Consider me officially seduced,” he murmured. Aware they were going to get interrupted any minute, he slumped back on the bed and drew the blanket over himself to hide his wayward dick. “We need to talk about something unpleasant,” he stated gruffly.

She wet her lips with her tongue and he wondered if she knew how distracting that was. How exactly opposite to what he needed right now.

“After the massage we have one session left,” she said, a husk to her voice that did not help his situation one little bit.

“What’s that?”

“A mud bath.”

A rough laugh rolled out of him. “If I survive this, I can survive anything.”

The therapists knocked on the door and the moment was broken. Yet as Anna slid onto the bed next to him, as they lay side by side on their fronts while their bodies were slathered in oil, even as Anna insisted they have their photo taken, he did more than simply survive the experience. He enjoyed it. Not the massage, though it was nice to have his calves massaged, the knots in his back eased. He enjoyed lying next to Anna. Enjoyed being the recipient of her rolled eyes when he said something sarcastic, her small smile when he said something she found amusing.

The sounds of bliss she made when her massage therapist found just the right spot.

Buddy, I really like your sister, he said in a silent message to his friend. And I don’t know what to do about it.

It angered him, saddened him, agonized him, haunted him that the only person who could help him, was no longer here.

How was he supposed to second guess what his friend would have said?

December 14th

For the fifth day running, Anna woke up in a sweat, an ache between her legs.

Yesterday had started off fun, and ended in one hot, head-spinning sensual fog.

It was telling that when they’d come back from the spa last night, Luke had apologized and said he needed to make some calls.

Telling that he’d not surfaced again all evening.

Telling that she’d found the remnants of takeout in the garbage.

Yet it was equally telling that she’d been relieved not to have to spend the evening with him. She’d been far too confused to want to sit next to him on the sofa and watch TV, pretending everything was normal.

But today she’d have to face him again.

Whatever you have planned for us, she muttered to her brother, it had better not involve taking off clothes. Or lying next to each other. Or anything that screams intimate.

God knows, the way she felt at the moment, sleeping in the same condo with the man felt too intimate.

It wasn’t just her problem. It was clear Luke was also experiencing these . . . okay, for want of a better word, she was going with lusty thoughts. Maybe that’s just what happened when two people of a similar age and the same sexual orientation lived under the same roof with each other.