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‘If that is your idea of a proposal you can keep it.’

Alexi fixed her with a piercing look. ‘It’s my idea of a solution,’ he said calmly.

‘Well, I don’t like it.’

‘So what do you suggest, then?’ He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. ‘Do you think it would be better if I wait until the child is born and take you forcibly to court because I want custody?’

‘You wouldn’t do that?’ Her breath seemed to freeze in her throat.

‘Katie, I’ll do whatever it takes,’ he told her powerfully. ‘And, believe me, you don’t want to be on the wrong side of me. Because I have the money and resources to go all the way, and I will win…’

Kathryn Ross was born in Zambia, where her parents happened to live at that time. Educated in Ireland and England, she now lives in a village near Blackpool, Lancashire. Kathryn is a professional beauty therapist, but writing is her first love. As a child she wrote adventure stories, and at thirteen was editor of her school magazine. Happily, ten writing years later, DESIGNED WITH LOVE was accepted by Mills & Boon®. A romantic Sagittarian, she loves travelling to exotic locations.

KEPT BY HER GREEK BOSS

BY

KATHRYN ROSS

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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PROLOGUE

KATIE glanced out of the window and watched the sun setting in a pink, misty haze over the London rooftops. Maybe she wasn’t pregnant, she told herself fiercely. She was only a week late, and she was never regular anyway.

She should go take the test right now. Her eyes skidded towards her bag, and her heart thundered with apprehension. Now that the phones had stopped ringing and the offices were deserted, it was the perfect time.

The sooner she knew, the sooner she could make a decision as to what she should do.

And what would she do if this test were positive?

She leaned her forehead against the cool of the glass.

There was no doubt that her boss was the most handsome, exciting man she had ever met, or that she had been enjoying their affair. But that was all it was—an affair.

Alexi wasn’t the settling-down type; he’d made that absolutely clear from the beginning. And she’d been OK with that. In fact, more than OK; she’d agreed wholeheartedly.

She’d thought she had it all worked out—all under control, she mocked herself as she straightened and turned her back on the view.

Now suddenly she was looking at her affair with Alexi in a whole different way, and what she was seeing, and what she was feeling, was scaring her.

It was strange how life could change in an instant.

She was about to pick up her bag when a noise in the outer office alerted her to the fact that she wasn’t alone, and she looked up to find Alexi standing in the doorway.

As always her senses flew into wild disorder as their eyes met. ‘Crushingly handsome’ was how she had once described the Greek tycoon, and that description was extremely apt.

‘You do realise that everyone else has finished for the day, don’t you?’ he asked.

‘I had some figures to check,’ she retorted, trying to focus her mind on business, sitting back in her chair.

‘So, how’s it going?’

‘I’m nearly finished. Another few days and the deal will be signed and sealed.’ Another few days and her contract here would be finished.

Her eyes drifted over him as he walked closer. She liked the way he dressed; he had the stylish panache that continental men seemed to achieve so effortlessly. But that wasn’t what drew her—nor was it the tall, muscular, toned body beneath the clothes—it was something else. It was that aura of power that he wore so well, that cool, confident, almost ruthless way he had of holding her attention. She wished that he didn’t have an effect on her, and that he didn’t send her senses into free fall, but he did.

Hurriedly she tried to put those emotions away as he stopped in front of her desk.

‘You’ve done well. Of course, it means we’re going to have to set aside some time to talk about where things are going from here.’

Did he mean emotionally? She swallowed hard and couldn’t find her voice to reply.

‘I’d like you to stay on.’

His quietly spoken words opened up feelings inside her that she didn’t dare try to analyse. Instead she looked up at him cautiously, and her whole body seemed to be tensing, waiting. ‘In what capacity?’

‘Same as now. I’m buying a new company, and I’d like you to oversee a similar project for me.’

She tried to ignore the curl of disappointment. Of course he hadn’t been talking in emotional terms. Alexi never discussed emotions; they were a definite taboo. He was a businessman first and foremost.

‘And what about…us?’ She forced herself to ask the question.

‘Well, we can carry on as before, can’t we?’ His dark eyes held with hers, and then he smiled. ‘Enjoying ourselves.’

She nodded and tried to look casually indifferent. ‘Well, we can discuss it later.’

He frowned for a moment as if he hadn’t been expecting that. ‘So the next question is…’ he leaned forward and put his hands on her desk ‘…your place or mine?’

The smooth transition from businessman to lover made Katie’s stomach-muscles tighten. She wanted him so much…wanted to push everything to one side and just go into his arms and be held.

But Alexi didn’t intend to just hold her; he intended to make love to her until she was senseless and sated beyond belief. Then he’d smile that satisfied smile and tell her she was great, before moving away and turning the conversation and the mood back towards business.

For the first time in their relationship Katie felt like she couldn’t handle that situation. The knowledge swirled inside her with disquieting intensity.

‘I thought you had a meeting with the director of Transworth tonight?’ She played for time.

‘Yes, but it shouldn’t last long. I’ll be finished by about ten.’ He came round to her side of the desk and perched beside her.

His closeness unsettled her even more. ‘Alexi, it’s been a crazy day today. I haven’t stopped, and—’

‘Are you bailing out on me?’ He didn’t sound annoyed, just amused.

‘Afraid so.’ She couldn’t meet his gaze. ‘A girl has to catch up on her beauty sleep some time.’

He reached out and tipped her chin upwards, so that she was forced to look at him, and she was glad that the light in the office was fading now. His gaze was too perceptive—almost as if he could read the secrets of her soul.

‘You look pretty hot for a woman in need of her beauty sleep.’ He murmured the words huskily, and the touch of his hand against her skin made her feel weak with longing. ‘But I’ll let you off tonight as long as you think about my business proposition.’

‘You are such a smooth talker, Alexi.’ She tried to sound flippant.

He didn’t immediately release her. Instead his fingers stroked softly upwards, tracing along the delicate heart-shape of her face and into the darkness of her long hair.

She took a deep, shuddering breath as he lowered his head and took possession of her lips.

Hell, but he could kiss… He had a way of lighting her up inside, making her want him with an urgency she had never experienced before. Over the last couple of months she had allowed herself to surrender to him completely, had loved the wild, exhilarating feelings he created inside her—but today his mastery over her senses just scared her.

She didn’t want to feel like this any more, she thought hazily, yet she couldn’t stop herself leaning forward and giving herself up to the pleasure of the moment.

His mobile phone rang, shattering the silence. For a moment he ignored it, before abruptly pulling away. ‘Sorry, Katie, I better take this call.’

She shrugged and tried not to care.

‘Hi, Mark, what’s the situation at the New York office?’

How was he able to kiss with such passion and then sound perfectly controlled the next moment?

Because he didn’t connect with her on an emotional level—she answered her own question and tried to pull herself together.

This was no good—she needed to regain control. She smoothed her hair back from her face, and reached to pick up her handbag.

‘Won’t be long,’ she murmured as she caughtAlexi’s eye.

He nodded. ‘Just deal with it, Mark,’ he snapped. ‘I don’t give second chances—the guy has messed up.’

Katie headed down the corridor. Alexi was a ruthless businessman; she knew that. But she’d also read enough about him in the gossip columns to know he could be ruthless in his private life, too.

He’d been married once, and since his divorce he’d changed his women with the weather.

If this pregnancy test was positive, she was going to be on her own. She was already aware of the rumour that his marriage had ended because he hadn’t wanted children and his ex-wife had.

And their affair meant nothing to him!

How could she have been so stupid?

She’d grown up in a single-parent family, and it had been tough. Even now the memories haunted her.

If the test was negative she would learn her lesson, she promised herself fiercely. And she would finish with Alexi once and for all.

CHAPTER ONE

KATIE walked into the impressive foyer of the Madison Brown building with a feeling of excitement. It was the first day of her new job, and she couldn’t wait to start.

It had taken her a month to find this position—a month of sifting through the many job offers and holding her nerve until the perfect post had come her way. Just in time, as well, because being within the solitude of her apartment had started to become like some kind of torture. Being alone every day had given her too much time to think about Alexi—to miss Alexi—and she didn’t want to do that.

Even the thought of his name now made a feeling of pain rise inside her, and angrily she tried to stifle it. She was being ridiculous. She’d known the score, and she’d done exactly the right thing in leaving Demetri Shipping, and exactly the right thing in finishing with Alexi.

‘Hi.’ She smiled at the receptionist, who looked up at her. ‘Katie Connor, new project manager.’

‘Ah, yes, Ms Connor. Go on up to the top floor. The new managing director wants to talk to you before you start.’

Katie headed for the lifts and tried to ignore the sudden quiver of first-day nerves. Everything would be fine, she told herself firmly. They’d practically headhunted her for this job. The employment agency had told her that she was the only one on their books to have been selected for an interview. And the guy who’d rung to offer the job had told her the interview panel had been impressed with her level of experience. Obviously the fact that she had managed such a successful project at Demetri Shipping had paid off. He’d then told her that, by the time she started work, Madison Brown would be a satellite company of a big conglomerate called Tellesta.

She’d done her homework; she knew that Tellesta was a massive corporation, almost as big as Demetri Shipping.

There was going to be plenty of scope for her to develop her organisation skills—plus there was going to be the opportunity to travel to the sister offices in Paris and New York. She was looking forward to the excitement and the challenges that lay ahead.

The lift doors opened on the top floor, and she walked to the desk at the far end of the room where a young woman was switching on her computer and sorting through the morning post.

‘Hi, my name is Katie Connor, I’m—’

‘The new project-manager.’ The woman finished her sentence for her and smiled. ‘I’m Claire; I’ve been told to show you to your office.’

Katie looked around her with interest as she followed the woman down a long corridor. The modern offices showed spectacular views across London. The boardroom they passed was vast, with state-of-the-art conference equipment. ‘This place is fantastic,’ Katie murmured, lingering at the door.

‘All newly instated,’ Claire informed her proudly. ‘The new parent company completely gutted the place, and money was no object. There’s even a heliport upstairs, for the bigwigs to fly in and out from the airport to save time.’

‘Very impressive.’

‘Yes, it is, isn’t it?’ Claire opened a door at the end of the corridor. ‘This is yours.’

Katie could hardly believe her luck! It was a large corner-office with views along Canary Wharf. With difficulty she dragged her eyes away from the view and concentrated on the desk and the stack of files sitting on top of it.

‘I was told to gather research material for you,’ Claire murmured as she watched Katie flicking through the top layers of papers. ‘And you are to attend a meeting in the boardroom at ten.’

‘OK.’ Katie nodded. ‘I thought the managing director wanted a word first?’

‘He did, but he’s had to go down to one of his other companies. He said he’d see you in the boardroom. Oh, and he’s asked if you will look at the pre-Christmas budget figures and prepare a preliminary report on how you think they can be improved. He wants you to run your ideas past the board.’

‘He wants me to prepare the report before ten?’ Katie felt her nerves start to stretch a little.

‘Afraid so.’ Claire pulled a face. ‘He’s a man in a hurry.’

‘I’ll say!’

As Claire left, Katie took off her suit jacket and hung it up on the hook beside the filing cabinets.

This was what she’d wanted, she told herself as she started to sort through the piles of paper, a job that would challenge her and take her mind off the past.

The excitement of her previous job had been almost addictive—or had that been the excitement of being with Alexi?

Swiftly she cut the thought and told herself that she had missed the cut and thrust of working for a dynamic company for the last few weeks, that was all. Alexi had been a mistake. She flicked through the papers angrily and tried to concentrate. But for a few moments no matter how hard she tried all she could think about was Alexi. Alexi kissing her…Alexi caressing her, possessing her…

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she reminded herself how scared she had felt when she’d thought she was pregnant. Thank heaven that test had come back negative, because Alexi was definitely not into commitment. His business was his one and only priority.

He’d looked at her almost coldly when she’d told him she wasn’t going to stay on with the company.

‘Is this an emotional decision or a business one?’ he’d asked.

‘Does it matter?’

‘Yes. Because if your reasons are emotional it means you are not thinking straight.’

His logic had been so typical of him that she’d laughed. ‘So the only good reason is a business reason?’

‘Basically, yes.’ He’d watched her impassively. ‘We had an understanding, didn’t we? We’ve been enjoying a bit of fun together, but we both agreed it wouldn’t cloud work issues.’

‘And it hasn’t.’ She’d tipped her chin up and met his gaze defiantly. ‘I don’t want the job you are offering because it’s time for me to move on. Our agreement has reached the end of the road. I want a fresh challenge.’ She’d managed to sound as collected and calm as he was. But inside she’d been hurting.

Inside she was still hurting—because there’d been a part of her that wanted him to show her some ounce of feeling, some spark of tenderness.

But he hadn’t. He’d just told her that he’d leave the job offer open for a while and to get in contact if she changed her mind. Then he’d wished her well for the future and walked away.

He hadn’t been around when she’d cleared her desk for the last time; he’d been in the States on business.

If he’d cared he wouldn’t have been able to stay away. He wouldn’t have been able to put business first.

She glared down at the papers on her desk. Why was she wasting time thinking about Alexi, when she was under pressure to produce a vital report for her new boss? Her relationship with Alexi was over and she needed to be realistic about it. Of course he hadn’t cared about her; she had always known that. They’d shared ‘a bit of fun’, as he’d so coolly liked to refer to it. Not love—just sex.

Katie pulled the papers closer and forced herself to study them. She was a twenty-four-year-old woman with a degree in economics, not a love-struck fool. She’d made a mistake, she’d thought she could handle a relationship without letting her emotions intervene, but it hadn’t worked for her. Now she needed to get over it. She took a deep breath and pushed all the past thoughts out of her mind, and felt a surge of a relief as she looked at the files in front of her. Yesterday had gone.

She circled some figures that suddenly struck her as unusual and traced their pattern. Then she started to make notes.

At nine forty-five she had put together a rough preliminary report. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best she would be able to achieve given the time restraints. And she had a few interesting points she would be able to raise at the meeting.

With a few minutes to spare, she left her desk and went down the hallway to get a drink from a water machine she’d noticed earlier.

There was a mirror next to the dispenser, and she glanced briefly in it to check her appearance. She had applied more make-up than usual to disguise the fact that she hadn’t been sleeping well. Her blue eyes looked good with the extra smudge of taupe highlighter, and the brighter lipstick complemented her skin tones and contrasted well with the darkness of her hair, but it wasn’t really her. She tended to favour a more natural look.

They are not employing you for your style, she told herself sharply as she turned back towards her office; they are interested in your brain.

Hopefully now she had started her new job she would get a better night’s sleep. She swung through her office door and came to an abrupt halt. For a moment she thought she was in the wrong place because there was someone sitting behind her desk. She couldn’t see who it was, because he’d swivelled the chair around towards the window. All she could see was his long legs stretching out to one side and his hand holding her phone. He had a bit of a nerve to make himself at home like that, she thought with a frown. And he’d been reading her notes, she realised suddenly, as she saw he was holding them in the other hand.

‘Excuse me?’ She cleared her throat. ‘Can I help you?’

‘I’ll have to get back to you, Ryan. I have a new employee to deal with before our meeting convenes.’ The brisk, businesslike voice was velvety warm with just a hint of a Mediterranean accent, and Katie recognised it at once.

With the recognition came a plummeting feeling of shock as the office chair swivelled around and she found herself face to face with the man who had turned her world upside down and inside out—Alexander Demetri. Her mouth went dry; her stomach seemed to tie itself into knots.

For a moment she wondered if she was imagining things. She held her breath and wondered if she had thought about him so much over the last few weeks that she had actually conjured him up in some kind of wild illusion.

Then he put the phone down, leaned back in the leather chair and looked at her.

‘Hello, Katie.’

There was no mistaking that cool, sardonic tone, or the glint in the darkness of his eyes. This wasn’t some kind of dream—it was a complete nightmare!

CHAPTER TWO

‘WHAT on earth are you doing here?’ Her voice was numb with disbelief and it made his lips curve in a wryly amused smile.

‘Well, at the moment it looks like I’m employing you to do a job that you originally told me you didn’t want. Strange old world, isn’t it?’

He sounded so cool and calm, and by contrast Katie was anything but calm. There were a million emotions buzzing around inside her and she couldn’t get a handle on any of them.

‘I don’t understand,’ she murmured. ‘The job you offered me was with Demetri Shipping, wasn’t it?’

‘Demetri Shipping now owns Tellesta and Madison Brown,’ he informed her. ‘I bought them both out and took control about six weeks ago.’ As he spoke Alexi allowed his eyes to rake over her. She looked good, he thought distractedly. Everything about her appearance was businesslike, from the white, crisp blouse to the black pencil-skirt. Yet there was an overt sexiness about her—the wide belt that emphasised her small waist, the hint of red gloss on her lips. She always had been too damn sexy for his peace of mind.

Aware of his scrutiny, Katie could feel herself tensing up even more. She wondered what he was thinking…was there even a small part of him that was glad to see her? Even as she asked the question she was berating herself for being a damn fool. Alexi didn’t reason like that. She was just a notch on his bedpost, for heaven’s sake!

‘So, you had just finalised the deal to buy this place when…?’ She almost said ‘when we were together’, but stopped before making that mistake. ‘When I was working for you?’ she finished instead. They had never been together, she reminded herself, not in the true sense of the word. Not as a couple.

He nodded.

‘I didn’t realize. I mean, when I applied for the job here, I didn’t know it was with you.’

‘I’ve gathered that.’

He was so damn cavalier! she thought angrily. Just once she’d like to see that arrogant, businesslike persona slip.

But the thing that made her really angry was that there was a part of her that was glad to see him. She hated that! It was the weak side of her nature, she told herself sternly, because she was over Alexander Demetri, well and truly over him.

OK—she still found him attractive—but then she would have to be dead not to find those dynamic, forceful good looks a turn on. Every woman with a pulse was attracted to him.

She tried not to look at him too closely, tried not to notice little things like the fact that his thick, dark hair had grown slightly and now just brushed the top of the midnight-blue jacket collar, the fact that there was a slight shadow on the strong jawline, or the sensual, almost cruel curve of his lips. Because when she noticed things like that she remembered how it had felt when he’d kissed her, when he’d crushed her against him, his skin abrasive against the softness of hers, his lips hungry and powerfully compelling.

‘Did you know it was going to be me today?’ she asked him suddenly. ‘Did you know I had this job?’

‘Of course!’ He seemed to find the question amusing. ‘Your name was put on my desk nearly a week ago.’

‘So what are we going to do about this, Alexi?’ For a second there was a raw, unguarded note in her voice. ‘I can’t work for you again.’

His eyes narrowed on her and a strange emotion sizzled through him, an emotion he couldn’t place.

He supposed it was anger. Even though he knew he had no right to the emotion, he’d been furious when she’d turned down his offer to stay within the company and then casually walked away. That fury hadn’t diminished any over the last few weeks. In fact if anything it had increased. Alexi was used to getting what he wanted—used to people dancing to his tune. And Katie had left before he was ready to let her go.

‘I’m surprised that you feel like that.’ He paused and measured his words. ‘I expected you to be more…professional about this. You have just signed a four-month contract to work for Madison Brown. You must want the job.’

She glared at him. How dared he accuse her of being unprofessional? She wanted to tell him that he hadn’t exactly been acting in accordance with the rules of business when he’d taken her to bed! But she held the words back; there was no point in raking over the past, and besides he’d probably point out that she had been as much to blame for what had happened as he was. And he’d be right. ‘Yes, I wanted the job!’ she said instead, her voice tightly controlled. ‘But that was before I realised you owned the company!’

‘What difference does that make?’ He shrugged. ‘I haven’t got a problem with employing you again—so where’s your difficulty?’

She could feel panic rising inside her like a gushing, icy spring. He didn’t have a problem with it because his emotions weren’t involved and hers were—not in a deep way, she reassured herself swiftly. But nevertheless she couldn’t turn herself off to what had happened between them, couldn’t deal with it in the same practical way that he obviously could. This was one of the reasons she had turned down his job offer last time.

He could probably deal with this because he was used to it, she realised numbly, used to taking a woman to bed and then dismissing her from his mind—whereas she was totally inexperienced at this kind of thing. In fact that whole casual-sex thing had been completely out of character for her. She’d only ever had one previous lover.

But she couldn’t tell him that.

‘I haven’t got a problem with it—I just wanted to move on,’ she told him.

Alexi watched as she lifted her chin in that determined way of hers, and something inside him twisted. He was usually the one to tell a woman when it was time to move on. This was the second time that Katie had dealt with him in this offhand manner, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all. ‘You know, Katie, you and I used to have a good arrangement. It suited us both.’

‘Yes, well, people change, don’t they, Alexi? What suits one moment doesn’t the next.’

‘Very true.’ His eyes narrowed on her. ‘And it just makes me realise how very alike you and I are.’

Katie wanted to disagree vehemently, but she held her tongue.

‘And we are both in agreement that we’ve enjoyed our fun and now we’re moving on.’ He shrugged again. ‘I don’t have a problem with that, Katie. I wanted you for this job because I believe you are the best person for it. It’s just business.’

‘I realise that!’ She glared at him. ‘I just wasn’t sure that you did!’

For a second she was gratified to see a flare of something in his eyes—fury, or maybe just irritation; she wasn’t sure. But she had struck some kind of response that had ruffled his impassive façade, and she was glad, so glad that it gave her a buzz of elation.

However, the feeling was short-lived, because then he just shrugged once more. ‘I can reassure you that my first priority is work, Katie. It always has been and it always will be.’

The words upset her. They shouldn’t have done—she knew he was just speaking the truth; she knew the score—but all the same it did hurt, and it crushed her brief feeling of triumph over him.

‘Well, I suppose that’s all right, then.’ What else could she say? she asked herself as she tried to regain her composure and not lose her pride.

‘Good.’ His lips twisted in a sudden smile. ‘So, now we have cleared the air, we can begin again.’

Begin again…? Katie wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that. It made her nerves stretch, and she didn’t know what to say. The reality of her situation was hitting her like a truck travelling at speed.

She had signed a contract for four months—she was effectively trapped here like a butterfly in a jar. And the wonderful new job that was supposed to help her move on and forget the past had just turned to dust.

‘So, shall we get down to business now?’ He glanced at his watch. ‘There is a board meeting in about five minutes. Do you want to run through this report with me?’ He tapped the piece of paper she had made notes on.

Fury raged through her. She hated him in that instant—hated his cool attitude, his arrogance, his disregard for even the smallest feeling of sentiment.

‘I’m happy to run through it at the meeting,’ she said tightly.

‘Such confidence.’

‘Your company is employing me because I’m good at what I do. I don’t need any special favours.’

‘I wasn’t offering any. But the project you will be working on is of significant value. I thought it would be helpful for both of us to discuss a few points before the meeting.’

In other words he probably wouldn’t even have walked in to see her today, only for the fact that her work was of interest to him.

‘There isn’t time for an in-depth debate now, Alexi; if there are any comments you want to make you can make them during the meeting.’

‘OK.’ Alexi’s lips curved. He admired her brain, liked the way she could operate under pressure. He’d deliberately tested her this morning, asking for this report at short notice. And as always she had risen to the challenge. From the notes he had read he could see she had already picked up the gauntlet and was running with it. And that would please the board. ‘A word of warning; you might meet with some resistance this morning. Some of the members of the board have concerns about the fact that you are rather young for such a major assignment.’

‘I see.’ Katie tried very hard not to show any concern. ‘That’s rather bizarre, isn’t it? In today’s world people in their early twenties are very successful, and I have plenty of experience.’

‘Certainly.’ He inclined his head. ‘Don’t worry about it. I have the last say, anyway.’

‘I’m not worried about it. I’ll deal with it.’

Alexi inclined his head. ‘I’m sure you will.’

‘Well, I think we’ve said all that needs to be said.’ Katie glanced at her watch. She needed to get rid of him and gather her thoughts. ‘I’ll follow you down to the boardroom in a few moments. I just want to highlight some points so I can read my notes more easily.’

Alexi shrugged and got up from behind the desk.

She’d almost forgotten how tall he was. Katie wasn’t of diminutive stature herself, but he had to be about six foot three; he towered over her and seemed to dominate the room as he came closer. Every nerve ending in her body went on red alert as he stopped next to her. ‘By the way, nice to have you back.’ He murmured the words almost sardonically.

She wanted to tell him that she wasn’t at all glad to be ‘back’, as he put it, and that she was working for him again under complete sufferance, but she forced herself just to nod.

He smiled as if he knew exactly what she’d been thinking. ‘I’ll see you in the boardroom.’

As soon as the door closed behind him, Katie felt like curling up and dying. She felt physically sick. How had she managed to make such an almighty faux pas? She’d researched Madison Brown—why hadn’t any of the financial papers reported the fact that it had been taken over by Demetri Shipping? How had this happened to her?

She sat down at her desk and took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. There was no point panicking; it wasn’t going to solve anything. She was just going to have to deal with the situation as best she could; after all, it was only for four months.

Another wave of panic hit her—four months! How was she going to keep up this cool, businesslike façade around him for that long when he sent every emotion in her body spinning into total chaos?

How long would it be before he smiled at her, touched her again, and sent common sense flying?

That wasn’t going to happen, she told herself heatedly—she wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. She stared down at the papers in front of her. In two minutes she needed to be under perfect control and ready to face a boardroom of hostile people. This job should be her priority—not Alexi.

And anyway she probably wouldn’t see that much of him. He was running three companies now, not one. Plus he probably already had a new girlfriend. It didn’t take him long to replace a woman—they’d be queuing up.

She remembered suddenly how her mother had always fallen for the wrong men—the heartbreakers, the users—never the gentle, caring, commitment types. She remembered how she had always sworn she would never make the same mistakes.

The memory helped. Suddenly she felt a lot stronger.

She stood up and put on her jacket, ran a smoothing hand over her hair, checked her reflection in the mirror by the door and then picked up her papers. She could do this.

Most of the board were already seated when she walked into the room, but there were a couple of places vacant, and she slipped into the one furthest away from Alexi.

He was seated at the head of the long, polished table and her eyes collided with his as she looked over. Immediately she looked away again. Best not to make eye-contact, she told herself, best just to look at her work, or at anyone else but him! Otherwise she was going to sound like a gibbering idiot when she made her presentation.

The last of the board members arrived, and Alexi called for order. Immediately a hush fell over the proceedings.

‘Gentlemen, I’m very glad so many of you have been able to make our meeting today, as it was called at short notice. I would like to start by welcoming our new project manager, Ms Katie Connor, into our midst. I’m sure she will be a valued member of the team, and I look forward to a close and harmonious working relationship.’

Katie’s eyes clashed with his again, and she felt her nerves jangle. She wasn’t looking forward to any such thing—well, not with him at any rate! Hurriedly she looked away and tried to concentrate as he introduced the people around the table to her.

He probably wouldn’t be around much, she told herself again soothingly as she smiled in acknowledgement to the few people who spoke to her. He’d be at his head office here in London or in NewYork, or maybe his office in Athens…

‘Perhaps you would like to proceed, Katie?’ he invited smoothly. ‘Run us through your findings.’

‘Thank you.’ She forced herself to smile coolly at him as she got to her feet. This was horrible—truly horrible. But she had to be businesslike and focus her attention away from him, she told herself firmly.

Alexi sat back and watched her with interest. She gave a very confident performance, running through her assessment of the company’s position within the holiday market, running through her proposals for increasing their slice of that market. She’d obviously done a lot of research before starting work here today. No wonder she had been so shocked to see him. He’d managed to keep his ownership of the company out of the financial news so far, mainly because he’d wanted to be one step ahead of his competitors, but it was an added bonus that he’d managed to snare Katie back into working for him in the process. He’d wanted her for this job all along—he’d known she would be perfect for it.

For a moment his eyes slipped down over her body.

OK, that wasn’t all he wanted; he acknowledged the truth as he felt the sudden fierce pull of attraction for her. She had a fantastic figure, and he remembered all too well how much he had enjoyed exploring those sensational curves. Beneath that strait-laced exterior he had found her to be hot and passionate, and he had wanted her from the first moment she had looked at him with those innocently come-hither, violet-blue eyes.

And he still wanted her now.

That fact was eating him away. It was crazy—there were other beautiful women he could replace her with, women who were only too eager for him. Why did Katie haunt his thoughts? Why, from the first moment when she’d told him it was over, had he wanted her back? It wasn’t like him. Since his divorce eight years ago he hadn’t got emotionally tied up with anyone. Nor did he plan to—he would never get serious about a woman again.

Yet he hadn’t wanted to let Katie go. He’d had to force himself to walk away and continue as normal. And despite the fact that he’d been gaining control of two new companies, and had been up to his neck in work, she’d been on his mind morning, noon and night…especially night.

The answer had come to him today when he’d looked at her again. She’d haunted him because she’d dented his ego; it was as simple as that. Usually he was the one who ended relationships; he was used to calling the shots. As soon as things started to get complicated or he’d had his fill of someone he moved on. But Katie had ended things before he was ready. They had unfinished business. It was called lust.

It was a relief to finally know why she had unsettled him so much. And there was an easy remedy for lust. All he had to do was get her back into his bed again and take his fill of her.

She looked over at him at that moment, and he smiled. Then he watched the blaze of fire in her eyes, noted the way her skin heated up as she moved her attention away.

She wasn’t as coldly indifferent to him as she acted. It shouldn’t be too difficult to have her back on his terms, he told himself confidently. Acquisitions had always been his strong point. And this time he would be the one to finish things.

‘So, has anyone got any questions?’ she asked briskly.

As he’d predicted a few members of the board gave her a tough time, started to grill her more intensely, but she more than held her own. After a few more minutes he could see that there was a shifting change of attitude and she was winning them over.

‘Well, I think you have just about covered everything, Katie, thank you,’ he said smoothly.

She nodded and started to close her notes. ‘Then, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you to the rest of your meeting, gentlemen, and I’ll press on.’

‘Certainly.’

Relief coursed through her. She couldn’t wait to get out of here.

‘Just one last thing,’ Alexi added nonchalantly. ‘There is another meeting at the office in New York tomorrow, and I will need you to attend.’

She looked up and he held her eyes.

‘Tomorrow?’ Apprehension clutched at her stomach. ‘That’s rather short notice, isn’t it?’

‘One of those things.’ Alexi shrugged.

‘What time is the meeting?’ She wrenched her gaze away from him, picked up her pen and looked back at her notepad.

‘No need to sort flights; you can come with me on the company jet later.’

Katie’s head jerked up. She felt like she was already on that plane and it had just dropped into free fall from thirty-five-thousand feet. Her whole body was telling her that being alone with him for hours was not a good idea! She wanted to say, no way, but how unprofessional would that look?

‘I think it would be sensible to sort things out in the USA as soon as possible,’ Alexi continued coolly.

A few of the people around the table were starting their own conversations now, and under cover of the sudden babble of noise she wanted to lower her voice and tell him that she didn’t think it was a sensible idea at all. That she didn’t want to be alone with him—that she couldn’t handle this situation, couldn’t act as if nothing had happened between them!

But she didn’t say any of those things—she had her pride. Instead her eyes remained locked with his, and her heart thundered so hard that it felt like it might break out of her chest. ‘I suppose so.’ She said the words tightly.

‘Good. I’ll pick you up at seven this evening.’

Was it her imagination or was there a gleam of triumph in those dark eyes?

She looked away from him and picked up her notes with hands that were not entirely steady.

‘I’ll see you later.’ What else could she say or do? she wondered furiously. This was about work. He had her in an impossible situation.

CHAPTER THREE

IT WAS almost seven in the evening, and Katie was pacing her apartment. Her weekend case was packed, and the professional side of her was ready to go—but emotionally she was reluctant.

In fact when Alexi had rung her at her desk earlier, to confirm flight times and the time for picking her up, she’d tried her best to get out of it.

‘Is this trip really necessary so soon?’ she’d demanded heatedly. ‘Don’t you think it would be better for me to get to grips with the job here and get on top of a lot of this paperwork before sorting out the US side of things?’

‘You can sort some of the paperwork out on the flight. I need to press ahead as fast as possible with this,’ he’d answered without hesitation. ‘So be ready and waiting for me.’

Then the line had just gone dead. He’d hung up on her.

The nerve of the guy! OK, he was her boss—but that didn’t mean he owned her twenty-four-seven. He at least owed her the courtesy of some advance warning!

Her mobile phone zinged with a message now as she tried to pull herself together. She took it out of her pocket and opened it. It was from Alexi. It was strange, seeing his name on the screen after all this time. She’d thought he’d probably deleted her number from his phone weeks ago. She’d certainly meant to delete his, she’d just… Well, she hadn’t got round to it.

Quickly she read the message: I’m outside—don’t be long. Anger twisted inside her. Four weeks of nothing and then a curt summons. Then she bit down on her lip and reminded herself that this was about work, nothing else. She couldn’t let emotions cloud the issue.

She went across to the window and looked out, and sure enough his limousine was sitting next to the kerb. Just the sight of it made her heartbeat start to accelerate. She had a choice—she could either forget this job and tell him to go to hell, or she could put work first and get on with it. When she thought about it like that she didn’t really have a choice, she told herself wryly. Her job and her independence were the most important things to her, and she’d always acted in a professional manner. She snapped up her jacket and her bag and headed for the door. She wasn’t going to allow herself to be preoccupied by something that had happened in the past. She had to put work first.

Alexi had just taken his phone out to ring her when she appeared on the street. He smiled to himself and put the mobile away again. Things were going extremely well. Businesswise, he had Katie exactly where he wanted her, and before they returned to London he would have her back in his bed as well. He watched as his driver got out to help her with her bag and to open the door for her.

‘Hi.’ She acknowledged him with a nod as she slid into the seat opposite. He could smell the familiar scent of her perfume, flowery and light, and yet somehow incredibly sexy. She was wearing black jeans with a white shirt, and she had tied her hair back from her face. She looked good. Possibly too good, considering the fact that he had to get some work done during this journey.

‘You’re late,’ he told her sardonically.

‘I was five minutes!’ Her beautiful blue eyes seemed to simmer. ‘And you’re lucky I’m here at all. This is very short notice, I could have had other plans.’

‘But you don’t,’ he concluded.

‘That’s not the point. I really need at least a few days’ notice for business trips away like this.’

‘I’ll bear that in mind for the next time.’

‘The next time?’ She sounded suddenly flustered. ‘Do you think we will have to make many more trips like this?’

He inclined his head. ‘Definitely. We’ll need to iron out as many teething problems up front as possible, and there is no better way than the personal touch.’

‘I see.’ She looked away from him, out of the windows.

What was causing that flutter of panic? he wondered. It couldn’t be work—she was well used to travelling between different offices; she’d done it at Demetri Shipping. Was it the thought of being alone with him?

What had made her finish things with him? he wondered angrily. She had always been passionately compliant and eager for his kisses…what had changed that?

The briefcase she had placed next to her on the seat fell over as the car made a U-turn at a junction. Alexi reached to catch it at the same time as Katie, and for just a second their hands touched on the leather strap.

She pulled away as if she had been burnt, allowing him to place it safely back beside her.

‘Thanks.’ She could barely look at him now.

‘Everything OK, Katie?’ he enquired casually.

‘Of course.’ She glanced at him, but there was a blush over the high cheekbones that said differently and her eyes were over-bright.

If he could make her skin heat up with just the brush of his fingertips, make her eyes sparkle with fire, what would happen if he really touched her? In the past it had always been spontaneous combustion.

He itched to find out now if the old magic was still there. He wanted to lean forward and take hold of her hand, find her lips and devour her.

His eyes moved to the buttons on her blouse. He imagined himself unbuttoning them; he remembered how firm and willing her body had been.

With difficulty he forced himself to sit back against the comfortable leather seat and bide his time. The chase was on, but he couldn’t rush it. When he took Katie again he wanted her to be wild for him…desperate for him. He was going to make her want him so badly she wouldn’t know what day it was.

‘Did you get the paperwork we need to sort out?’ he asked casually.

‘Yes, I brought it with me—it isn’t finished, obviously, but…’ She started to unzip her bag.

‘We’ll go through it on the plane.’

‘Oh! OK.’ She fastened the bag back up.

Silence stretched between them. Her eyes darted over to him. He looked powerfully dynamic in the dark business-suit, every inch the successful business-tycoon. For a moment it was hard to believe that he had once been her lover, that he had once held her so tenderly, made love to her so passionately. He looked over at her and her eyes veered hurriedly away again. Thoughts like that were not helping her!

‘So how have things been with you, Katie?’

The sudden personal question made her look back at him warily. ‘Absolutely fine—why do you ask?’

There was a glimmer of amusement in the darkness of his eyes now. ‘Because I’m interested to know how you are; what other reason would there be?’

‘I don’t know.’ She shrugged and forced herself to try and relax. But the confined space and the memories he conjured up were sending her blood pressure soaring. Even the touch of his fingertips against her hand a few moments ago had sent her senses into a spin. ‘Let’s face it. You’ve never been one for making small talk, Alexi.’

‘Haven’t I?’ He shrugged. ‘I’m sure we had our moments.’

She kept her composure with difficulty. She really didn’t want to think about what moments he might be referring to—not now.

‘It wasn’t all work between us—there was quite a bit of play time,’ he continued nonchalantly.

Her eyes snapped with sudden fire. ‘I really don’t think we should be discussing that!’

‘Don’t you?’

She allowed her eyes to hold firmly with his. ‘We’ve moved on, remember?’

‘Ah, yes.’

His gaze flicked down towards her lips and she found herself remembering the way he could kiss her and caress her and make her feel truly alive.

The intensity of the memory stirred up a painful need inside her, and she wrenched her eyes away from him and looked out of the window again. She needed to forget the past. He wasn’t the type of man to get serious about; they’d had their fun. It was over.

‘But it’s good that we can move on and work together, without any discord, don’t you think?’ he said smoothly.

‘Yes, of course.’

He noticed that her hands had curled into tight fists at her side, and he smiled.

‘So, tell me, what have you been doing with yourself since you moved on?’ he invited conversationally.

She shrugged and tried desperately to just treat him like any other work colleague. ‘I went to visit my sister in France for a week.’

‘I didn’t know you had a sister.’

‘Didn’t you?’ She couldn’t stop herself from flicking him a pointed look. ‘Perhaps because our conversations always revolved around work; in fact, you don’t know a lot about me at all.’

Something about the way she said that struck a cord in him. To a certain extent she was right; he’d tended to focus on their work connection more than anything else. He didn’t do deep and meaningful; he’d been happy with the equation the way it was—but so had she. He’d noticed on more than one occasion that she’d used work to hide behind.

He’d noticed the way she had looked sometimes—the unguarded vulnerability in her eyes when she thought he wasn’t watching her. ‘I know that when we met you’d been hurt by some guy in the past.’

The observation took her by surprise. She had mentioned Carl once very briefly at the start of their relationship—but she hadn’t thought he was paying that much attention.

‘Now, what was it you said…?’ He frowned. ‘Ah…I know. You said you’d been in a serious relationship and had had enough hearts and flowers, and that sex and straight talking would do nicely instead.’

Katie looked at him in consternation. She couldn’t believe she had said that—but she had, the first time he’d taken her to bed. It had felt so good in his arms, and afterwards when he had reiterated something about ‘not doing hearts and flowers’ she’d made that glib reply.

‘Trust you to remember that!’ she murmured with acute embarrassment. ‘But you can’t remember I have a sister!’

He gave her a teasing look that made her want to melt inside. With difficulty she zoned out from the feeling. Melting around Alexi wasn’t recommended.

Alexi smiled. ‘By the way, remind me later to look out the figures we were discussing at the meeting this morning,’ he remarked casually as he glanced at his watch. ‘We need to fine-hone any problems with the timetable.’

She’d almost forgotten the way he was always able to switch back to business at a snap. How one moment he could play the consummate, arousing lover and the next the steel shutters of his mind could come crashing down to the focus of his real agenda, the real heart of his life: business.

‘Yes, of course.’ She nodded and tried to make herself sound as cool as he did.

They were arriving at the airport. She noticed that the warm June evening looked grey and wintry through the tinted glass. Amazing how your senses could be deceived by an illusion.

She’d deluded herself into thinking she could handle an affair with Alexi. The truth was she had been ensnared by that mesmerising way he had of turning her on with just a look, and she’d started to read things into it that hadn’t been there. He’d never lied to her, he’d never told her that she was special or led her on in any way—yet his kisses and his love-making had done the lying for him. Being with him had been somehow addictive, and to get her fix she had reassured herself that her emotions were not in any way involved, hence those glib remarks when she had first slept with him. But the truth was she had found it harder and harder to disconnect her feelings.

She bit down on her lip as she admitted the full extent of her mistake. Some sort of madness must have possessed her. Or maybe on a subconscious level she’d lied to herself as self-preservation against getting involved with someone who was clearly a heartbreaker.

At least she had pulled herself back from the brink before any real disaster. And she had to differentiate between what was real and what was an illusion now.

Alexi the steely controlled businessman was real—Alexi the warm, passionate lover was not.

The car pulled to a halt by the edge of the airfield and the driver came round and opened the door for them. Katie stepped out into the warmth of the evening. The company jet was standing on the tarmac ready and waiting for them with the steps down.

Someone came over to speak to Alexi. There were a few formalities, and moments later they were proceeding up the steps into the luxury of the aircraft.

Katie had travelled on board the aeroplane with Alexi just once before when they’d been attending a conference in Paris. She didn’t want to think about how they’d spent that one-hour flight now. It was definitely better forgotten when she had hours alone with him stretching ahead.

She took some papers out of her briefcase and put them on the seat beside her before placing the case in the overhead compartment. Then she sat next to the window and fastened her seatbelt.

Alexi was talking to the pilot. The door was open between the cabin and the cockpit, and Katie tried to pretend that she had been focusing on the dials and lights of the controls rather than on Alexi as he turned towards her.

He was too damn handsome, she thought distractedly. At thirty-five, he was definitely a man in his prime. The suit sat perfectly on his broad-shouldered frame, the white shirt emphasising the olive tones of his skin, the darkness of his hair and eyes.

He took the suit jacket off and tossed it casually over the arm of the seat before putting his case overhead. There wasn’t a spare inch of flesh on him; he was lean and muscular and incredibly fit. She wrenched her eyes away as he took the seat opposite.

‘We should have a smooth flight; the weather forecast is good,’ he told her as he fastened his seatbelt.

One less thing to worry about then, she thought dryly. Now if she could just keep her mind on work and not on how attractive she found him, and how pleasurable that hour had been in here last time, she’d be OK.

He smiled at her. ‘We’ll get through some of that paperwork as soon as we take off. Then hopefully there will be time to relax, get some sleep.’

She remembered him telling her that these huge seats folded down into beds. However they had never actually got round to converting the seats, they’d been in too much of a hurry. They’d just folded down the armrests, and then Alexi had reached for her…

Her stomach dipped with a sudden surge of adrenalin. Don’t think about it, she warned herself fiercely.

The door between them and the pilot closed, sealing them in alone. Then the engines fired up and after a few moments they were taxiing out along the runway. She glanced out of the window. Dusk was falling fast. Night flights were good, she told herself positively. After the day she’d had, she would probably have no difficulty sleeping.

They halted at the start of the runway as they waited for take-off clearance.

Her eyes met with Alexi.

‘Do you remember our flight to Paris?’ he asked her suddenly.

She felt that dipping sensation in her stomach again. ‘No. Not really.’

He smiled, and she realised her reply didn’t fool him for a moment.

‘And I’m surprised you remember it,’ she continued swiftly. ‘I mean, one dalliance at thirty-five-thousand feet must be like another to you.’

One eyebrow rose at that. ‘You think?’

She shrugged and looked away from him.

He said something to her in Greek suddenly. Although his looks were Mediterranean, it always surprised her to hear him speak his native language, possibly because he spoke such perfect English.

‘What does that mean?’ she asked him, trying to ignore how the sound of his voice sent provocative shivers racing through her.

‘It means that I thought our time together that day was pretty spectacular.’ He laughed as she flushed a deep shade of beetroot. ‘And I’m glad now that I didn’t tell you the exact translation—otherwise you might set the cabin on fire.’

‘Stop it, Alexi!’ she muttered in embarrassment. ‘The past is forgotten, OK? It’s a taboo subject—a different planet.’

He shot her a mocking look as the aircraft-engines roared, and suddenly they were thundering down the runway. ‘Time for take off.’

He seemed to be taking a perverse pleasure in deliberately winding her up, she thought uncomfortably.

How was she going to get through this time alone with him?

She didn’t think she would ever be able to be at ease with him again. It was too…dangerous. He’d made her behave in a way that was totally out of character for her. Made her desire him…and need him. She didn’t want to remember that. But being around him made it almost impossible to forget.

The plane lifted off the ground, and for a moment there was a weightless sensation as they floated up through the clouds.

The lights of London disappeared, and a little while later the seatbelt sign was switched off.

‘Do you want a drink before we get down to things?’ He glanced over.

‘No thanks.’ Even the way he was wording things was sending her nervous system into orbit. Everything was going to be OK, she told herself steadily, as long as she kept her senses firmly in the land of reality and the present.

Alexi got to his feet to take out his briefcase from the overhead compartment. ‘So, you didn’t tell me—what part of France does your sister live in?’ he asked idly as he snapped it open and took papers out.

‘The southwest; a small village called Aviger.’

‘Is she married to a Frenchman?’

‘No, Lucy is single.’

Her sister was as bad at picking men as she was, Katie thought wryly. In fact they had both decided not long ago that it was the curse of the Connor family. Her mother’s bad choices in men were legendary, and they had suffered considerably in childhood as a consequence. They’d been dragged from one bad situation to the next. No wonder they were both wary of giving their hearts, and both fiercely independent.

Katie had always been determined not to be like her mother. When she had got involved with Carl she had done so believing him to be the steady, dependable type. It had been ages before she had invited him into her bed. She’d wanted to be sure about him.

But how could you be sure about anybody? It had turned out that he had just seen her as a challenge. Once he’d taken her to bed and the thrill of the chase had gone, he’d been ready to move on to the next conquest.

Life was one big learning curve, she thought now as she looked across at Alexi. And she didn’t want to learn anything more about heartache.

‘We need to get on with those timetables.’ She changed the subject swiftly away from the personal angle. She needed to take her lead from Alexi and be motivated solely by business. ‘And I’ve been thinking about what plans we could incorporate to make the strategy for increasing business greener.’

‘Have you, now?’

‘Yes, and I have a few ideas that I think we should explore.’

‘I’m remembering now why I wanted you for this job.’

Was he being facetious, or was he just thinking about work? It was hard to tell.

The colour in her skin heightened slightly, but she continued on, her voice brisk and determined. He watched as she picked up the papers she had left on the seat beside her. He noticed the way she bit down on her lower lip as she scanned through the pages.

He’d forgotten that she did that when she was trying to focus. Forgotten how businesslike she could sound, and yet how vulnerable she could look. How confident and grown up she could act and yet how lost she could seem.

There was something almost innocent about her. He remembered thinking that the first time he’d taken her to bed. Despite her glib words about being happy with a no-strings affair, he’d always suspected she’d spoken the words to mask a bruised heart.

She hadn’t been a virgin, but she’d been untutored in the art of love-making. She’d been almost tentatively afraid of giving herself to him, yet at the same time eager and willing for his kiss, his touch.

He’d found the combination explosive, had enjoyed drawing her out, teaching her how to please him.

Just thinking about it now made him want her all the more.

She looked up at him and he forced himself to concentrate on what she was saying. Work had to come first.

However, one thing was clear—he couldn’t wait too long before taking her to his bed again; his body was getting impatient. He felt edgy with need. And that was a situation he was very unused to.

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