His Last Chance at Redemption (11 page)

His icy gaze raked down over her body and it took her a
second for his meaning to register. ‘Are you suggesting …? That’s ridiculous,’ she said indignantly.

‘It’s the truth. He probably took his cue from your flirting with him during lunch. Probably earlier in the pool, for all I know.’

Lexi felt a blast of anger curl her hands into fists. ‘And I suppose that kiss before on the sand was my fault as well? I encouraged you by lying back, unable to catch my breath.’

Leo rubbed the back of his neck. ‘That kiss was the result of an extremely stressful situation,’ he grated.

‘Do tell.’

‘Do tell what? As I recall, you weren’t exactly reluctant a few minutes ago.’

Lexi shut up then. He was right; she’d been far from reluctant and she needed more time to reconcile her attraction to a man she didn’t respect and who confused her mind and her senses in equal measure. She still felt light-headed from his kiss and the heat of his body pressing her so firmly into the sand.

‘Yes, well, as you said, it was stress. And I think we should just forget it ever happened.’

‘Fine with me.’

Lexi felt lost for words at his easy acceptance of her rebuttal and leant forward to brush the sugar-soft sand from her legs. What had she wanted him to say? That his kisses had been special? As if.

‘We should get back,’ he bit out tersely.

‘Yes,’ she agreed absently, too caught up in her own tumultuous response to this man to wonder at his irritation.

Leo led the way down to the water’s edge and it wasn’t until the hot sand gave way to the coolness of the water that she realised just
how
she would be getting back to the yacht.

‘I’m not riding with you on that,’ she protested a little too vehemently.

Leo waded towards the jet ski. ‘What are you going to do—swim?’

He swung himself up onto the bobbing ski with envious athleticism, his leanly muscled torso rippling beneath his still damp shirt from where he’d held her wet body against him. ‘It’s not that far,’ she said, trying to calculate the distance between the island and his yacht.

‘It’s over two kilometres and you’ve had a fall.’

‘I was only winded,’ she reminded him.

Leo gunned the engine and stretched out his hand. ‘Get on,’ he snarled, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

‘You’ve ruined your trousers,’ she commented inanely, noticing for the first time that he was still wearing suit trousers that were wet up to his knees and moulded to his muscular calves.

‘My trousers are the least of my concerns,’ he dismissed, beckoning to her. ‘Come. You need to get out of this hot sun.’

Lexi eyed the jet ski dubiously. ‘Can’t you call the tender?’

‘What with?’ His lips curved into a mocking smile. ‘My bat phone?’

Lexi didn’t know if he was being humorous or not, she just knew that touching him was a bad idea. She fiddled with her necklace and his eyes narrowed on the movement.

‘Don’t make me have to come over there and get you,’ he warned softly.

Lexi’s heart skipped a beat, images of him lifting her up with those muscular arms and cradling her against his solid chest motivating her to wade through the warm water towards him. There was plenty of room behind him anyway and if he went slowly enough she wouldn’t even have to hang onto him.

‘Promise you won’t go fast.’

‘Whatever you want,’ he drawled and Lexi’s eyes cut to his. Whatever she wanted. She wanted him to kiss her like he had on the beach and never stop.

No.

She blinked away the unwelcome thoughts—that was so not what she wanted. Tomorrow she would be back in London and this weekend would be a distant dream. A one-night stand with a Russian playboy with questionable morals was not what the good doctor had ordered at all!

She reached out to take his hand and could have kicked herself for not grabbing the side of the ski instead when he effortlessly hauled her up in front of him, his strong thighs moulded to the outside of her own.

Lexi sucked in a quick breath. ‘I can ride behind.’

‘No,’ his deep voice rumbled beside her ear and Lexi held herself completely still.

‘And you dare to call me obstinate,’ she fumed, so tense she felt ready to snap.

‘Just sit still,’ he growled as he expertly turned the machine towards the yacht and revved the engine.

Lexi ignored the way her insides clenched and turned molten with desire at his rough command. She held herself stiffly within the cage his arms made around her and only dared breathe again when he pulled up alongside the yacht’s rear ramp.

A small welcoming committee was waiting to make sure she was okay and they clapped as Leo jumped easily onto the end of the yacht and held out his hand to help her up.

Lexi smiled up at everyone and then placed her hand in Leo’s. The muscles in his forearms rippled as he effortlessly hauled her up and it was only as their eyes met that Lexi realised that she hadn’t thanked him for rescuing her.

‘Thank you,’ she said, her voice husky and a little embarrassed.

She saw Leo’s nostrils flare but other than that he didn’t acknowledge her words and she turned her glazed eyes from his piercing gaze to focus on the others.

She reassured everyone that she was fine, mini drama over, and patted Tom’s arm. ‘Stop with the guilty look. I’m fine.’

‘I can’t help feeling bad. Let me take you up and get you a cool drink.’

She was about to say she’d like that when Leo interrupted, ‘The doctor ordered rest.’

Lexi turned to find Leo glowering at Tom. ‘I can—’

‘Go to your room,’ he said, his eyes on Tom.

Lexi felt her hackles rise at his proprietorial air. ‘I’m fine,’ she asserted.

He swung his blue eyes to hers and Lexi had to force herself not to feel intimidated. ‘Good to know.’ He stepped between her and Tom. ‘One thing, angel.’ He leaned close and lowered his tone so only she could hear and Lexi sucked in her breath to ensure that they didn’t touch. ‘If you’re going to be having sex with anyone this weekend it won’t be Tom Shepherd.’

Lexi blinked and before her befuddled brain could formulate any sort of decent response he had stalked past her and taken the curved staircase up to the next level, two steps at a time.

W
HAT
on earth had he meant by that?

Lexi had asked herself the same question over and over all afternoon. She wasn’t planning to have sex with anyone that weekend, let alone Tom Shepherd. And Leo’s comment had been insulting in the extreme, implying that she was inviting attention, which she most definitely wasn’t.

And if she wasn’t going to have sex with Tom, then who was he thinking would take his place? Certainly not him if the way he’d jumped on her request that they forget all about those scorching kisses back on the beach was any indication.

Lexi leaned towards her bathroom mirror and swiped bronze eye shadow across her eyelids and then rubbed at the corner of her eye when she applied too much.

To say that Leo’s behaviour confused her would be an understatement. Anyone would think that his behaviour towards her after the accident was possessive but, really, he was probably just concerned she was going to slap him with a law suit.

Deciding on a soft pink lip gloss, she stood back from the mirror and eyed herself critically. Her figure was neat and small and entirely unremarkable, although she did like the way her breasts looked in the halter-style amber maxi-dress she had bought in the sales last year and hadn’t had a chance to wear yet. At least it made her look as if she had cleavage.

Shoving it into her weekend bag while Leo had prowled around her living room while she packed had been a spur
of the moment decision but now she wondered if it wasn’t a little risqué. Not that she had anything else suitable to wear to his soiree tonight. A soirée she didn’t even want to attend but had been informed she was expected to. And why was that? And why was her heart beating faster at the thought?

She stretched the silky fabric of her dress over her breasts, which suddenly seemed heavy and overly sensitive as they chafed the soft fabric. She traced her hands along the outer swell of each breast, remembering how Leo’s much larger ones had skimmed that exact place hours earlier and her nipples tightened into aching points. A light thrumming feeling took up residence between her thighs as she imagined his mouth at her breast, his tongue. She imagined him taking her flesh into his mouth, could almost see the back of his blond head as she gazed at herself in the mirror.

A small whimper escaped from her lips and Lexi dropped her hands, her eyes slightly dazed as she gazed at her reflection. This was ridiculous. The man turned on the entire female population. Was she really considering adding herself to their ranks? Knowing the type of man he was? And, worse, knowing he would undoubtedly be disappointed with her sexually—as Brandon had been?

Oh, why was she even thinking like this?

She viciously twisted her heavy mass of hair into a bun and started stabbing pins into it.

A man who could have anyone did not go for moderately pretty girls unless they threw themselves at him and that was about as likely to happen as her being asked to model in a Victoria’s Secret parade!

Lexi glanced down and realised she had used up the whole board of hairpins. Disgusted at her distracted thoughts, she stepped into high-heeled sandals and went to check on Ty.

Once she’d done that, she arrived in a ballroom the size of a basketball court, dimly lit by crystal chandeliers and alive
with the happy chatter of Leo’s guests and a live jazz band set up in the corner beside a wooden dance floor.

She swept her gaze around the room and her heart stopped beating when she noticed that Katya had taken up residence by Leo’s side and it would have taken a crowbar to prise her away from him.

And he didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact he was welcoming her attentions, his hand laying across the small of her back whenever she leaned in to whisper something to him—which appeared to be every five seconds.

Lexi’s breath caught as her eyes drifted over Leo in a sleekly tailored black tuxedo. The black bow tie—which she had always found a touch effeminate on other men—only served to enhance his dangerous appeal—drawing attention to the strong column of his tanned neck and square jaw. The jacket hugged wide shoulders and drew in around his lean, hard-packed waist.

The tall model, dressed in a tiny white dress that loved every one of her generous curves and set off her red-gold hair, which hung like a smooth sheet down her back, the perfect feminine foil for his masculine sensuality. The yin to his yang.

Lexi drew in a sharp breath and tried to convince herself that she wasn’t upset. Because he really wasn’t her type and yet she literally ached to have him touch her again. To touch him. She could explain it away when she had been half asleep, or half-drowned, but now, in a room full of party-goers, his effect on her was a little hard to fob off.

Not wanting to dwell on something she couldn’t fully understand, she startled a waiter by whisking a glass of champagne off his tray as he walked past. Not that she knew why she bothered because she doubted she’d be able to get a millimetre of the delicious liquid past the boulder lodged in her throat.

She felt her breathing take on an uneven kilter and her
heart pound and for a minute she felt lost and completely humiliated. Because, even though she had taken umbrage with Leo’s kisses, with his possessive behaviour in front of Tom, a small part of her had thought that … what? That he might actually want to be with her? That he might seriously find her attractive? That he might have invited her to his party to be with him?

She felt like a fool. A fool who had dressed up for nothing.

No, not nothing. She would have a good time if it killed her.

‘Care to dance,
omorphe kopella
?’

Lexi turned at the sound of a deep Mediterranean voice beside her. The man who had spoken to her was tall, though not as tall as Leo, and clean-shaven, with raven black hair and a cleft in his chin.

‘My name is Anton Pompidou. I am a lawyer with the Greek government.’

‘I’m Lexi Somers. Childcare manager.’

He smiled and held out his hand. ‘You forgot to say beautiful.’ His smile wasn’t exactly smarmy, but he was smooth and she could tell he was used to getting his way with women. Lexi was just about to decline his invitation when she noticed Leo place his hand in the small of Katya’s back again as she leaned in to whisper some sweet nothing in his ear and found herself agreeing instead. ‘I’d love to.’

Anton’s smile widened and Lexi fervently hoped he didn’t read too much into her overzealous acceptance.

Which, a short time later, after he offered to escort her outside for some ‘fresh air’, she realised he had.

‘Look, I’m really sorry,’ she informed him as he tried to take her into his arms, ‘but I really did just come out here for air.’

‘Is there a problem out here?’

Lexi made a small, pained noise as she recognised Leo’s gravelly accented voice behind her just before he came into view.

‘No problem, Mr Aleksandrov.’ The tall Greek released her and all but bowed down to him. ‘Miss Somers required some fresh air.’

‘And now she requires some privacy,’ Leo drawled, his eyes pinned to hers as he spoke to the lawyer.

Some small part of Lexi willed the man to defy him but it didn’t happen. Leo had an air of command about him few men possessed and even fewer argued with.

‘You should know that when a man offers to take a woman outside for air it’s rarely what he’s offering,’ he said shortly.

Lexi turned back to the twinkling lights of the distant island she had been admiring earlier. ‘Thanks for the tip.’

‘That is Naxos,’ he told her after a brief pause.

‘I didn’t ask.’

‘You are angry with me.’

Lexi released a deep breath and turned her head to look at him. She thought how unfairly good-looking he was in the moonlight. ‘He thinks we’re together now.’

‘So?’

‘So … so you’re overbearing and arrogant.’

‘So?’

Lexi huffed out a breath. ‘I don’t know. Just go back to your supermodel accessory, would you. I’m too tired to argue with you tonight.’ She turned back to look out over the inky sea that shone silver in the moonlight.