by Sarah Morgan
He was still on the phone, talking in Greek, when she walked into the bedroom ten minutes later wrapped in a huge fluffy bathrobe.
She selected underwear and a beautiful silk dress and let the bathrobe fall to the floor.
The flow of Greek immediately faltered and she glanced up to see Zander watching her hungrily, his attention very definitely not on his call.
Feeling wicked, she slid into her underwear and dress, pretending not to notice that he seemed to be having problems concentrating.
When he finally severed the connection, there was a faint sheen of sweat on his brow.
‘In future don’t undress in front of me when I’m on the phone,’ he groaned, his eyes bright with amusement and something else that made her heart beat faster. ‘I didn’t actually hear a word my lawyer was saying.’
She tilted her head to one side and slipped her feet into her shoes, her expression innocent. ‘You had trouble concentrating?’
‘I haven’t concentrated on anything much since I walked into your office three weeks ago,’ he confessed ruefully and she felt a flash of satisfaction at the knowledge that she could affect him so strongly.
‘So if I’m so distracting, why did you make me work for you?’
He flashed her a smile. ‘Because you said no. I don’t deal well with no.’
‘So if I’d said yes you would have walked away?’
‘There was never any chance of you saying yes,’ he pointed out dryly. ‘You have never said yes to me. It is a quirky part of your nature that you have to fight me.’ He stared at her intently and then dragged his shirt over his head.
Her eyes were drawn to his broad chest, the tangle of dark hairs emphasising his intense masculinity.
The truth was she was fighting herself as much as him. Fighting the way she felt about him. He was the only man she’d ever met who had the ability to hurt her badly.
‘So it was just about fighting me?’ Something prompted her to ask the question and he sucked in a breath and looked at her through narrowed eyes, evidently considering her question seriously.
‘No,’ he said shortly, ‘it wasn’t about fighting you.’
Their eyes locked and her heart was suddenly pounding in her chest. ‘Then what was it?’
He hesitated. ‘You and I had unfinished business.’
‘But if you’d known it was me, you never would have chosen my company.’
There was a brief pause. ‘Yes, I would.’
Meaning what, exactly? Lauranne wondered, her eyes sliding over the powerful muscles of his chest.
‘We are expected for drinks in fifteen minutes,’ he drawled softly, ‘and if you continue to look at me like that then we will be late. And I don’t want to blow this deal.’
It was as if she’d dived head first into an arctic pool. Business always came first with Zander.
Even now, when sexual tension was throbbing in the air.
She gave him a cool smile and walked over to the mirror to apply her make-up. ‘Of course you don’t want to blow the deal.’
Without turning she unzipped her bag and selected a few cosmetics, pausing as she heard the sound of the shower.
Her fingers tightened around the tiny bottle she was holding. She could imagine him naked, the water sliding over every inch of his fabulously male body.
He was out in seconds, a towel slung round his hips as he rubbed his dark hair and reached for a small package from a drawer by the bed.
‘I bought this for you.’ He handed her a box almost casually but his eyes were intent on her face and her heart lurched crazily as fantasy overwhelmed her.
A small, prettily wrapped box.
Completely hypnotised by her own longing she stared at the box in his hand and he flipped it open.
She sucked in a breath, stunned by the beauty of the earrings nestling on the black velvet and by the depth of her own disappointment.
Had she really expected an engagement ring?
It was the one thing he’d never given her. Their marriage had been so quick that all she had was a gold band. A gold band that was currently lying in her drawer at home.
Was she really that deluded?
She looked up at him with a smile that revealed nothing of her thoughts. ‘They’re really beautiful, Zander.’
‘Like you.’
She blushed at his softly spoken compliment and lifted the earrings from the box, placing them carefully in the palm of her hand. ‘Why? Why did you buy me these?’
‘To prove to you that I can be romantic,’ Zander said lightly, lifting a hand and stroking her hair away from her face. ‘Put them on. I know they’ll suit you—’
She walked over to the mirror and slipped the earrings into her ears, noticing immediately that he was right. They did suit her.
‘Thank you. I love—’ she almost said I love you but stopped herself just in time ‘—them. I love them.’
His eyes met hers in the mirror and then he turned away and pulled on a fresh shirt and reached for his trousers.
Lauranne averted her eyes before the towel fell. Her insides were in enough of a state without being confronted with further evidence of his overwhelming virility.
She picked up her bag and moved to the door. ‘I’ll try not to let you down,’ she said sweetly, her eyes challenging his, ‘as long as you behave yourself.’
He laughed, slipped his mobile phone into his pocket and then gestured towards the door. ‘I never behave myself where you’re concerned. Now, are you ready?’
CHAPTER EIGHT
AS THEY took the steps to the terrace Zander tightened his grip on her hand,
‘Remember, Anni, you are so in love with me that you can’t see straight.’
Lauranne almost laughed at the irony. It was an almost perfect description of her true feelings.
But there was no way she was revealing that to him. In a way it would be refreshing to be able to show affection for him. Normally she kept her true feelings locked inside.
So it was a relief to smile adoringly at him as they strolled across the vine-covered terrace to meet Theo Kouropoulos.
A woman was standing by his side and as they drew closer Lauranne stopped dead, feeling the colour drain out of her face.
The happiness left her in a rush.
It was Marina, her ex-boss.
What was she doing here?
Lauranne stared at her in horror, a horror that deepened as she caught the venom in the older woman’s expression.
‘Welcome. I hope you enjoyed your day.’ Kouropoulos stepped forward with a smile, shaking Zander’s hand and greeting Lauranne warmly. ‘My wife has stayed in Athens with my daughter, but may I introduce my Head of Corporate Affairs, Marina?’
Marina worked for Kouropoulos?
Lauranne had no choice but to take her outstretched hand, the effort of smiling so great that it made her cheeks ache.
‘Lauranne and I know each other,’ Marina said smoothly, her eyes so cold that Lauranne shivered.
‘Marina worked for me in the past,’ Zander confirmed, his expression impossible to read as he surveyed the woman in front of him.
Lauranne looked at him in frustration. How could he behave so calmly?
‘Then you should have taken better care of her.’ Kouropoulos laughed and Lauranne ground her teeth.
Zander had taken extremely good care of Marina.
Ignoring Lauranne completely, Marina gave Zander a sultry smile and stepped closer, the slit in her dress parting to reveal an almost indecent length of thigh. ‘Can I offer you a drink? Champagne?’
Lauranne watched in disbelief and misery as Zander took the proffered glass, smiling warmly at Marina, showing not one whit of discomfort.
She ground her teeth.
Did he have no conscience? He’d made love to her repeatedly since arriving on the island and now he was flirting openly with another woman. And not just any woman.
Marina was the woman he’d slept with five years before.
The woman who had destroyed their relationship.
Marina was the reason she’d sobbed in Tom’s arms.
Showing no interest in the antics of his Corporate Affairs director, Theo Kouropoulos stepped up to her. ‘So tell me, what do you think of our island?’
With considerable effort, Lauranne dragged her eyes away from Zander and Marina.
‘It’s beautiful,’ she said honestly, glancing across the sand and battling with the temptation to drop her glass and make a run for it back to the privacy of the villa. ‘Really beautiful.’
But inhabited by a snake.
Marina was still talking to Zander and the sight of their heads so close together, one so dark and one so fair, made sickness rise in her stomach.
How could he do this to her?
How could he so blatantly flaunt his ex-lover in front of her?
And from the way that Marina was looking at him she wasn’t going to remain an ex for much longer.
Sickly, Lauranne considered another explanation. That the ‘business’ trip to the island had never been more than a ploy for him to spend time with Marina.
Was she just here to provide distraction?
To legitimise his relationship with his ex-lover?
‘I hope you’ve been enjoying your time here,’ Kouropoulos was saying. ‘Zander and I will be getting down to work tomorrow, but Marina will be happy to entertain you.’
‘I really wouldn’t want to bother her,’ Lauranne said quickly, so angry that she could barely speak. ‘I’ll have a lovely time just relaxing by the pool, I know I will.’ Deciding to remind Marina just exactly who Zander was supposed to be with, she leaned towards him and lowered her eyelashes, her expression flirtatious. ‘We’ve had a pretty exhausting few days, haven’t we, darling?’
Not in the slightest bit discomforted by her blatant declaration of their relationship, Zander merely smiled and Kouropoulos joined in.
‘This island is made for romance, Lauranne.’
Confused by Zander’s lack of reaction, Lauranne fumed over the rest of her drink. Was he using her to make Marina jealous? Or was he using Marina to make her jealous? Deciding that whatever his game was, she wasn’t playing it, she drained her drink and helped herself to another one, aware that Zander was watching her with a slight frown in his eyes.
Good, she thought crossly. If you think I’m going to play your little game, then you picked the wrong person.
She made small talk over drinks, ready to kill as she observed Zander and Marina locked in conversation the whole time.
‘They have much to talk about,’ Kouropoulos said gently, topping up her glass again. ‘Marina worked in his organisation, remember? What was your role in the company?’
‘Mug,’ Lauranne said clearly, her chin lifting as she fastened her blue gaze on Zander, who broke off his conversation and cast her a look of such ice-cold warning that she caught her breath.
Don’t ruin this deal, his gaze said, and she flashed her eyes at him, the message clear.
Then don’t mess with me.
If they’d had swords there would have been corpses lying on the terrace, but fortunately their only weapons were their eyes and they used them to the death.
‘Lauranne was in a very junior position,’ Zander said smoothly, his eyes still locked on her face as he telegraphed a clear warning. ‘But she always showed potential.’
Marina frowned slightly at that, but Lauranne ignored her, reaching for her wine in the hope of numbing some of the fevered emotions surging around her body.
By the time they eventually sat down for dinner, her stomach was churning and anger was turning to misery.
How could she have been such a gullible fool?
Zander wasn’t capable of committing to one woman, even when the sex was as exciting as it was between them.
Catching his narrowed glance, she remembered belatedly that she was supposed to look loving.
Well, tough, she thought miserably.
So far the only person who was looking loving was Marina, and she couldn’t keep her hands off Zander.
Lauranne watched sickly, transported back five years.
She picked at her food, barely aware of the conversation around her until she heard Marina laugh.
‘You men are not to discuss business at the dinner table,’ she admonished gaily. ‘Save it for tomorrow.’
Kouropoulos sipped his coffee and looked at Lauranne. ‘Talking of business, you’ve done very well for yourself since you left Volakis Industries. I’ve seen some of the work you’ve done. Amazing.’
If Kouropoulos was aware of the extremely unsavoury details of her employment with Zander’s company, then he was keeping it well hidden.
‘Thank you.’ Lauranne managed a polite smile. He seemed like a nice man. His only fault appeared to be his choice of employees.
‘It’s amazing how people grow and develop,’ Marina said smoothly, the cold look in her eyes at odds with the fixed smile on her face. ‘All those mistakes you made five years ago when you first worked for me must have paid off.’
Ignoring the sudden frown on Zander’s face, Lauranne lifted her chin and looked Marina directly in the eye. ‘The only mistake I made was falling in love with Zander.’
It was the first time she’d said those words out loud, but she knew that Zander wouldn’t believe her anyway. He’d think that she was just acting her part.
Kouropoulos gave her a searching look. ‘If you were so in love, how come your marriage lasted such a short time?’
The directness of his question threw her and she couldn’t prevent her eyes sliding back to Marina.
In the end it was Zander who answered. ‘We had some differences,’ he said smoothly, reaching for his wineglass and lifting it towards her in a silent toast, ‘but we’ve resolved them.’
Lauranne sat silent, finding it harder and harder to play the game he wanted her to play. Anger rising inside her, she gave up the pretence of eating and lowered her fork to her plate.
‘Zander wasn’t ready to commit to anyone then.’ She looked at Zander but his expression was veiled by thick dark lashes as he lounged in his chair, watching her. She shifted her gaze to Marina, a spark of challenge in her eyes. ‘He was still enjoying the concept of variety.’
She saw Marina’s colour deepen in anger and braced herself for confrontation, reminding herself firmly that she wasn’t an employee any more. This woman couldn’t do anything to her.
But even so her palms were damp and her heart was beating so rapidly that she felt faint.
‘Zander has always played the field,’ Kouropoulos said dryly, ‘but let’s hope that now that you’re back together again, that will all end.’
Hardly, Lauranne thought to herself, with Marina within such easy reach.
‘So how did you two rediscover each other?’ Kouropoulos didn’t so much as glance in Marina’s direction but Zander did and his expression was suddenly thoughtful.
‘Lauranne and I have been in touch for some months,’ he drawled casually, ‘but we only came together properly a few weeks ago.’
‘That’s very romantic.’
‘And quite a lengthy relationship for Zander,’ Marina interjected cattily. ‘It’s almost time you moved on again, don’t you think?’
Something gleamed in his eyes and he reached across the table to take Lauranne’s hands in his. ‘I won’t be moving on.’
As an actor he was thoroughly convincing, Lauranne brooded, resisting the temptation to snatch her hand away and slap him hard.
There’d be time for that later when they were in private.
In the meantime she didn’t want to give Marina the satisfaction of knowing that she’d succeeded in stimulating tension between them.
So she just stared at him, hurt and accusation brimming in her blue eyes. It was no good him pretending to be her lover, she thought, when his real lover was seated next to him.
Suddenly she couldn’t stand it any longer. Co
uldn’t stand the pretence. Where in their deal had it said that he was allowed to flaunt other relationships? She rose to her feet and cast an apologetic glance towards Theo Kouropoulos. ‘I’m so sorry to be rude, but I’m really tired. Would you mind if I had an early night?’
‘Of course not. You do look a little pale.’ He rose to his feet too and gestured to Zander. ‘You must go with her. We’ll see you tomorrow at ten.’
‘Why don’t you drop her back at the villa and then join us for another drink on the terrace?’ Marina said smoothly, stepping round the table and placing a possessive hand on Zander’s arm. ‘It’s far too early to be going to bed.’
‘Well, that depends…’ Kouropoulos laughed, exchanging looks of male understanding with Zander. ‘My guess is that we won’t be seeing these two until tomorrow’s meeting.’
Marina’s mouth tightened angrily but then she relaxed and forced a smile. ‘In that case I’ll see you at the meeting too. Theo has asked me to join in the negotiations.’
Lauranne glanced at Zander to gauge his reaction but as usual his face was expressionless.
They exchanged goodnights and Lauranne took the path that led back to their villa, Zander close by her side.
Careful not to let even one part of her body brush against him, she stalked down the prettily lit path, her high heels tapping rhythmically as she tried to walk off her anger.
The moment they stepped inside the villa she slammed the door shut and let all the pain and the humiliation pour forth.
‘How dare you? How dare you bring me here knowing that that woman, your—your—how could you?’ She broke off with a choked sob, hating herself for being so out of control but too utterly miserable to be anything else.
Zander stood frozen to the spot, clearly stunned by her attack. ‘I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about,’ he said coldly. ‘But I do know that if you carry on behaving the way you behaved tonight then you’re going to blow the deal.’
‘I don’t care about your stupid, rotten deal,’ she lied, tears spilling onto her cheeks. ‘I only care that you brought me here knowing that that woman would be here too—’
Zander swore fluently in Greek and sucked in a breath. ‘Firstly I did not know that Marina was going to be here, and secondly I don’t understand your problem. I can understand that it may feel a little awkward that you once worked for her, but it was a long time ago—’