by Maya Banks
Accustomed to that reaction from women seeing Alekos for the first time, Kelly bowed to the inevitable. ‘This is Alekos. Alekos, my friend and colleague, Vivien Mason.’
‘Alekos?’ Vivien’s eyes slid questioningly to Kelly, who gave a helpless shrug.
‘He’s the one who bought the ring.’
‘Ring?’ Vivien adopted a vacant expression which might have been convincing if it hadn’t been so exaggerated. ‘Oh, that old thing you keep in the back of your underwear drawer? I remember it—vaguely.’
Kelly’s face turned as red as a traffic light and she was horribly aware of Alekos’s interested stare.
‘Anyway, about this flood.’ Vivien glanced over her shoulder. ‘I’ll call a plumber, shall I?’
Alekos was looking at the water trickling into the corridor. ‘Unless he has super powers, your school will be under water before he arrives. Get me a tool box—something—whatever you have in this school,’ he ordered. ‘And turn off the water at the mains.’ With that, he strode along the corridor, leaving Kelly gaping after him.
‘Alekos, you can’t.’ Her eyes slid over his shockingly expensive suit and handmade shoes, and he turned his head and gave a mocking smile, reading her mind in a single glance.
‘Don’t judge a book by its cover—isn’t that what you English say? I flew straight from meetings in Athens. Just because I’m wearing a suit, doesn’t mean I can’t weld a pipe. Get me something to work with, Kelly.’
‘He can look that good and weld a pipe? Colour me bright green with envy,’ Vivien murmured faintly and Kelly gave her a shove.
‘Go and turn the water off.’
By the time the water was turned off and they’d located a rusty metal box of tools hidden in the caretaker’s cupboard, Alekos had discovered the fault.
‘The joint in this pipe has corroded.’ He’d removed his jacket and his shirt was soaked, sticking to his lean, muscled torso like another skin. ‘What’s in that box?’
‘I have no idea.’ Distracted by the sheer power of his body, Kelly struggled to open the box, staggering under the weight and Alekos frowned down at the assortment of tools.
‘Give me that one—no, the one underneath it; that’s it.’ He proceeded to remove the offending pipe and examine it closely. ‘Here is your problem.’ He ran his finger over a section of ancient pipe. ‘I doubt it’s been replaced since the school was built. Doesn’t anyone maintain this place?’
Vivien was gazing at his shoulders. ‘I don’t think our caretaker possesses your skills. And we’re a bit short of money.’
‘It doesn’t need much money, just regular maintenance. Kelly, my phone is in my back pocket—get it out.’
‘But—’
‘I have my hands rather full at the moment,’ he gritted. ‘Not to mention being soaking wet. If you could not choose this moment to argue, that would be appreciated.’
Kelly stepped through the water and slipped her hand into his pocket, feeling the hard muscle of his body burn through the wet fabric. Quickly, she closed her fingers around his phone and dragged it out, aware that he was as tense as she was. Four years ago she hadn’t been able to keep her hands off his body—and he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off hers.
It was something she’d been trying to forget ever since.
Judging from the sizzling glance he sent in her direction, he felt the same way.
Kelly gulped. ‘What do you want me to do?’
‘Speed dial.’ He gave her instructions and she did as he said, then held the phone to his ear so that he could speak. Listening to the flow of Greek, she wished she’d spent less time focusing on his body when they were together and more time honing her language skills. At the very least she should have learned how to say ‘get out of my life’.
‘Do you know what he’s saying?’ Vivien hissed and Kelly shook her head just as Alekos ended the call.
‘I will have a team here in less than ten minutes.’
‘A team?’
‘I can fix this pipe for you, but I don’t have the equipment. We need a new section of pipe, the same diameter; my security team can locate what we need and have it here. It will do them good to have something useful to do instead of hovering on street corners.’ He wiped his damp forehead on his shoulder and then glanced around him in incredulity, taking in the peeling paint. ‘If this place were a ship, it would have sunk by now.’
‘It makes the Titanic look seaworthy,’ Vivien agreed fervently and Kelly rolled her eyes.
Being this close to Alekos, and in these circumstances, was the worst possible torture; she didn’t need to witness hero-worship from her closest friend. ‘Can we just get on with this? Alekos, I’m sure there’s somewhere you need to be. Now that you’ve identified the problem, we can sort it out, so you are free to go.’
‘Go? Are you mad?’ Vivien’s voice was an astonished squeak. ‘We’re never going to be able to find anyone to fix this at such short notice. He knows what he’s doing, why would you want him to go?’
‘Because Kelly is feeling uncomfortable being this close to me.’ A sardonic smile on his face, Alekos fixed his gaze on her. ‘Isn’t that right, agape mou?’
His use of that particular endearment sent the tension rocketing through her. It reminded her too clearly of intimate moments she was working hard to forget. ‘I’ve changed my mind about selling the ring. I want it to go to a good home, and you’re definitely not a good home. And, just because you can roll up your sleeves and fix a leaking pipe, don’t think I’m impressed.’
‘I’m impressed,’ Vivien said dreamily. ‘Really impressed. I thought you ran a shipping company. But you can—wow. I mean, wow.’
Alekos looked amused. ‘I do run a shipping company.’
‘But not from behind a desk, obviously.’
‘Unfortunately, it usually is from behind a desk. But I have a degree in naval architecture and marine engineering which occasionally comes in useful.’ He looked up as a woman walked into the room followed by five men carrying stacks of equipment.
‘These men say that—oh.’ The school secretary blinked in horror and Kelly formed her lips into something approaching a smile.
‘It’s all under control, Janet.’
And it was. With Alekos giving orders, the men worked as an efficient team, but what really surprised her was that he did the actual work himself. His team gave him what he asked for and, while he fixed the pipe they set about cleaning up the water and setting up drying machines.
By the time Alekos had finished, a new section of pipe had replaced the old piece that had rusted away and the cloakroom was drying.
Kelly was just trying to slink away when he closed his hand around her wrist like a vice. ‘No. No more running.’ Hauling her against him, Alekos swung her into his arms; Kelly made a choked sound and clutched at his shoulders for support.
‘Alekos! What are you doing? Put me down.’
Half-alarmed, half-laughing in envy, Vivien put a hand on his arm. ‘Whatever you do, don’t drop her! Gosh, if you’re that desperate you can use my classroom, if you like, it’s empty.’
‘Put me down!’ Kelly snapped, twisting in his arms. ‘I want to keep the respect of these children and I won’t be able to do that if you’re carrying me through the school like—’
‘Like a man?’ Ignoring her, Alekos said something in Greek to his team and strode out of the door. ‘You’ve put on some weight since you were nineteen.’
‘Good.’ Kelly banked down the hurt caused by that comment. ‘I hope you put your back out.’
‘It was a compliment—the extra weight appears to be distributed in all the right places, although I can’t be sure without a closer inspection.’
‘How can you say things like that when you’re involved with another woman? You’re disgust
ing.’
‘You’re jealous.’
‘I’m not jealous. As far as I’m concerned, your sickeningly skinny blonde can have you.’ Kelly wriggled, but wriggling just made him hold her more firmly so she lay still, trying not to breathe in his familiar male scent—trying not to look at the dark shadow of his jaw and the impossibly long lashes. ‘Put me down right now, Alekos.’
His answer was to kiss her, and as she slipped downwards through a hazy mist of thick, swirling desire Kelly heard Vivien’s envious voice coming from somewhere in the distance.
‘Given the choice of him or four-million dollars, I’d choose him every time. Way to go, Kel.’
Chapter 3
The sleek black Ferrari roared along the narrow roads; Kelly was glad he’d dropped her into the seat because her legs had turned to jelly. ‘I can’t believe you kissed me in front of everyone. I will never be able to look at any of them again.’
‘I thought we dealt with your inhibitions four years ago.’
‘I was not inhibited! You were just always doing really embarrassing stuff that—’
‘You’d never done before. I know.’ He shifted gears in a smooth movement. ‘I pushed it too fast, but I’d never been with anyone as inexperienced as you.’ He was supremely cool and her face burned hot as a furnace.
‘Well, I’m sorry!’
‘Don’t be. I’m Greek; teaching you was the most erotic experience of my life.’
Kelly squirmed. ‘And then there was the whole thing with the lights.’
‘Lights?’
‘You always wanted them on!’
‘I wanted to see you.’
Kelly slunk lower in her seat, remembering all the ways she’d tried to hide. ‘Haven’t you ever heard of global warming? We’re supposed to be turning lights off. Anyway, never mind that. I’m not inhibited, but that doesn’t mean I’ve turned into an exhibitionist. And, actually, I just don’t want to kiss you. The thought of kissing you revolts me.’
Without taking his eyes off the road, he smiled. ‘Right.’
It was the smile that flipped her over the edge—that and the fact that her pulse rate still hadn’t returned to normal. ‘How dare you just barge in here after four years and not even offer so much as an explanation? You’re not even sorry, are you? You don’t have a conscience. I could never hurt anyone the way you hurt me, but you just don’t care.’
For a moment she thought he wasn’t going to answer. His hands whitened on the wheel and his mouth compressed. ‘I do have a conscience,’ he said harshly. ‘That’s why I didn’t marry you. It would have been wrong.’
‘What? What sort of twisted logic is that? Oh, never mind.’ Kelly closed her eyes, completely humiliated. She’d kissed him back—hungrily, desperately, foolishly. ‘Why did you kiss me, anyway?’
He shifted gears again, his hand strong and steady. ‘Because you wouldn’t stop talking.’
Kelly’s ego shrivelled still further; it was not because she was irresistible or because he just couldn’t help himself. He’d kissed her as a method of shutting her up. ‘Slow down. I get car sick.’ Not for anything would she admit that the kiss had made her dizzy. Alekos knew everything there was to know about kissing a woman, which was just her bad luck, she thought gloomily. Staring out of the window as trees flashed past, she wondered what he’d meant by that comment. Why had his conscience stopped him from marrying her—because it wouldn’t have been fair to deprive all those other women of great sex?
She swallowed down a hysterical laugh.
It was almost worth tearing the ring from round her neck just to make this whole thing end. What did she have left to lose? Only her pride. And Alekos wasn’t stupid. He probably knew exactly how she felt about him.
She wished now she hadn’t given him the address of her cottage, but she’d been so embarrassed by the exhibition he’d created at the school that she’d just wanted to escape.
Her heart pounding, her mouth dry, Kelly tried to think clearly, but it was impossible to think, jammed into this enclosed space with him. The length of his powerful thigh was too close to hers, and every time she risked looking at him the memories came flooding back: his firm, sensual mouth brushing hers, proving to her that she’d never properly been kissed before; his strong, clever hands teaching her what her body could do, stripping away her inhibitions, everything so shockingly intense and exquisitely perfect that she’d felt like the luckiest woman on the planet.
But their relationship had been more than just incredible sex.
It had been laughter and an astonishing chemistry. It had been fun.
It had been the most stimulating relationship she’d ever had, before or since.
And the most painful.
There had been moments when she’d thought that losing him would be the end of her—standing there, waiting for a man who didn’t turn up. Trying to pretend it didn’t matter.
Transported straight back to her childhood, Kelly closed her eyes and reminded herself that it was different. The trouble was that rejection felt pretty much the same, no matter who was responsible.
‘Take the next left,’ she said huskily. ‘I live in the pink cottage with the rusty gate. You can park outside. I’ll get you the ring and you can go.’
This was a good test of how she was doing, she told herself. If the only way she could handle her feelings for Alekos was by not seeing him, then what had the past four years been about? Why invest so much time on rebuilding a life so carefully if it could be that vulnerable?
She’d got over him, hadn’t she? She’d moved on. Apart from the occasionally disturbing dream involving a virile Greek man and incredible sex, she no longer ached and yearned. Yes, she wore the ring around her neck, but that was going to change. Once she handed it over she was going to do something radical, like joining a project to build a school in Africa or something. And she was going to kiss loads of men until she found someone else who knew how to do it properly. He couldn’t be the only person.
Noticing the neighbour’s curtains twitching, Kelly groaned. She was giving everyone enough to gossip about for at least two lifetimes. ‘Don’t you dare kiss me here. Mrs Hill is ninety-six and she watches from the window. You’ll give her a heart attack.’
Climbing out of the car, she glanced dubiously at Alekos, wondering how he always managed to look completely at home in his surroundings. Boardroom or beach, city or tiny village, he was confident in himself, and it showed. He stood outside her house, the early-evening sunlight glinting off his dark hair, his face so extraordinarily handsome that it took her breath away. Four years had simply added to his raw sex appeal, adding breadth to his shoulders and a hardness to his features that had been missing before.
‘This is where you live?’
Kelly bristled. ‘We’re not all millionaires,’ she muttered. ‘And it’s very bad-mannered of you to look down your nose.’
‘I’m not looking down my nose.’ He shot her an impatient look. ‘Stop being so sensitive and stop imagining what I’m thinking because, believe me, you don’t have a clue. I’m just surprised, that’s all. It’s really quiet here, and you are a very sociable person. I imagined you living in London and going to parties every night.’
Not wanting to flatter his ego by revealing what a mess she’d been after he’d left, Kelly fumbled in her bag for her keys. ‘I am out every night. You’d be surprised.’
He glanced around him, one eyebrow lifted. ‘You’re right. I’d be very surprised. Are you trying to tell me this place comes alive at midnight?’
Kelly thought of the badgers, foxes and hedgehogs that invaded her garden. ‘It’s really lively. There’s a sort of underground nightlife.’ It came to something, she thought gloomily, when badgers had a more interesting sex life than you did. But that was partly her fault, wasn’t it? After the
press had torn her apart, she’d hidden away. ‘Wait there; I’ll bring you the ring.’
‘I’ll come in with you. I’d hate to give your neighbour a heart attack, and we’re attracting too much attention out here.’
Her eyes slid from his powerful shoulders to his hard jaw and she looked away quickly, her stomach churning. The thought of him in her little cottage made her heart-rate double. ‘I don’t want you in my home, Alekos.’
His answer to that was to remove the keys from her hand and stride towards her front door.
Enraged, Kelly sprinted after him. ‘Don’t you dare go into my house without invitation!’
‘There’s a simple solution to that: invite me.’
‘I will not. I only invite nice people into my home, and you—’ she stabbed his chest with her finger ‘—are definitely not a nice person.’
‘Why did you sell my ring?’
‘Why did you leave me on our wedding day?’
He inhaled sharply. ‘I’ve told you.’
‘You were doing me a favour—yes, I heard you. You have a warped sense of what constitutes generous behaviour.’
For once he seemed to be struggling to find the right words. ‘It was difficult for me.’
‘Tell me about it. On second thoughts, don’t bother. I don’t even want to know.’ Kelly decided that she couldn’t bear to hear him list all the reasons she was wrong for him. Couldn’t bear to hear him compare her to the skinny, sophisticated blonde she’d seen in the magazine. ‘Come in, if you must. I’ll get the ring and then you can go.’
He stood still, immovable. ‘I know I hurt you—’
‘Gosh, you’re quick, I’ll give you that.’ Kelly snatched the keys back from him and opened her door. She wished he’d just give up and go away, but Alekos didn’t give up, did he? It was that unstoppable tenacity that had made him into the rich, powerful man he was. He didn’t see obstacles; he had a goal and he pursued it, ploughing down everything in his path if necessary. Yet he was praised as a truly innovative businessman with inspirational leadership-skills. And as for his skills as a lover...