скачать книгу бесплатно
Instead of purging him from her life, she’d brought him back into it.
When she’d seen him standing at the fence, she’d almost passed out. For one crazy moment she’d thought he was there to tell her he’d changed his mind. That he’d made a mistake. That he was sorry.
Sorry.
Kelly covered her hand with her mouth and stifled a hysterical laugh. When had Alekos ever said sorry? Had he even mentioned the tiny fact that he hadn’t turned up at the wedding? No. There hadn’t been a hint of apology in his indecently handsome face.
‘Are you all right, miss?’ A small voice cut through her panic. ‘You look sort of weird and you ran in here like someone was after you.’
‘After me?’ Kelly licked dry lips. ‘No.’
‘You look like you’re hiding.’
‘I’m not hiding.’ Her voice was high-pitched and she stared at her class without seeing them. Why, oh why, had she run away? Now it was going to look as though she really cared, and she didn’t want him thinking that. She wanted him to think that she was doing fine and that breaking up with him had done nothing but improve her life. That selling her ring had been part of de-cluttering, or something.
Kelly tried to breathe steadily. She’d spent four years dreaming about seeing him again. She’d lain in bed at night imagining bumping into him—a feat which had really challenged the imagination, given that he moved in a different stratosphere. But never, not once, had she actually thought it might happen. Certainly not here, without warning.
‘Is there a fire, Miss Jenkins?’ A pair of worried eyes stared at her—little Jessie Prince who always worried about everything, from spelling tests to terrorists. ‘You were running. You always tell us we’re not supposed to run unless there’s a fire, Miss Jenkins.’
‘That’s right.’ Fire, and men you never wanted to see again. ‘And I wasn’t running, I was, er, walking very quickly. Power walking. It’s good for fitness.’ Was he still outside the school? What if he waited for her? ‘Open your English books. Turn to page twelve and we’ll carry on where we left off. We’re writing our own poem about the summer holidays.’ Maybe she should have just handed him the ring, but that would have meant revealing the fact she was wearing it round her neck, and there was no way she was giving him the satisfaction of knowing what it meant to her. The only thing she had left was her pride.
There was a rustle of paper, a hum of low chatter and then a loud commotion at the back of the class.
‘Ow! He punched me, miss!’
Kelly lifted her hand to her forehead and breathed deeply. Not now. Discipline problems were the last thing she needed. Her head throbbed and she felt sick. She desperately needed space to think, but if there was one thing teaching didn’t give you it was space. ‘Tom, come to the front of the class, please.’ She waited patiently while he dragged his feet towards her sulkily, and then crouched down in front of the little boy. ‘You don’t just go around punching people. It’s wrong. I want you to say sorry.’
‘But I’m not sorry.’ He glared at her mutinously, his scarlet cheeks clashing with his vivid hair. ‘He called me a carrot-head, Miss Jenkins.’
Finding it almost impossible to focus, Kelly took a deep breath. ‘That wasn’t nice, and he’s going to apologise too. But that doesn’t change the fact you punched him. You should never punch anyone.’
Not even arrogant Greek men who left you on your wedding day.
‘S’not my fault I’ve got a temper. It’s cos of my red hair.’
‘It’s not your hair that punched Harry.’ How had she been supposed to know he was the one who had bought the ring?
A child behind her piped up. ‘My dad says if someone is mean to you, you should just thump them and then they’ll never been mean to you again.’
Kelly sighed. ‘Alternatively we could all just try and think more about each other’s feelings.’ Raising her voice slightly, she addressed the whole class. ‘We need to understand that not everyone is the same. We need to show tolerance: that’s going to be our word for the day.’ She stood and walked to the front of the class, feeling twenty-six pairs of eyes boring into her back. ‘T-o-l-e-r-a-n-c-e. Who can tell me what it means?’
Twenty-six hands shot up.
‘Miss, miss, I know—pick me, pick me.’
Kelly hid a smile. It didn’t matter how stressed she was, they always made her smile. ‘Jason?’
‘Miss, that man is at the door.’
Twenty-six little necks craned to get a better view of their visitor.
Kelly glanced up just as Alekos yanked open the door and strode into the room.
Mute with horror, she just stared at him, registering with numb despair the sudden increase in her pulse rate. Was this how her mother had felt about her father? Had she felt this same rush of excitement even though she knew the relationship was hopeless?
Alekos changed the atmosphere in a room, Kelly thought dizzily. His presence commanded attention.
There was a discordant scraping of chairs and desks as the children all stood up and Kelly felt a lump in her throat as she saw them looking at her for approval. When she’d first taken over the class, they’d been a disjointed rabble. Now they were a team.
‘Well done, class,’ she said huskily. ‘Lovely manners. Everyone gets two stars in their book.’ It comforted her, having them there. It gave her strength to turn and face Alekos as he strode towards her. ‘This isn’t a good time. I’m teaching.’
‘It’s a perfectly good time for me.’ His eyes clashed with hers; Kelly felt her face turn scarlet and her legs tremble violently as she remembered the passion they’d shared.
She held onto her composure for the benefit of the twenty-six pairs of watching eyes. ‘We have a visitor—what didn’t he do?’
‘He didn’t knock, Miss Jenkins.’
‘That’s right.’ Kelly conjured a bright smile, like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat. ‘He didn’t knock. He forgot his manners and he broke the rules. So he and I are just going to pop outside so that I can give him a little lesson on the behaviour we expect in our classroom, and you’re going to finish writing your poem.’
She turned to leave the room but Alekos closed his hand around her wrist, dragging her against his side as he faced the goggle-eyed children.
‘Let me teach you all a really important life lesson, children.’ His Greek accent was more pronounced than usual, his eyes dark, as he surveyed the class with the same concentration and focus that he undoubtedly brought to his own boardroom. ‘When something is important to you, you go for it. You don’t let someone walk away from you, and you don’t stand outside a door waiting for permission to enter. You just do it.’
This unusually radical approach was greeted with stunned, fascinated silence. Then several little arms shot into the air.
Alekos blinked. ‘Yes, you?’ Rising to the challenge, he pointed to a boy in the front row.
‘But what if there are rules?’
‘If they’re not sensible, then you break them,’ Alekos said immediately and Kelly gasped.
‘No! You do not break them. Rules are there to—’
‘Be questioned,’ Alekos said with arrogant assurance, his deep male voice holding the children transfixed. ‘Always you must question and ask yourself “why?” Sometimes rules must be broken for progress to be made. Sometimes people will tell you that you can’t do something. Are you going to listen?’
Twenty-six heads moved from side to side doubtfully and Kelly tugged at her wrist, trying to disengage herself so that she could take control.
A choked laugh bubbled up in her throat. Who was she kidding? She was never going to be able to gain control in the classroom again.
Alekos didn’t release her. ‘Take now, for example. I need to talk to Miss Jenkins, and she doesn’t want to listen. What am I going to do? Am I going to walk away?’
A hand shot up. ‘It depends how important it is to speak to her.’
‘It is very important.’ Alekos emphasised each word carefully as he addressed the captivated class. ‘But it’s also important to make the other person feel they are having a say in what happens, so I am willing to concede a point. I will let her choose where we have the conversation. Kelly?’ He turned to face her, his eyes glittering dark. ‘Here or outside?’
‘Outside.’ Kelly spoke through clenched teeth and Alekos smiled and turned back to the children.
‘This is an example of a successful negotiation: it should be a win-win situation. We both have something we want. And now I am going to take Miss Jenkins outside and you are going to—to write one-hundred words on why rules should always be questioned.’
‘No, they’re not!’ Kelly made a choked sound in her throat. ‘They’re going to write their poem.’
‘Fine.’ His eyes lingered on her mouth for a moment before sliding back to the enraptured class. ‘You can write a poem—about the benefit of breaking rules. It was very nice to meet you all. Work hard and you will succeed in life. Remember—it’s not where you come from that matters, it’s where you’re going.’ His hand still locked around Kelly’s wrist, he strode back out of the classroom giving her no choice but to follow him.
Outside the classroom, she leaned against the wall, shaking. ‘I can’t believe you just did that.’
‘You’re welcome,’ he drawled. ‘My going rate for motivational speaking on the international circuit is half a million dollars, but in this case I’m willing to waive my fee for the benefit of the next generation.’
Kelly’s mouth opened and shut. ‘I wasn’t thanking you!’
‘Well, you should be. Tomorrow’s entrepreneurs won’t emerge from a group of rule enslaved robots.’ Studying her face, he gave a sardonic smile. ‘Something tells me I’m not going to be given two stars in my book.’
Almost exploding with frustration, Kelly curled her hands into fists. ‘Don’t you know anything about children?’
The smile disappeared along with the mockery. Without it his face was cold, hard and handsome. ‘No.’ His voice was taut and his expression suddenly guarded. ‘Nothing. I spoke to them as adults, not children.’
‘But they’re not adults, Alekos. Do you know how much trouble we have with discipline?’ She was desperately aware of his fingers on her wrist and the sexy look in his eyes as he looked down at her. ‘When I took over that class they couldn’t even sit still on a chair for five minutes.’
‘Sitting still is an overrated pastime. Even in board meetings I often walk around. It helps me think. You should be encouraging them to question, not trying to churn out obedient clones all doing as they’re told. Why did you sell my ring?’
Kelly studiously ignored his question. ‘Without rules, society would fall apart.’
‘And without people bold enough to break rules, society would never progress,’ he purred. ‘And I’m not here to—’ Before he finished his sentence, hysterical shrieks came from along the corridor and there was the sound of feet running.
‘Miss Jenkins, there’s a flood! There’s water every
where!’
Alekos gave a driven sigh. ‘Where do you go for peace and quiet in this place?’
‘I can’t have peace and quiet—this is a school.’
A group of children ran towards them, Vivien close behind them.
‘Oh, Kelly.’ She looked hugely stressed and there were huge wet patches on her skirt. ‘There’s a flood in the girls’ changing rooms. Water everywhere. It’s pouring out of somewhere. Can this lot go in your room while I go to the office? We’re going to have to find a plumber, or a—’ she gave a helpless shrug ‘—I don’t know who to ring. Any ideas? The whole school is going to be under water soon; maybe I should phone for a submarine. We need someone who knows about pipes and water.’
‘I know about pipes and water.’ Clearly exasperated, Alekos inhaled deeply. ‘Where is this flood? Show me. The sooner it is solved, the sooner I can have you to myself.’
Suddenly noticing him, Vivien’s eyes widened and she looked slightly stunned.
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 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.’
