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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; theyare 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 wonderfulnew job that was supposed to help her move on andforget 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.
