LITMIR.BIZ

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seemed to simmer. ‘And you’re lucky I’m here at all. This is very short notice, I could have had other plans.’

      ‘But you don’t,’ he concluded.

      ‘That’s not the point. I really need at least a few days’ notice for business trips away like this.’

      ‘I’ll bear that in mind for the next time.’

      ‘The next time?’ She sounded suddenly flustered. ‘Do you think we will have to make many more trips like this?’

      He inclined his head. ‘Definitely. We’ll need to iron out as many teething problems up front as possible, and there is no better way than the personal touch.’

      ‘I see.’ She looked away from him, out of the windows.

      What was causing that flutter of panic? he wondered. It couldn’t be work—she was well used to travelling between different offices; she’d done it at Demetri Shipping. Was it the thought of being alone with him?

      What had made her finish things with him? he wondered angrily. She had always been passionately compliant and eager for his kisses … what had changed that?

      The briefcase she had placed next to her on the seat fell over as the car made a U-turn at a junction. Alexi reached to catch it at the same time as Katie, and for just a second their hands touched on the leather strap.

      She pulled away as if she had been burnt, allowing him to place it safely back beside her.

      ‘Thanks.’ She could barely look at him now.

      ‘Everything OK, Katie?’ he enquired casually.

      ‘Of course.’ She glanced at him, but there was a blush over the high cheekbones that said differently and her eyes were over-bright.

      If he could make her skin heat up with just the brush of his fingertips, make her eyes sparkle with fire, what would happen if he really touched her? In the past it had always been spontaneous combustion.

      He itched to find out now if the old magic was still there. He wanted to lean forward and take hold of her hand, find her lips and devour her.

      His eyes moved to the buttons on her blouse. He imagined himself unbuttoning them; he remembered how firm and willing her body had been.

      With difficulty he forced himself to sit back against the comfortable leather seat and bide his time. The chase was on, but he couldn’t rush it. When he took Katie again he wanted her to be wild for him … desperate for him. He was going to make her want him so badly she wouldn’t know what day it was.

      ‘Did you get the paperwork we need to sort out?’ he asked casually.

      ‘Yes, I brought it with me—it isn’t finished, obviously, but …’ She started to unzip her bag.

      ‘We’ll go through it on the plane.’

      ‘Oh! OK.’ She fastened the bag back up.

      Silence stretched between them. Her eyes darted over to him. He looked powerfully dynamic in the dark business-suit, every inch the successful business-tycoon. For a moment it was hard to believe that he had once been her lover, that he had once held her so tenderly, made love to her so passionately. He looked over at her and her eyes veered hurriedly away again. Thoughts like that were not helping her!

      ‘So how have things been with you, Katie?’

      The sudden personal question made her look back at him warily. ‘Absolutely fine—why do you ask?’

      There was a glimmer of amusement in the darkness of his eyes now. ‘Because I’m interested to know how you are; what other reason would there be?’

      ‘I don’t know.’ She shrugged and forced herself to try and relax. But the confined space and the memories he conjured up were sending her blood pressure soaring. Even the touch of his fingertips against her hand a few moments ago had sent her senses into a spin. ‘Let’s face it. You’ve never been one for making small talk, Alexi.’

      ‘Haven’t I?’ He shrugged. ‘I’m sure we had our moments.’

      She kept her composure with difficulty. She really didn’t want to think about what moments he might be referring to—not now.

      ‘It wasn’t all work between us—there was quite a bit of play time,’ he continued nonchalantly.

      Her eyes snapped with sudden fire. ‘I really don’t think we should be discussing that!’

      ‘Don’t you?’

      She allowed her eyes to hold firmly with his. ‘We’ve moved on, remember?’

      ‘Ah, yes.’

      His gaze flicked down towards her lips and she found herself remembering the way he could kiss her and caress her and make her feel truly alive.

      The intensity of the memory stirred up a painful need inside her, and she wrenched her eyes away from him and looked out of the window again. She needed to forget the past. He wasn’t the type of man to get serious about; they’d had their fun. It was over.

      ‘But it’s good that we can move on and work together, without any discord, don’t you think?’ he said smoothly.

      ‘Yes, of course.’

      He noticed that her hands had curled into tight fists at her side, and he smiled.

      ‘So, tell me, what have you been doing with yourself since you moved on?’ he invited conversationally.

      She shrugged and tried desperately to just treat him like any other work colleague. ‘I went to visit my sister in France for a week.’

      ‘I didn’t know you had a sister.’

      ‘Didn’t you?’ She couldn’t stop herself from flicking him a pointed look. ‘Perhaps because our conversations always revolved around work; in fact, you don’t know a lot about me at all.’

      Something about the way she said that struck a cord in him. To a certain extent she was right; he’d tended to focus on their work connection more than anything else. He didn’t do deep and meaningful; he’d been happy with the equation the way it was—but so had she. He’d noticed on more than one occasion that she’d used work to hide behind.

      He’d noticed the way she had looked sometimes—the unguarded vulnerability in her eyes when she thought he wasn’t watching her. ‘I know that when we met you’d been hurt by some guy in the past.’

      The observation took her by surprise. She had mentioned Carl once very briefly at the start of their relationship—but she hadn’t thought he was paying that much attention.

      ‘Now, what was it you said …?’ He frowned. ‘Ah … I know. You said you’d been in a serious relationship and had had enough hearts and flowers, and that sex and straight talking would do nicely instead.’

      Katie looked at him in consternation. She couldn’t believe she had said that—but she had, the first time he’d taken her to bed. It had felt so good in his arms, and afterwards when he had reiterated something about ‘not doing hearts and flowers’ she’d made that glib reply.

      ‘Trust you to remember that!’ she murmured with acute embarrassment. ‘But you can’t remember I have a sister!’

      He gave her a teasing look that made her want to melt inside. With difficulty she zoned out from the feeling. Melting around Alexi wasn’t recommended.

      Alexi smiled. ‘By the way, remind me later to look out the figures we were discussing at the meeting this morning,’ he remarked casually as he glanced at his watch. ‘We need to fine-hone any problems with the timetable.’

      She’d almost forgotten the way he was always able to switch back to business at a snap. How one moment he could play the consummate, arousing lover and the next the steel shutters of his mind could come crashing down to the focus of his real

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