LITMIR.BIZ

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delicate shape of her face and her exquisite high-cheekbones. She looked sophisticated and efficient. He found it just as sexy as her earlier tousled look. He imagined kicking everyone out of the boardroom and taking her right here on the polished table. He wanted her now.

      As if sensing his gaze, she glanced in his direction and for just a second he glimpsed distraction in her blue eyes, and the world of high finance suddenly ceased to exist.

      Then she looked hastily back to the notes she was referring to.

      She could pretend all she wanted, but the chemistry was still alive and kicking between them. They both knew that.

      OK, it was just a sexual chemistry, but hell it was strong—stronger than anything Alexi had ever known.

      He thought back to those moments in his office this morning when he’d kissed her. He had never felt so shaken up by need before! It had taken every ounce of control he possessed to pull back. And, for all Katie’s pretence at coldness after that, Alexi knew if he’d touched her again he could have melted her; if he had pulled her back into his arms and kissed her he could have had her.

      OK, she was suddenly professing that she wanted a serious relationship, and he certainly didn’t want that. He didn’t believe in love, he didn’t want love. But he did want her. And the fact was she still wanted him, for all her moral high-ground. The truth of that had been there in her kiss, in her body language. It was there in the way she had just darted a look at him now.

      They needed to finish what they had started and then they could both move on.

      Alexi returned his attention to the paperwork on his desk.

      The really bizarre thing was that she seemed to have cast some kind of weird spell over him; he just hadn’t been able to move on since she’d walked out a month ago.

      Every time he’d decide to take someone else to bed and forget her, a picture of her sensuous, perfectly proportioned body drifted into his mind, stopping him. He’d remember the way she could look at him with those playful, challenging blue eyes, the way her lips could curve in that secret smile that promised so much … and it had sent him crazy.

      He needed her. Needed to feel her sensuous body writhing against his. It was a macho pride thing, he told himself furiously. She’d dumped him so he wanted her back—nothing more than that. Once he’d had his fill of her, these feelings would go.

      Alexi frowned as he realised he was losing track of the meeting. She was still adversely affecting his work.

      Later today, after business was taken care of, he would address this situation, he promised himself. And this time he wouldn’t allow her to play games, he would have her exactly where he wanted her.

      ‘So—has anyone got any questions?’ Katie returned to switch off the projector.

      There were one or two queries, and she answered them confidently, before suddenly diverting a question over to Alexi.

      ‘Perhaps you’d fill everyone in on that side of things, Alexi?’ She looked over at him and he noted that the blue eyes were suddenly shadowed with panic.

      ‘Yes … of course.’ He flicked to the notes he had made earlier and answered the enquiry with half an eye on Katie as she went to the water fountain to get herself a drink. Katie would certainly have had no trouble answering that question, so why the abrupt hand-over and the look of panic?

      He noted that she looked very pale suddenly, and he half rose to his feet as she swayed.

      ‘You OK, Katie?’

      ‘Fine.’ She smiled. ‘Just a bit warm in here.’

      She didn’t look fine. He’d thought for a moment that she was going to faint. He glanced back at the papers in front of him and decided it was time to sum things up. They’d covered the most important points and he’d had enough. Besides, she was right, it was close in here; the air conditioning didn’t seem to be very efficient for some reason.

      ‘Well, gentlemen, if there are no further questions I think we will leave it there.’

      There was a murmur of dissent around the table. But Alexi had made up his mind, and he dealt with the few remaining items of business briskly. The meeting was adjourned and people rose to their feet to gather papers and leave.

      Katie had never been more grateful. The room had suddenly felt like it was closing in on her, and she’d felt light-headed. She’d never fainted before in her life, but she had honestly thought she was going to black out.

      She started to gather the files up and pack them away as one by one everyone left.

      ‘The meeting seemed to go well, I think,’ she murmured as Alexi came over to stand beside her.

      ‘Yes—except for the near-fainting incident,’ he answered wryly. ‘What’s the matter with you?’

      ‘Nothing’s the matter with me!’ She flicked him an impatient glance. Did nothing escape those penetrating dark eyes? she wondered. But inside panic was starting to take over. What was the matter with her? she wondered anxiously.

       Just say she was pregnant?

      The frantic thought thundered through her consciousness. She honestly didn’t know what she would do if she was. Because if Alexi thought for one moment that she might be expecting his child he would be horrified! Just remembering how he had reacted when she had even hinted at wanting a serious relationship made that very clear. And you couldn’t get anything more serious than becoming a father.

      Somehow she managed to keep her voice casual. ‘I think it was just too hot in here, that’s all.’

      ‘You should have had breakfast this morning.’

      ‘You know, I could do without the lecture!’ She snapped her briefcase closed. ‘You look after your business and leave me to look after mine.’

      ‘I am looking after my business. I don’t want you having time off due to malnutrition!’ He looked at her pointedly. ‘We’ve got a lot to get through in the next few weeks. And I need you fit and healthy.’

      ‘Gee, your concern really is underwhelming.’

      He smiled teasingly. ‘All part of the boss’s job.’

      How was it when he smiled at her like that she could feel her emotions squeezing? It was crazy.

      It was like during the board meeting. One moment she had been totally absorbed in what she was talking about, and the next she had caught his eyes and she had just melted inside.

      She looked away from him with a frown. ‘While we are on the subject of work, did the accountant here send you the up-to-date figures that we asked for?’ If he could be solely focussed on business then so could she, she told herself. She had to be. It was called self-preservation.

      ‘Yes, he sent an email through. I’ll get a printout for you.’ He had to admire her, he thought wryly. She was a consummate professional; she’d obviously felt very ill, but she was still thinking about work.

      ‘We can deal with the email after lunch,’ he said dismissively. ‘We’ll go and have something to eat on board the Octavia. We may as well go down there now.’

      ‘What time is our next meeting?’ Katie asked briskly.

      ‘Three.’

      Katie glanced at her watch. She wanted to get away from him in her lunch break—she needed to get to a pharmacy and buy a pregnancy-test kit as soon as possible. ‘You go on ahead and I’ll catch you up later.’

      ‘Well, you may as well come with me now,’ he said. ‘There’s not much for you to do here.’

      ‘I want one of the girls from the typing pool to type up my notes for me.’ She stumbled a little over her words as she sought for an escape route.

      ‘I’ll get one of the secretaries

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