LITMIR.BIZ

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a slight hesitancy he allowed her to escape, allowed the conversation to continue. ‘There were a few people who seemed unsure about whether or not you could achieve the results in such a short time-frame,’ he said nonchalantly. ‘But all in all I think your ideas were well received.’

      What was really going through her mind? Alexi wondered as he poured them both a glass of water from the jug on the table. He knew she still desired him … and he had the sudden very strong feeling that this was about more than her just wanting to move on. ‘I also think you are going to have to spend some more money on advertising,’ he continued. ‘Your figures aren’t stacking up in that particular area.’

      ‘Yes they are!’ Katie frowned. ‘I’ve researched thoroughly, and it is a balanced plan of action between TV and the national papers. It will be enough for an initial launch.’

      ‘Ah, but we don’t want it to be just enough, we want it to be lavish and extravagant.’

      Alexi sat back and watched as she defended her schedule. Her eyes were vivid with enthusiasm now.

      She put the water down and reached for her briefcase. ‘We can run through the figures again, if you want?’ She took out the notes she had made earlier and placed them on the table beside her plate.

      It was as if she was building a barricade, Alexi thought wryly. And he wasn’t going to allow her to go that far! It was time to move to the truth … reel her in.

      ‘I don’t think so.’ He met her eyes steadily. ‘I think we have other things to talk about over lunch. Time enough for that conversation later.’

      Immediately the wary light was back in her eyes. ‘Alexi, if this is about what happened between us earlier today then I really don’t think there is anything else to say.’

      ‘Don’t you?’ He fixed her with that steady look that seemed to burn into her consciousness.

      And she could feel herself colouring up as the enormity of the lie hit her. There was something else to say … something he needed to know.

      Her mobile phone started to ring and she took it out of her bag with a decidedly shaky hand and looked at the screen. It was her sister.

      ‘Excuse me …’ She started to push her chair back from the table. ‘I’m going to have to take this call.’

      ‘No, you are not.’ Alexi reached out and calmly took it off her and severed the connection.

      ‘How dare you do that?’ She got to her feet and glared at him, furious with him.

      ‘You can phone whoever it is back later.’ Alexi put the phone down on the table and sat back with a frown. Something was wrong, and he couldn’t put a finger on what it was. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was just that he wasn’t used to being given the runaround like this. He didn’t like it; he felt edgy and uneasy.

      ‘Sit down,’ he ordered.

      For a moment she didn’t comply, but then he looked at her with those ruthlessly intense eyes and she did as she was told, her heart thumping unmercifully hard against her chest.

      ‘We need to clear the air, Katie.’

      ‘I don’t think we can.’ She said the words with a sudden raw honesty. ‘I think I need to give my notice in!’ The words spilled out before she could think about them, before she could stop them. OK, it wasn’t something she had planned to do: she would be pregnant without a job! But she would get something else, she told herself. Anything else. She needed to get away.

      That sudden fact burned with real force. She couldn’t stay—not now that she was expecting his child. It would be a disaster—it would be impossible!

      Alexi’s eyes narrowed on her. ‘I think that’s called running away, Katie.’

      ‘I think it’s called being realistic.’ She raised her chin and glared at him.

      ‘You’ve signed a four-month contract with the company. That is being realistic’ He frowned. ‘This isn’t like you, Katie,’ he remarked abruptly. ‘You and I are very similar, we both put work first. And you’ve only just started on this project! Now you want to run away because of the chemistry between us?’

      He sounded angry and his eyes seemed to burn into hers.

      She needed to tell him about the baby … she needed to say it now!

      A breeze fluttered the papers that Katie had left next to her and suddenly they flurried everywhere, over the table and down over the deck, making them both spring up to catch them.

      Their hands met as they both reached for the last page before it blew into the pool, and Katie let go as if she had been burnt. Slowly they both stood up. He was very close to her, and she felt an ache of need to just go into his arms.

      ‘So what is this about, Katie?’ he asked her softly. ‘Surely it’s not just about the fact that you kissed me this morning? That there is still a sexual attraction between us?’

      Her cheeks flared with colour. She noticed he’d said she’d kissed him, not the other way around. And he was right; she had been the one to reach for him. The fact stung through her with humiliating clarity.

      Her mobile was ringing again. She wrenched away from him angrily and went to pick it up.

      ‘Hi, Lucy … can I phone you back a bit later? I can’t talk right now.’ As she was speaking she watched Alexi open the front flap of her briefcase to put the papers away.

      Then she stiffened as she saw him glance at the leaflet she had placed in there earlier.

      He looked at it, and then looked at it again, then he pulled it out of the bag.

      ‘Why is there a leaflet about pregnancy in amongst your work papers?’ he asked coolly.

      He transferred his gaze over towards her as she put the phone down. ‘Katie, what is this about?’

      CHAPTER SEVEN

      SHOCK ricocheted through Alexi as he watched the blood drain from her face, and suddenly things started to fall into place.

      ‘I asked you a question, Katie.’ He walked over and placed the leaflet down in front of her, and their eyes met. ‘What is this?’

      The coolness of his voice was not in keeping with the sudden flame in his eyes.

      ‘It’s the real reason I can’t stay …’ she whispered the words uncomfortably. ‘I’m pregnant, Alexi.’

      It was hard to tell what was running through Alexi’s mind. His dark eyes were now inscrutable. She could see a pulse beating at the side of his jaw. ‘Is the baby mine?’ he demanded at last.

      ‘Of course it’s yours!’ She took a step back from him, her distress escalating at the question.

      ‘So how long have you been keeping this from me?’

      ‘I haven’t been keeping it from you! I’ve just told you now!’

      ‘Because you had to!’

      She’d known of course that he would be angry, but the full extent of the rage she glimpsed in his eyes at that moment was truly scary.

      ‘That’s not true.’ She brushed her hands tiredly over her face. ‘I was working up to it, I just didn’t know how to tell you.’

      He didn’t say anything to that.

      ‘To be honest with you, Alexi, I haven’t come to terms with the fact myself yet,’ she continued heatedly.

      The expression in his eyes didn’t change.

      ‘I was trying to think things through properly, allow my mind to clear so that I would know what I wanted to do before we talked.’

      ‘And how long was that going to take?’

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