had looked up at him and had told him she wanted their child he had known beyond a doubt that marriage was the right way forward.
At thirty-five he was not getting any younger. And his business empire did need an heir. His father had been hammering on about that for long enough!
The warmth of the evening air reminded him of Greece, and his thoughts drifted towards home. He owned a sprawling mansion on ten acres of ocean front. The views out across the sea were spectacular. There was an orchard and a swimming pool.
He’d inherited it from his grandparents, who had hoped that one day he would live there with his wife and children. But it hadn’t been to Andrea’s tastes, she’d preferred to live in the city, so it had lain closed up for all these years. Alexi rarely went there. It wasn’t a practical proposition to live there as a bachelor, it was too big, and his apartments in Athens, London and New York were more convenient.
But now everything had changed. Suddenly the place seemed very practical. He found himself wondering what the garden would look like now as spring turned to summer; he imagined the blossom of the fruit trees, the rich fragrance of the heavily ripened figs so evocative of the Greek summers. There was nowhere quite as beautiful as Greece, he thought nostalgically. His childhood had been idyllic and it was what he wanted for his own son or daughter.
Suddenly he longed to be back there.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would leave with Katie for Athens. But before that they would be married in the chapel here on board the Octavia.
Now that he had made up his mind he didn’t see the point in waiting around. He’d already spoken to lawyers and put the wheels in motion. Legally they needed twenty-four hours—he’d spoken to a judge, he’d spoken to the captain here on board … everything was arranged. All he needed was Katie’s compliance, and he would get that.
He turned away from the view. The band was tuning up, ready for the evening ahead. Trestle tables loaded with food were set alongside tables and chairs for about a hundred people, and a dance area had been set up around the pool.
He was throwing this party as a thank-you to his staff for working so hard to get the refit of the Octavia finished on schedule. A few people had already arrived, the men in dark tuxedos, the women in evening dresses. He glanced at his watch and wondered where Katie was. He hadn’t managed to get down to the suite again. Business had swallowed the rest of the afternoon, to the extent where it had been quicker to shower and change back at his apartment whilst he’d been in town.
‘Alexi, how nice to see you.’ He turned as a business associate came over to shake his hand and introduce him to his wife, an elegant woman in her thirties.
He tried to concentrate on what they were saying, but at the back of his mind all he could think about was Katie. He wanted her answer. Where the hell was she? he wondered impatiently. It was almost seven now!
He was about to excuse himself and go looking for her, when a door further along the deck opened and Katie stepped out.
Captivated, Alexi watched as she walked gracefully across to the ship’s rail to look out at the view. She looked sensational; the strapless black cocktail-dress was sculpted to her curves, and showed off her flawless figure and long legs to perfection. Her dark hair was loose and tumbled in spiral curls the colour of rich mahogany around her creamy bare shoulders.
As if sensing his gaze, she looked around, and as their eyes connected Alexi felt a fierce thrust of desire.
‘Alexi, do you agree?’ He was vaguely aware that the woman beside him was waiting for an answer to some question.
He frowned impatiently and dragged his eyes away from Katie for a second. ‘Clare, my apologies,’ he murmured smoothly. ‘I’ve just seen someone I need to talk to.’
‘Yes, but do you agree?’ The woman had her hand on Alexi’s sleeve, as if loathe to let him escape.
He didn’t have a damn clue what she was talking about. ‘Claire …’ He turned the full force of his smile on the woman.
‘We’ll have to take up this conversation a little later.’ With a nod towards the woman’s husband, he extricated himself and strode purposefully away towards his quarry.
Katie looked back across the water towards Manhattan and tried to feign nonchalance, but she was acutely aware that Alexi was walking towards her. The way he had just looked at her had sent scalding-hot waves of panic and desire shooting through every nerve ending in her body.
He was going to want an answer to his proposal, and she didn’t know what that answer was. She had spent the last few hours trying to recover her equilibrium, trying to tell herself that she didn’t need to rush this decision, that he would just have to wait. But he didn’t look like a man who was prepared to wait.
There was something so determined about his every step, his every look, that she could feel those calm, rational thoughts starting to dissolve.
‘Good evening, Katie; you’re late!’ Alexi’s tone was cool. Yet his eyes seemed to burn into hers as she looked up at him.
‘Am I?’ She shrugged. ‘I was reading a few notes from the meeting this morning, I must have lost track of time.’ It was a blatant lie; she had stared at her notes and tried to read them, but all she had been able to think about was Alexi’s proposal.
‘Were you, indeed?’ Alexi felt a flicker of impatience. He had always liked the fact that she was as obsessed about work as he was—it had suited him. But it didn’t suit him now.
He noticed she wore little make-up, just a sprinkling of gold along the dark line of her lashes, and a hint of red gloss on her lips. She looked young and freshly innocent.
‘Well, I guess you were worth waiting for,’ he added huskily. ‘You look lovely.’
‘Thank you.’ She couldn’t quite control her blush, and he smiled.
He found the contrasts of her character fascinating—one moment she was the strong, confident businesswoman, and the next she was his innocent mistress again, the woman who had pleased him so well in the bedroom, who had responded to him with such sweet hesitancy, as if almost afraid by the turbulence of their passion.
How had he allowed her to slip away from him these last few weeks? He was angry with himself for letting that happen. One thing was sure—it wouldn’t happen again! ‘So, have you thought about my offer, Katie?’
The abruptness of the question was intensely disquieting. ‘Are we talking about work now or your marriage proposal?’ she grated sarcastically.
‘You know very well what I’m talking about.’
‘Yes, unfortunately I do. But what I can’t understand is how can you treat the subject of marriage as if it were a mere business proposition.’ She asked the question with raw emphasis.
‘Actually, like it or not, marriage is a business proposition,’ he told her bluntly. ‘It is a legal partnership.’
‘You sound like a lawyer,’ she murmured. ‘But then, you did train and qualify as a lawyer, didn’t you?’ she reflected suddenly. ‘I remember you telling me that now.’
‘What has that got to do with anything?’ he demanded with irritation.
