did he betray a smile yet Mina knew he laughed at her.
To her surprise, Mina had to stifle a smirk of her own. He was right. She couldn’t pull off such feminine wiles. She was better to stick at being herself.
‘Sand, probably.’ She blinked again. ‘My own fault. I insisted on driving with the window down to enjoy the breeze.’
Carissa would have shrieked at the thought of her hair getting messed up, but Alexei Katsaros didn’t know that. Mina would have to get by with pretending to be a Mina version of Carissa. Less fluttery and uncertain, less overtly feminine, less willing to be bullied.
‘Thank you for the offer to take care of my apartment but I prefer not to have my home taken over by strangers. I’m sure you understand.’
He understood all right. His smugness fled as he registered that she referred to his staff who’d politely yet inexorably ushered her from Carissa’s flat.
‘My staff disturbed you? You felt threatened in some way?’ His voice was sharp.
Had he really thought she’d be happy, herded by armed bodyguards?
Mina remembered Carissa’s tears and frantic fear. How would she have coped, confronting those big men with cold eyes and suave suits?
They’d been impeccably solicitous but Mina read in them the same quality she’d seen in her father’s royal guards. Beneath the polish were men trained to use force. If she’d refused to go, they’d have bundled her onto that private jet without a qualm.
‘Oh, I didn’t feel at all threatened by anyone else while I was with them.’ She paused, letting him absorb her words. Would he understand they’d been the threat?
His expression didn’t alter.
Clearly he had no idea how frightening it was for a woman not used to close personal protection to have stony-faced men wearing shoulder holsters usher her into an anonymous vehicle.
Suddenly weary, Mina suppressed a sigh. What was the point? He wouldn’t care even if he understood.
‘Your staff were polite and incredibly...efficient. I’m sure no express parcel could have been delivered to your door more quickly.’
She looked away, letting her gaze rove the white marble foyer, taking in the carved Cycladic figurine in a niche on the far wall. Mina’s pulse quickened with interest but she couldn’t afford to be distracted. Slowly she turned back to her host, whose hands, she noticed, were bunched in fists at his sides.
He stepped forward and Mina’s nape prickled. This close she realised those intent eyes were a stunning dark green, opaque and intriguing. She’d never seen the like. Momentarily she was mesmerised. Then she dragged her thoughts back to their conversation.
‘I prefer to make my own arrangements, Mr Katsaros. I’m sure you understand.’
* * *
Alexei understood all right.
He was being taken to task by a woman who didn’t know she was playing with fire. Or did she believe she could set her own rules because he contemplated marriage?
That had to be it. There was no other explanation.
He’d wondered if Carter’s daughter was a spoiled princess. As far as he could tell, she’d lived for years off her father’s, and by extension his own, largesse, while enjoying a dilettante’s life.
Now he had his answer. Carissa Carter was used to getting her own way. Spoiled rotten, he had no doubt. Her father had led her to expect an advantageous match and she seemed sure it would happen.
Yet her words disturbed him. Had she really been frightened of his security staff? Alexei barely noticed them now, just considered them a normal part of life.
He stared down at the woman who continued to surprise him. It wasn’t only her plain outfit, or the accent that wasn’t quite as he’d heard it over the phone, but then there’d been interference on the line. He’d imagined someone more eager to ingratiate herself. More overtly charming.
Carissa Carter was more complex than he’d imagined.
She was confident yet not in the way of a woman used to trading on male admiration. She carried herself with an intrinsic elegance that, when she looked down that straight nose at him, bordered on condescension. That intrigued. As did the intelligence shining in those sherry-coloured eyes and in the snarky undercurrent of her conversation.
He’d imagined Carter’s daughter more eminently dismissible. The man had said her nature was sweet rather than incisive and that she wasn’t cut out for business. Alexei had assumed she was pretty but vacuous.
How wrong he’d been.
Nor was she as he’d expected her to look. He saw no resemblance to Carter in her dark hair, luminous eyes or expressive mouth. Her skin was golden, not pale, and she met his gaze with a direct curiosity that, at any other time, he’d appreciate.
It evoked a hungry gnawing in the pit of his belly, a reminder that, despite his preoccupation with her father, Alexei was a vigorous man with healthy appetites.
He drew a slow breath, marshalling his thoughts, and was fascinated to see that, despite her sugared verbal barbs, Carissa Carter wasn’t immune to him after all. Her eyes tracked the rise of his chest, her pupils dilating as if mesmerised. Then she blinked and turned away, feigning indifference.
Satisfaction stirred. He’d disliked her jabs about the way he’d got her here, had even felt a stirring of remorse. Seeing that chink in her armour pleased him.
‘How remiss of me to keep a guest standing in the foyer.’ Alexei smiled and watched a tiny wrinkle appear above the bridge of her nose, as if she concentrated on not reacting. Fascinating.
‘Won’t you come in?’ He stood aside and gestured for her to precede him into the main sitting room.
‘Thank you.’ She inclined her head in the slightest nod.
Alexei caught a hint of perfume as she passed. Another surprise. He’d expected some expensive designer scent but this was one he’d never encountered. Instead of florals or cloying sweetness, she’d chosen a fragrance that hinted at the exotic Near East. Alexei inhaled cinnamon and spice and a warm, earthy richness that made him think, bizarrely, of veiled temptresses in gauzy silks. He canted towards her.
Fortunately she didn’t notice. She entered the sitting room with that leisurely, swaying stroll that spoke of casual confidence. As if she were accustomed to a billionaire’s luxury lifestyle. But then, given her father’s thievery...
He watched as she caught sight of the ancient sculpture against one wall. The torso of a young man, the musculature and veining of chest and arms superbly executed, the filmy fabric of his tunic the work of a master. She stiffened and drew a sharp breath. A second later she stood before the ruined masterpiece, her hand stretching momentarily towards it before dropping to her side.
‘It’s magnificent.’ There was genuine awe in her words. Alexei recognised it. He felt the same way about the piece.
His mouth twisted. Despite all expectation he found Carissa
