of women if he wanted. He didn’t need her. But, by God, he was going to have her!
‘We may not be head over heels in love, but we are compatible, Katie,’ he told her, his tone forceful. ‘Especially in the bedroom.’
For a moment his eyes rested on her lips, and she felt herself tremble inside as she remembered what had happened between them only this morning. He was right—she had never wanted anyone the way she wanted him. Whatever emotion lay between them, it was powerfully compelling.
‘I only have to touch you and you want me,’ he murmured.
She shook her head, trying to fight against the whispering voices inside that were telling her he was right. ‘You are the most arrogant man I have ever met!’ she told him fiercely instead.
‘You said that this morning, before you kissed me.’ He smiled and watched how her skin flared with uncomfortable heat.
‘I am a truthful man, Katie.’ He stroked his hand down over her face, tipping her chin upwards so that she was forced to look at him. He watched the shadows flicking through the beauty of her blue eyes, watched as her lips parted involuntarily. ‘I can feel the heat of your desire when I touch you. I can taste it when I kiss you …’
He came closer and, before she could break away, his lips captured hers, his hand holding her still and compliant. She felt a surge of longing so deep that it shook her to the core.
Intuitively she opened her mouth for him and kissed him back. She moved a little closer, her heart thundering against her ribs so heavily, so loudly, it drowned out the warning voices inside her head. All she knew was that she wanted him so much, wanted him to touch her intimately, make love to her … take away this craving need for him.
He was the one to break the spell and pull away. ‘You see?’ He smiled down at her.
His arrogant confidence seared through her. She didn’t know who she was more furious with, him, or herself for instantly responding with such heat. ‘I don’t see anything.’ She tried to shrug the feelings away.
‘You need more proof?’ he asked lazily. ‘Shall we try it again?’
‘No! Stop it, Alexi!’ Her voice broke on a small cry of panic, and he laughed.
‘You see, it will work between us! So why risk everything by going it alone?’
His flippant attitude hurt. ‘It wouldn’t be a risk. Not if you were a reasonable person!’
‘I am being reasonable, Katie. I’m offering you marriage. I don’t want our child torn apart by a court, by feuding parents! I want him to have the same secure upbringing that I enjoyed as a child in Greece.’
‘You’d take him out of the country?’ She looked at him in horror.
‘Of course. His heritage is Greek, and I have a large family-network. He would be secure within that network.’
‘And just say the baby is a girl?’ she snapped. ‘You might not be so interested then.’
‘The sex of the child is unimportant to me! You think a girl doesn’t need a father?’
The question splintered through her. She knew a girl needed a father; she knew a child needed a secure family no matter what their gender. She knew from personal experience how important it was to feel part of a family, to feel secure and safe.
‘So what is it to be, Katie? Are you going to accede to my wishes and put our child first, or is this going to develop into a battle for custody?’ he asked.
She shrugged, but her eyes flashed fire at him as she tried to pretend that he wasn’t scaring her, and that she was in control of this. ‘I’ll think about it.’
He looked at her with a flicker of admiration. ‘We’ll make a good team,’ he reflected.
‘I only said I’d think about it!’ she reminded him angrily.
He smiled. ‘You can give me your answer tonight at the party.’
‘No, Alexi, I won’t be rushed!’
‘And I won’t be kept waiting. Once I have made up my mind about something, I am not a patient man.’
There was a knock on the outer cabin-door.
‘That’s probably the boutique with the selection of cocktail dresses I told them to bring down for you.’ Alexi glanced at his watch. ‘I’ll let them in on my way out. And I’ll see you up on deck later for your answer, say about six-thirty, before the party gets into full swing.’
She watched helplessly as he walked away. She had once heard it said that Alexander Demetri always got what he wanted—but she’d thought that the reference was mostly concerned with his business life. She’d seen his steely determination on many occasions in boardroom meetings, had often felt sorry for anyone who stood in the way of his objectives. However she had never glimpsed his ruthless determination on a personal basis. Not, that was, until today. And it was a formidable experience. If he took her to court, he would probably win!
CHAPTER EIGHT
ALEXI stood by the ship’s rail, looking out to sea. The sun was setting in a golden haze, sending light spinning out across the horizon, turning the water to gold.
If someone had told him this morning that by the time the sun went down he would have made a proposal of marriage, he would have laughed scornfully. Yet here he was, awaiting Katie’s answer, and not just with cool indifference—this felt more like he was imploding with impatient need.
He had always trusted his instincts. It was his gut instinct that had helped him turn the family shipping business into a global phenomenon, it was his instinct that had guided him every step of the way until he controlled a worldwide business-empire.
His one mistake had been his marriage.
But he’d told himself that everyone was allowed to make one mistake, and he had promised himself that it would never happen again. He would never take those vows again; he would never love a woman again.
And he had meant it.
But life had a way of laughing mockingly at your promises, and of opening up alternative paths—paths that forced you into making difficult choices.
OK, this wasn’t a love match. He would never feel the way he’d felt about Andrea again; that kind of love only led to pain.
But Katie was having his baby!
And he desired her … fiercely desired her. The need to take her back to bed had been eating away at him for weeks. Even when she had told him this morning that she wanted a relationship that was more solid, more serious, he hadn’t been able to let go of the feelings he had for her. The sexual chemistry had simply been too strong.
When he had discovered she was pregnant a minefield of fierce emotions had opened up inside him. Part of him had been transported back to the past, back to Andrea. He’d hardly been able to look at Katie without seeing Andrea … without remembering that day when he had discovered the truth.
But
