CHAPTER TEN
UNLIKE previous trips there was no limousine waiting for them at the airport. Instead Alexi headed for the car park where he picked up a shiny, red convertible sportscar.
‘Is this yours?’ Katie asked as she settled herself into the luxurious cream leather seats.
‘Of course.’ He tossed their luggage in the boot and shot her a look of amusement. ‘I always keep a car here. When I’m not working I like to drive.’
‘And I bet that doesn’t happen very often,’ she said sardonically.
‘Not as often as I’d like, no.’
Alexi flicked a button and the roof started to go back. Katie lifted her face to the sultry rays of sun.
‘So have you always been a workaholic, or is it something that just fell upon you in your thirties?’ she asked as they drove out of the airport and joined a busy main road.
He laughed at that. ‘I suppose I’ve always enjoyed my work too much. I find it exciting and challenging, and certainly after my divorce I decided it was possibly even more rewarding than a social life.’
She stared out at the passing countryside and silence fell between them.
‘How about you?’ he asked her suddenly. ‘Have you always been a workaholic?’
‘I guess I’m the same as you, only without the divorce bit,’ she added jokingly, and then smiled over at him. ‘I like a challenge.’
‘So that guy—the one who hurt you—what exactly happened?’ Alexi asked suddenly.
The unexpectedly personal question made her hesitate.
‘It just didn’t work.’ Her reply was measured, ‘I thought he was serious about me … but it turned out I was wrong.’
Although she said the words lightly, Alexi sensed that her feelings ran a little deeper than that.
‘And you loved him?’
Katie bit down on her lip. She’d thought she loved him, but she realised now that the feelings she’d had for Carl hardly scraped the surface of what she felt for Alexi.
Aware that he was waiting for a reply, she just shrugged. ‘It doesn’t really matter now, does it?’
‘No, I suppose not.’ Alexi concentrated on the road again.
It shouldn’t matter, but strangely it did, and that made anger twist inside him. What the hell was the matter with him? he wondered. He wasn’t the type to get jealous, he never had been, and he never would be. He didn’t do those kinds of emotions. The guy was history, anyway; Katie belonged to him now. Maybe lack of sex was affecting his brain, he thought wryly. Over a month of abstinence had obviously taken its toll, and now he needed to play catchup with his body’s demands. Some undisturbed time in the bedroom … in the lounge … in the kitchen … wherever and whenever he wanted her … should just about do the trick. He smiled to himself.
He changed down gears. The scenery was softening.
They were on a winding coast road where the tree-covered mountains tumbled down to meet the Mediterranean. Every now and then there was a glimpse of a deserted white-gold beach.
Silence settled between them again.
‘It’s beautiful here,’ she reflected.
‘Yes.’ He pulled off the road suddenly and parked in a lay-by that gave a view down along the coast.
Her heart bounced unsteadily until she realised he’d stopped to take a phone call.
She tried to relax back into the leather seats. The heat of the afternoon was intense. Alexi was speaking in Greek. She found his voice incredibly sexy; it washed over her like the day, hot, languid and intensely pleasurable.
Her eyes drifted down over the coastline; there was a yacht with white sails skipping out over the blue of the sea, and just at the curve of the bay she could see a house nestling amidst the greenery of the hillside. It was painted white and had a red-tiled roof.
Alexi finished his call and followed her gaze. ‘What do you think of the house?’
‘It’s beautiful,’ she murmured.
‘Well, I’m glad you like it, because it belongs to me, and it’s where I would like to set up home with you.’
The husky words caused a flame of emotion to flare up inside of her. ‘It looks very big! I thought you liked condominiums and sleek bachelor-pads in the hub of things.’
‘I do. But now I’m going to become a family man …’ He smiled at her. ‘And my priorities have changed.’
The sentiment sounded good, so good that she found herself swallowing hard on the knot in her throat as she desperately tried to keep herself grounded in reality. Alexi was doing all this because of the baby, not because of her … and she had to remember that!
‘Of course, if you want to continue with your career you might find it a bit isolated—but we can work around that. You can commute to Athens from here.’
‘I might have to learn Greek first!’
‘Well, I can certainly help you with that,’ he murmured huskily. ‘I think a few private lessons could be arranged.’ His eyes were on her lips as he spoke.
She could feel the heat in that look—almost as warm as the day itself. If only he had real feelings for her, she thought longingly. If only this was real. She almost wished that the first pregnancy test she’d done had come back positive and he’d proposed back then, because at least she wouldn’t have had the cold proof that without it he’d just let her go …
He re-started the car engine and she tried to let go of the thoughts—they weren’t helping.
The driveway to the house was hidden amongst a riot of greenery. They turned through the entrance and drove down past manicured gardens. Then as they rounded a corner the house opened out in front of them in spectacular style. It looked even larger up close, and the views out across the sea were breathtaking.
Katie stepped out into the warmth of the afternoon and looked up at it in wonder. She had never thought that she would live somewhere like this. ‘The whole of my flat would probably fit into a tiny corner of one room here!’ she murmured.
‘Well, you don’t need your flat any more. You may as well put it up for sale.’
Katie didn’t think she would rush into that—her flat felt like a safety net that she was loathe to let go of—but she said nothing as she followed Alexi up the steps to the front door.
‘As it’s tradition, I should carry you over the threshold,’ Alexi said assertively.
The thought of him touching her made her senses dissolve. ‘I don’t think there is any need for that! We’re hardly a traditional couple, are we—?’
Before
