Seduced At Sea

She frowned. Maybe she should just give up on her goal to reunite father and son. Maybe it would be better if she avoided Leo at all costs. Ty wasn’t her child and she knew better than to become too attached to a child who was in her temporary care. And maybe Ty was better off with Amanda. It certainly seemed that way with the little interest Leo continued to display towards his son.

Yes, she’d stop playing some modern version of Mary Poppins and keep well away from Leo Aleksandrov. Right after she spoke to him this morning about the young Greek girl, Carolina, he had apparently assigned to assist her. As if she needed an assistant!

She rounded a corner of the yacht and smiled politely as yet another group of uber-trendy individuals passed her in the corridor.

Leo’s weekend guests had arrived throughout the morning, some joining her and Ty by the pool and slipping into holiday mode as if they’d been born to it. One woman in particular, the supermodel Katya—no last name required, which was so yesterday, Lexi thought churlishly—had immediately rubbed her up the wrong way. Though whether that was because she had clung to Leo like the last autumn leaf on a tree or because she had that air of practised superiority about her Lexi wasn’t sure.

Oh, who was she kidding? She’d been put out because of the way Leo had looked at her. A woman who was tall, stunning and exactly his type. Lexi wondered if she was his current mistress and felt her mouth pinch together. If she was, he was more of a cad than she had given him credit for. Flirting outrageously with her—kissing her and touching her—while his girlfriend was in transit from America.

Lexi wandered from deck to deck and had no idea what level she was now on. She was almost out of breath and finally understood that the central glass elevator, beautifully inlaid with designer plants and flowers, was not just a showpiece for guests to appreciate as they wandered past!

This ship, which Leo called a yacht, had so many rooms it was more like a floating castle. A very sleek and richly furnished castle with more natural stone and marble than a Renaissance church.

She stopped in the doorway of an elegant sitting room and noticed the supermodel, Katya, at the far end, shaking her finger at a young staff member, who looked as if she was about to collapse.

Used to sorting out all kinds of problems Lexi didn’t think twice before approaching to offer her assistance. The younger girl, whom she had met downstairs earlier, looked at her with open relief.

‘Hi there; what seems to be the problem?’ she asked pleasantly.

The supermodel swung around sharply at the sound of her voice. She looked Lexi up and down as if she was considering whether or not she was worthy of an answer, and then waved her hand dismissively at the other girl.

‘The problem is that laundry staff are not supposed to occupy the same room as a guest.’

‘I was delivering t-t-towels to the second pool area,’ the young girl stammered.

‘Does this look like a swimming pool to you?’ the model snapped.

‘Again, I’m sorry ma’am. I got lost.’

Lexi threw the younger girl a sympathetic glance but Katya wasn’t finished reprimanding her.

‘You pass them onto the steward anyway, you imbecile. You shouldn’t be above deck yourself.’

Not above deck in this glorious weather! Was that true? Lexi was flabbergasted and appalled at the model’s attitude in equal measure. ‘Excuse me, but that’s no way to speak to anybody,’ she reproved, not caring if this woman was Leo’s latest mistress.

The model’s eyes widened at her tone. ‘And who are you to speak to me like that?’ She regarded Lexi as if she were an ugly bug—which was exactly how she felt, standing beside the couture-clad model wearing a chain store white vest top and khaki shorts. ‘Aren’t you some sort of servant yourself? You shouldn’t be up here either.’

Lexi ignored the comment and was about to offer to take the towels and leave the model to her own horrible company when Leo’s deep voice cracked through the air like a whip.

‘Katya.’

Lexi noticed the model curve her body into a provocative pose as Leo approached. He looked fit and utterly male in navy trousers and a crisp white dress shirt. ‘If I ever catch you speaking to my staff like that again it will be your last time on one of my yachts.’

‘Leo, darling,’ the model cooed, ‘I was just informing these girls of the rules and they got upset.’

‘You were being a bitch. Leave us.’

‘Leo!’ She tried to hook her arm through his but he cast her a look that would have turned mortals into stone.

She sniffed and blinked a sexy glance from beneath her thickly coated lashes. ‘I’ll be by the pool.’

They all watched her saunter out of the room and Leo turned to the laundress. ‘I apologise, Stella, for any offence my guest may have caused you. Here, let me take those.’

He knew the laundress’s name? Lexi wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t heard it with her own ears. And he was going to carry towels?

‘Thank you, Mr Aleksandrov.’ Stella handed over her bundle and all but curtsied before scurrying out of the room.

‘Nice company you keep,’ Lexi said.

‘Not everyone behaves like that.’

They stared at each other for a moment too long and then Lexi remembered that she’d been looking for him. ‘I wanted to ask why you assigned Carolina to assist me.’

He hesitated before answering. ‘You have a problem with my decision?’

How did he know she had a problem with it when she’d tried to keep her query light? ‘No. Well, yes. I’m a qualified childcare provider. I can look after one child with my hands tied behind my back.’

‘Ah, you think I’m questioning your professional integrity.’

‘Aren’t you?’

‘No, Lexi. I’ve seen how good you are with Ty. But I don’t expect you to be on call for him twenty-four seven. Carolina is to relieve you while he sleeps.’ He looked down at the monitor in her hand and his brows drew together. ‘Is that what he’s doing now?’

‘Yes. He usually has a midday nap at the centre and I thought the consistent rhythm would help him adjust.’

‘Then shouldn’t Carolina have this device?’

‘Carolina is sitting in with him and I’ll return once I hear him wake up.’

He nodded. ‘Even better. Have you had lunch?’

Lexi paused, something in his expression when she had said Carolina was in with Ty sparking an instinctive knowledge deep inside her. ‘You do care about him, don’t you?’

Leo blinked slowly, his expression inscrutable. ‘I repeat—have you had lunch?’

Lexi sighed, realising her comment had completely ruined the brief moment of accord between them.

‘No, I haven’t had lunch.’

‘Come. It is being served on the pool deck today.’

Lexi shook her head. Having decided that she needed to keep her distance from him, the last thing she should do was sit down to lunch at his table. ‘I can eat in the mess hall with the other staff.’

Leo was about to object when Danny walked into the room. ‘Everyone is seated for lunch, Leo.’

Leo nodded but didn’t take his eyes off Lexi. ‘You will dine at my table.’

Again she shook her head. He was too virile, too male. And the way he towered over her made her too aware of her own femininity, her own vulnerability in his magnetic presence. ‘You were the one who told me I was staff.’

‘And you were the one who reminded me that you weren’t,’ he informed her silkily.

Lexi sighed. ‘I’m hardly dressed for a proper luncheon.’

Leo slowly ran his sizzling gaze down over her casual clothing and down her bare legs and sandalled feet and all the way back up again.

‘You look fine.’ His voice was gruff, the tone sending frissons of sensation skittering into her belly. Given that she found it hard to keep her eyes off him she would really rather eat a hundred miles from where he was.

She was about to try some other excuse when her phone rang and she reached into her pocket and pulled it out. Recognising the number of her builder, Lexi smiled with relief. She’d been waiting for his call since yesterday and mentally crossed her fingers that he had good news about the renovations on the new centre. ‘Excuse me,’ she murmured, ‘but I have to take this.’

Leo scowled as he watched Lexi Somers’ toned legs take her to the other end of the room, wondering who was on the other end of the phone that had made her face light up with such obvious delight. Her lover?

He felt his good mood at the progress he’d made in his meetings this morning evaporate into thin air.

His scowl deepened when he saw Lexi’s expression turn worried. Was lover boy giving her a hard time? And why did it rankle so much to see her so affected by it?

‘What’s up?’ Danny looked at him quizzically and Leo realised that Danny had picked up on his keen interest in the obstinate brunette.

‘Nothing. Just see that Lexi Somers has lunch at my table,’ he said curtly.

He stalked off but instead of his mood picking up when Lexi did eventually grace his table with her presence, it only worsened. She was too natural and friendly for his liking. A little too natural and too friendly with the American filmmaker, Tom Shepherd. And he didn’t like that he’d noticed and liked even less that it was bothering him so much. He couldn’t concentrate on the lavish meal his world-class chef had prepared, or the conversation that was going on around him.

All he could hear were snippets of conversation as Tom charmed her with stories about the documentary film he was producing—the one Leo was bankrolling—and how interested she was in it, her smile generous and warm, her golden eyes sparkling as she sipped her Riesling and unselfconsciously de-veined prawns before popping them into her mouth. He could see Tom was fascinated with her and it would appear that his interest was reciprocated. And where was her loyalty to her Parisian lover as she flirted with Tom Shepherd?

Leo snorted out a quiet breath. She was no different from any other female who saw a better meal ticket come along. But, if that was the case, why hadn’t she latched onto him? Because he knew, without conceit, that he was the best meal ticket on this yacht, even with some of the world’s most influential men currently dining at his lavishly set table.

Logically, Leo knew he was being ridiculous since he’d already decided not to pursue her, but for once logic and his libido were diametrically opposed to each other. He couldn’t look away as Tom touched Lexi’s arm and leant close to indicate for her to look at a flock of pelicans soaring overhead. The whole table seemed mesmerised by the majestic birds but all Leo could do was stare as Lexi’s face lit up. Unbidden, an image of her pale figure in his bed the other night came to mind, her hair spread over his pillow just before he’d speared his fingers into it and crushed her mouth beneath his. The way she had met his demands with a hunger that had seemed to match his own. Her soft mews of pleasure as his hand had cupped her breast, the silky skin of her bottom—

‘Did you say something?’ Danny murmured.

‘Only that I should have let her go to the mess hall,’ Leo growled, turning away from the amused glint in his EA’s eyes and striking up a conversation with the Greek minister about the reason they were even able to watch birds circling above his damned yacht this weekend.

‘Jet skis?’ Leo repeated blankly as he stared at Tom Shepherd.

‘Yeah, you know? Motorbikes on water.’ Tom smirked. ‘You don’t mind if we take them out for a spin, do you? Lexi’s a jet ski virgin and I said I’d show her what she was missing.’

Leo’s jaw clenched at Tom’s provocative comment. The yacht was temporarily anchored between two small private islands and the water was deep enough so there wasn’t any reason for him to say no. But he wanted to.

‘I need to speak with Miss Somers.’ He flashed his teeth in a tight smile. ‘Take someone else.’

Before Tom could stage his protest, Danny stopped at his side. ‘Leo, the men are waiting in the stateroom to resume the meeting, as you requested.’

Leo muttered a curse under his breath. If he’d been dealing with Australians or the English the negotiations would have been finished by now. No way would they have pulled up stumps to be wined and dined with a decadent lunch midway through an important meeting. No, they would have put up with soggy sandwiches and finger food at the conference table until the deal was signed, sealed and delivered. Then gone out and got drunk by way of celebrating.

‘Well, that settles it.’ Tom clasped Lexi’s shoulder lightly and Leo was glad to see her eyes flicker to Tom’s hand uncertainly as she shifted out from under his hold. ‘Come on,’ he said to Lexi. ‘I promise you’ll love it.’

‘Where’s Ty?’ Leo found himself asking. ‘Your charge.’

Lexi looked at him but he couldn’t read her expression. ‘He’s still asleep. He probably will be for another forty minutes at least.’

With no other way to prevent her from going with Tom, Leo signalled a nearby steward. ‘Have the jet skis organised for Mr Shepherd and any other interested guests.’ Then he turned back to Tom. ‘Be careful.’

Tom shook his head as if Leo was mad. ‘I always am, man; don’t sweat it.’

Leo shoved his hands into his pockets and watched as Tom cupped Lexi’s elbow and led her towards the elevator, annoyed when she didn’t shake him off the second time.

‘I don’t think he’s realised she’s off-limits yet,’ Danny murmured.

Leo shot him a warning look. ‘That’s because she isn’t.’

Leo stormed down to the conference room and ignored the irrational urge to go after Lexi and take her out on the thing himself.

Not that he wanted to go out on a damned jet ski. He wanted to focus on what he enjoyed most—business. He’d been working for two years on developing this ethanol plant and he wasn’t about to jeopardise it to have fun in the sun.

What did he care about the sparkling blue waters of the Aegean, or the sandy islands surrounding him? To him, this location was just another venue to continue his business dealings. Relaxing was something he did after hours either at the gym or with a woman. Lazing around on a beach or riding a jet ski had never been on his list of things to do.

But half an hour later he was glad he’d insisted Danny stay in the meeting because he was the only one holding it all together. For some reason, Leo couldn’t seem to get his brain into gear. Maybe he’d had too much sun upstairs because the state-of-the-art airconditioning wasn’t doing anything to cool his blood. Nor was the buzzing of the jet skis and the delighted catcalls and squeals of his guests as they enjoyed themselves outside his window.

Leo paced around the airconditioned room and understood how a jungle cat felt locked up in a zoo.

He noticed the conversation had stopped and waved his hand absently. ‘Carry on,’ he said to the Greek minister’s young and ambitious lawyer. ‘I’m listening.’

He ignored Danny’s concerned glances and stalked over to the window, watching as four jet skis were lined up ready to race.

One of the men yelled, ‘Go’ and they all gunned the engines, the skis lurching full speed over the water. Leo’s eyes cut to Tom, who had Lexi on the back without a life jacket. A cold sense of dread settled over his skin. He should have stopped her from going. Or, better yet, gone with her. His instincts had been on high alert and if she got hurt it would be his fault. He didn’t question his need to protect her and nor did he ignore it. The last time he had, he’d lost his brother.

‘Take five, gentlemen,’ he threw over his shoulder as he marched out of the room.

Chapter Seven

HE MADE it to the lower deck just as Tom hit a rough patch of water and the ski lifted into the air and landed at a sharp angle. Leo’s heart flew into his mouth as Lexi screamed and flew off the side of the machine and disappeared under the water. For a split second he was paralysed as the rider behind Tom rode dangerously close to the wake.

Then he moved. Jumped onto the lower ramp and grabbed the remaining jet ski from one of the attendants, flying out over the sparkling sea to where Lexi had gone under. The other riders hadn’t realised what had happened and Tom had just got his machine under control when Leo reached the place Lexi had gone under.

Fortunately, her head broke the surface but Leo could see she had swallowed water and was having trouble breathing.

He cut the engine and leaned down over the side. ‘Lexi, give me your hand,’ he shouted. She looked disoriented and flailed around and Leo hooked his arm around her torso and hauled her up in front of him.

‘Is she all right?’ Tom called out as he pulled up alongside.

‘You’d better hope so, Shepherd,’ Leo snarled. He quickly ran his eyes over Lexi, but he couldn’t get a good look at her as she curled over his arm retching violently.

Leo cursed, ordering Tom to go back and get the in-house doctor. He held Lexi against his chest as he yanked on the throttle and headed towards the nearby island. It was closer than the yacht and he wanted to get her horizontal as quickly as possible.

The small curved inlet was deserted and once he hit the shallow water he jumped down and swung Lexi up into his arms. He ran through the breakwater and dropped to his knees and gently laid her onto the sand. She was shaking with reaction, her clothes clinging to her like a second skin, but other than that she didn’t appear injured.

‘Did the ski hit you anywhere?’ he asked hoarsely.

She shook her head and winced a little. ‘No.’ She raised a shaky hand to push her hair out of her eyes and he leaned forward and did it for her. ‘I think I just got winded when I hit the water.’

She tried to sit up but Leo held her down with an unsteady hand on her shoulder. ‘Lie back. Shepherd’s getting the doctor.’

‘I’m okay.’ She moved her arms and legs carefully to make sure. Leo’s heart was still lodged in his throat and adrenalin coursed through his blood.

‘Just keep still,’ he growled, the wealth of emotion in his voice raising her eyes to his. He couldn’t look away and nor, it seemed, could she. The world receded; even the relentless heat from the sun in a cloudless blue sky faded into the background as Leo felt emotions he didn’t want to name roll through him, searching for purchase.

Without conscious thought, he raised an unsteady hand to the side of her face. ‘You could have been killed.’ His voice was rough and heat arced between them as he gazed into golden eyes framed by long, wet, spiky lashes. His fingers stroked into her hair and she nestled her cheek into the curve of his palm.

Fascinated, Leo watched the gold of her eyes become eaten up by black, leaving only a ring of emerald-green, and his body caught fire at the implicit message her dilated pupils transmitted to him. Green. Her eyes turned green with passion.

As if somehow driven by the need to affirm that she was okay, Leo’s eyes dropped to her parted lips seconds before his head followed.

He didn’t know if she too was driven by the scare of her accident but her mouth flowered beneath his and her hands speared into his hair as she answered the urgent demand of his lips.

One of his arms banded around her lower back as he raised her to him and he felt the tips of her breasts nestle against his chest as she strained closer, the heat of her body burning through her flimsy vest top and his shirt as she caught fire in his arms.

Her urgency more than matched his and he revelled in the way she tried to take charge of the kiss, her thumbs gliding over his cheekbones as she held his face steady while she sipped and nipped at his mouth. He let her play for maybe a second before crushing her mouth beneath his. She moaned and he answered that sound of pleasure with a low groan of his own, pressing her back into the sand and taking control of the kiss.

This was total insanity but he couldn’t deny how much his body ached to take her. His tongue curled around hers and his mouth turned hard as the same primitive hunger he’d felt with her the other night took hold and threatened to consume him, all sense of reason and caution flying into the air to be fried by the midafternoon sun.

He didn’t know how it was possible for the sound of the approaching jet ski to be heard over the loud beating of his heart but fortunately it brought him to his senses and he wrenched his mouth from hers, his body throbbing with unslaked desire.

Her mouth was kiss-swollen and he knew the good doctor would know what had happened even if he hadn’t seen them and Leo cursed his own stupidity. The woman had nearly died in an accident and he’d what—tried to ravish her?

Emotions exploded through him and landed with unerring accuracy on Tom Shepherd as he barrelled up the sand towards them. Rage the like he couldn’t remember took over from lust and circuited his body. His muscles tensed and for a split second he contemplated meeting him halfway and putting his fist through his face.

Lexi must have sensed his intent because she placed her warm palm on his forearm. ‘Don’t.’ That softly spoken plea brought him back to his senses and stopped him in his tracks. A bar room full of men hadn’t been able to stop him after he’d located the man responsible for the death of his uncle in a work-related accident but this woman could contain him with the slightest touch. Of course he’d been irrational with pain at the time his uncle had died, but somehow the emotions he’d felt today when he’d watched Lexi go under hadn’t been that much different. Which was absurd. He’d loved his uncle and didn’t care a whit about Lexi Somers.

‘Lexi, are you okay?’ Tom’s concern was palpable and Leo shook off his disconcerting thoughts and pierced him with a look. If he but knew it, Tom Shepherd was only standing because of the woman he’d nearly killed. He hadn’t put a life jacket on Lexi and Leo knew why. And he knew why Tom had gone extra fast to make her cling to his back. Had she enjoyed it, pressed up against Tom’s back as she’d held tight? Had she been thinking of Tom when she’d responded to his kisses moments ago? Leo inwardly cursed the direction of his thoughts. This sense of jealousy—because he recognised that was what it was even though he had never experienced it before—was so unlike him. Women were always easy to come by and easy to let go.

Unused to feeling so out of balance, Leo turned his anger on her. ‘Why the hell didn’t you insist on wearing a life jacket?’ he snarled.

He could see his sudden attack had startled her and that she was floundering over how to answer him.

‘That was my fault, Leo,’ Tom answered like a protective beau. ‘I said she wouldn’t need one.’

‘Excuse me. If I could just see the patient.’ The doctor pushed the two men aside and crouched beside Lexi and Leo paced away from them before he did hit Tom. He hadn’t been in a fist fight for seventeen years and he was disgusted with his loss of control that nearly saw him in one now. He didn’t understand this possessive urge he felt towards Lexi Somers but it had to stop. She wasn’t his and she never would be. He would never want her to be, despite his continued desire to take her to bed. That was just lust. Unusual in its intensity, yes, but still something he could control.

The doctor finished examining her and sat back on his haunches. ‘You’re fine. You’ve taken in a bit of water but your lungs sound clear enough. It doesn’t appear you were hit and I expect you’ll make a full recovery by this evening, but get some rest when you get back all the same.’

‘I feel fine now,’ Lexi said, hugging her knees close to her chest.

‘Thanks, Gerard,’ Leo murmured. ‘Tom can return you to the yacht.’

Tom hesitated. ‘I’m really sorry, Lexi.’

‘That’s okay, Tom. Accidents happen.’

‘No, they don’t,’ Leo cut in. ‘That was a stupid thing to do, Shepherd, and if I see you on one of my skis again without a life jacket I’ll find someone else to do the East India project.’