His Last Chance at Redemption (18 page)

He thought about the email from Amanda and wondered why it no longer angered him as much as it had last night. The circumstances were still the same and yet he felt different. Tossing the ball with Ty and Lexi in the pool this morning hadn’t been as hard as he had thought it would be. In fact it hadn’t been a hardship at all.

Lexi’s conviction that he wasn’t like his father—that he had a choice—played over in his head. Was she right? Logically it made sense, and he certainly didn’t
feel
like he could physically hurt Ty, but could he take that risk and look after him full time on his own? No. It was too great a responsibility and if he got it wrong—the outcome could be fatal.

With past memories forcibly tamping down on his previous
enjoyment of working alongside Lexi, he closed the lid of her laptop.

‘No,’ he said curtly. ‘And now I have a hotel to view on Santorini.’ He stood up. ‘I think you’ll find what we did this morning helpful.’

He was about to walk off when he made the mistake of glancing down at her. She wasn’t looking at him but he could see that his churlishness had hurt her and something twisted in his gut. It was because of last night. It was because some bastard had hurt her and he didn’t want to add to the damage he had done to her self-confidence. In fact last night he’d gone out of his way to make her feel cherished. Hardly a hardship, given how turned on she made him feel. But she also made him feel other things he’d rather not name, let alone face.

‘Why don’t you come with me?’ The words were out of his mouth before he’d fully formed the thought and she looked at him with surprise.

‘Seriously?’ The smile she shot at him was beyond beautiful.

‘I don’t see why not. It’s a tourist destination. You’ve never been. You can look around while I work.’ He made it sound like a no-brainer but he was questioning his own sanity in making the offer.

‘Okay. Great.’

‘Meet me at the tender in twenty minutes,’ he said sharply.

Fifteen minutes later, Leo marched towards the lower deck, snapping instructions into his phone, and stopped dead as he saw Ty bouncing up and down on the white leather seat of the tender. His eyes flew to Lexi’s and he blanked out his moment of disquiet. When he’d extended the invitation he had meant it to be just for her.

‘I hope it’s okay if Ty comes along,’ she said.

‘Of course.’ He inclined his head, remembering at the last minute that his agreement was to spend time with his son.

But he’d already put in an hour today.

The skin on his forehead pulled tight. If he wasn’t careful he’d be spending every minute of every day with both of them. And why didn’t that thought fill him with as much dread as it would have a week ago?

‘No. Absolutely not.’

‘But why not?’ Lexi persisted. ‘You’ve finished looking at the hotel and the beach is straight down that path. Have you ever been to a black sand beach?’

‘No, and I don’t want to.’

Lexi put her hands on her hips and stared straight into Leo’s aviator glasses. She knew he didn’t want to go to the beach and she hadn’t missed the look on his face when he’d approached the tender earlier and spotted Ty seated beside her. She knew he didn’t really want him here either but he’d made a promise to her yesterday that he would spend time with his son and she didn’t want to think that his promises were as hollow as her father’s.

Leo’s phone rang and he turned away to answer it and Lexi rolled her eyes.

‘Look, Lexi—horsies.’

Lexi followed Ty’s line of vision to a row of sturdy grey donkeys, resplendent in their multicoloured rugs and faded leather saddlery. Ty started towards them and Lexi grabbed his hand.

‘They’re donkeys, sweets, and we can’t go that way. Have a look at these colourful rocks instead.’

She didn’t think he was going to cooperate but then he acquiesced and moved towards the various-sized volcanic rocks lining the ancient path. She watched him squat down on the side of the path and saw one of Leo’s security team move into place nearby. The four men who seemed to follow Leo everywhere were so discreet she actually forgot they were even there.

Lexi cast her eyes around the arid landscape that was so
unlike anything she had ever seen before. Tiny cobbled streets full of chatty tourists, incredibly beautiful views of a pristine blue sea from the various rocky outcrops and the quaint white cubed buildings, some with brilliant blue trim, tripping down the cliff faces.

But, as riveting as the scenery was Lexi still found her eyes drawn to Leo in his familiar crisp white shirt and suit trousers. Her eyes stripped away those clothes and she could so easily picture his wide shoulders and lean torso, his long, muscular legs. She knew he swam as a form of exercise but the cut of his body also came from centuries of strong alpha males who had fought the land, and each other, for their very survival.

To stop herself staring at him like an adoring fan she walked to the edge of the path and glanced down the winding red-dirt track to the beach below. It would be a shame to come all this way and not see the black sand but—

‘Ten minutes.’

‘Sorry?’ Lexi turned as Leo came up behind her.

‘Ten minutes and not a minute longer.’

Lexi beamed a smile at him when she realised he was relenting about going to the beach. ‘And, angel, don’t make me regret it.’ The words were gruff, but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and she felt gloriously happy.

‘Okay. But can we ride the donkey down?’

He shook his head as if she were a lost cause and set off down the path.

As they breasted the row of little donkeys Ty’s face lit up and she saw a resigned expression flicker across Leo’s. When he stopped to converse with the elderly white-haired guide with a bandanna tied around his neck and a blue beret shielding his head she hid her smile beneath the wide brim of her own hat.

She watched as he picked Ty up and perched him atop his chosen steed and felt as light as a bubble as he then proceeded
to walk protectively beside him as the donkey set off at a snail’s pace down the hill.

He might not realise it, but he was slowly starting to build a connection with Ty and, once he did, she felt sure he wouldn’t be able to help falling in love with him. In fact, she sensed that he already was. The only thing she was really having trouble sensing was what was happening between the two of them.

She knew why she had slept with him last night of course. She had felt emboldened by his obvious desire for her and empowered by her renewed sense of self. He had made her feel sexy. Sensual. And it was proving a hard thing to give up, even though she knew he wasn’t interested in anything permanent. But that was okay, she reminded herself. Hadn’t she decided last night to stop worrying so much about the future and just live in the here and now?

And the here and now was scorching. Both the sun above her straw hat and the man walking alongside a donkey with his son balanced precariously on top.

To stop herself daydreaming, she let her eyes wander to the family of four ahead. The husband had his arm slung over his wife’s shoulders while their two girls giggled exuberantly and clung to their donkeys, the leather saddles creaking at each ungainly step the donkeys took.

The couple looked so relaxed and happy—comfortable in each other’s space—that it pierced Lexi to the core. This was what she had wanted for her own parents.

This was what she wanted for herself
.

She glanced at Leo and realised he was watching the family as well. Then he turned, his eyes snagging with hers. Lexi felt as if she had her heart in her mouth and forced a nonchalant smile to her lips.

Yes, she might want this for herself one day but she wasn’t silly enough to think she would get it with him even if she wished it otherwise.

So much for not daydreaming.

Surprisingly, Leo found he was enjoying himself. He had walked the stinking donkey all the way down the hillside and was now standing on the pebbled black beach holding a fistful of colourful shells and rocks that Lexi and Ty had insisted on collecting along the shoreline. Lexi had rolled up her lightweight trousers, which clung like a second skin to her sexy bottom, and was holding Ty’s hand as the waves gently lapped at her ankles.

He thought of the couple he had seen walking their two girls on donkeys ahead of Ty’s and brooded. For a minute he had wanted to sling his arm over Lexi’s shoulders and draw her close but her cool smile told him he would be way off base in doing so and it had brought him to his senses. He might be still flummoxed with what it was about this woman that attracted him so much but he wasn’t going to be an idiot about it. And while he’d presumed that the attraction would start to wane after he’d had her, it was still early days yet. Give him a week with her in his bed and he’d see things differently.

‘Take your shoes off and come in,’ Lexi called out to him from the shoreline. ‘The water is amazingly warm and silky.’

Like her skin.

‘No.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I’m good.’

The bright smile she’d worn ever since he’d given in and agreed to take them to the beach dimmed a little and he felt like the world’s biggest spoilsport. He could enjoy a beach as much as the next person, damn it.

With that in mind, he pulled out his phone and called the tender to come and pick them up directly from the beach. If she wanted to enjoy a beach he’d take her to a real one that wasn’t crowded with noisy holidaymakers like this one.

Lexi closed her eyes and turned her face up to the sun and let another fistful of sugar-soft sand sift through her fingers as she lay on the beach chair Leo had organised to be delivered from the nearby yacht. The beach was privately owned
and, since they were the only ones on it, it almost felt as if they were shipwrecked. Shipwrecked with an icebox full of treats and drinks, a beach umbrella to ward off the sun’s rays, since there were no actual trees on the island to speak of, and a mega-yacht anchored a little way out at sea with every conceivable luxury known to mankind. She smiled and nearly pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

The only sound around her was the sound of Ty and Leo building a sandcastle by the water’s edge and the whisper of the gentle waves as they rolled on and off the beach.

This was so far removed from her real life it was like entering a fantastic dream. She just had to keep reminding herself of that every time her mind started trying to build its own sandcastles in the air!

‘So what do you think of
this
beach?’ Leo’s deep voice rumbled from somewhere overhead and interrupted her happy thoughts.

Lexi squinted up at his dark outline and smiled. ‘It’s okay if you like this sort of thing,’ she mused as if she wasn’t sure if she did.

His eyes trailed over her and her nipples peaked. ‘It seems to me this is exactly the sort of thing you like.’

‘Well, the sand is very soft.’

‘And hot. Like you. And now me.’

‘You could always take a dip in the ocean to cool off.’

‘I do plan to take a dip,’ he said suggestively, ‘but it’s not in the ocean. Have you had enough of this beach for one day?’

Lexi felt a zing of excitement deep inside her as his brilliant blue eyes lingered on her lips. She had now. ‘Yes. You?’

‘No need to ask, angel.’

Leo quickly organised the tender to head over and pick them up and, after a shower and a light dinner, Lexi returned to her room and wrapped herself in an oversized cotton cardigan before wandering outside to her private balcony. She had thought about heading up onto one of the main decks
for a relaxing drink but she was tired from all the sun and lack of sleep the night before, and didn’t want to appear as if she was deliberately seeking Leo out. Their relationship had shifted gear in a big way today and she didn’t know what to make of it or how to ask what he was thinking without appearing needy and insecure.

She knew he still had secrets and she didn’t feel as if she could truly let herself relax with him until she found out more about him. She was desperate to know who Sasha was for one, and why Leo’s dreams were so tormented. She’d been wrong about how he felt about Amanda and she didn’t want to make up stories in her head about Sasha either, but that seemed impossible for her
not
to do.

‘Is Ty asleep?’

Lexi felt Leo’s presence just before he spoke and looked over her shoulder, her heart skipping a beat at the sight of him, fresh from the shower in T-shirt and jeans. There was something about seeing him in casual gear that reached out to her. He looked like someone who was accessible and not the out of reach Russian oligarch that he really was. ‘Yes. He went out like a light half an hour ago.’

She turned back to stare out over the water and felt him come up behind her. ‘And you? How are you feeling?’

Confused.

‘Tired. It was a wonderful day. Thank you for taking us.’

He reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back into his chest. ‘The day’s not over yet,’ he murmured against the top of her head.

Lexi let herself lean her full weight into him and soaked up his manly smell, which now seemed so familiar to her.

Gathering her courage in hand, she decided she had nothing to lose by asking the question uppermost in her mind. ‘Can I ask you something?’

‘You know that always makes a man want to say no.’

‘Who’s Sasha?’

He stiffened for a moment before fanning his hands out over her belly and bending his knees a little so he could nuzzle the side of her neck. ‘Sasha is no one you need to worry about.’

Lexi felt
herself
stiffen this time and gripped the wooden railing more tightly. ‘You’re not still seeing her, are you?’

He stopped nuzzling her and spun her abruptly towards him, grasping her chin between his thumb and finger and forcing her eyes to his, his expression fierce. ‘I’m not your father or your ex, Lexi. I don’t play around on a woman if I’m sleeping with her.’

Lexi swallowed, not doubting him for a second but remembering an earlier comment he had made about not having girlfriends, only bed partners. ‘That’s good to know.’