His Last Chance at Redemption. Michelle Conder

Soft pink curtains hung from the single window and various child related paraphernalia lined the walls.

      And some New-Agey smell had got up his nose and he had yet to locate the source. He wondered how Lexi Somers smelled and whether her neat figure would live up to the promise outlined in her prim blouse and red skirt. Then he told himself to quit it—he wasn’t here for that.

      Only his mind had already conjured up a pleasurable image of the hint of puckered nipples beneath the lacy bra she wore and his mouth watered as he wondered at their colour. Their taste. He’d noticed her response to his perusal of her body earlier and as much as she might be trying to appear cool and calm—he could tell she was a fireball of nerves inside.

      What would she be like in bed? Coolly efficient, or hot and abandoned?

      The thought hadn’t fully formed in his mind before the annoying bell over her office door tinkled. His senses stood to attention at the sound of her determined footsteps crossing the linoleum flooring in shoes more befitting a party-girl than a childcare manager. And what was up with that? Clearly she was a woman who played on her sexuality.

      Definitely hot and abandoned, he decided, and unconsciously breathed deep as she skirted past him. Just the hint of vanilla and … musk? Seductive, whatever it was, he thought, slightly bemused at his one-track mind.

      ‘I’m sorry you’ve wasted your time, Mr …’

      ‘Aleksandrov.’ He said his surname more slowly, amused despite himself that she might really not know who he was. It happened so rarely nowadays.

      ‘Aleksandrov.’ She smiled, her hands folded primly together on her desk as if the matter was resolved.

      Leo twisted his mouth into a smile and slouched back in the wooden chair built for a doll. ‘And why is that, Miss Somers?’ he asked casually, unwilling to refute her mistaken belief that she was in control of this situation just yet.

      ‘I’ve checked with my colleagues and there has been no message about a change in pick up arrangements so I cannot release Ty Weston into your care.’

      Leo felt an itch attack his left eyebrow and ignored it. Just as he ignored her statement. Instead he folded his arms across his chest and stared her down, waiting for her to break. Surprisingly, she held his gaze longer than he had expected. Then she sat straighter. ‘I think it’s time you left.’

      If only he could.

      ‘What are you going to do when nobody comes to collect Ty?’

      A flicker of doubt clouded her eyes and she let out a pent-up breath. ‘Look, I’ve had a lousy day so far and you’re not making it any better. I have no idea who you— Oh! You’re—’

      ‘Ty’s father.’

      He spoke at the same time as she had deduced the information and he raised a mocking brow at her cleverness.

      ‘The eyes. You have his eyes.’

      Leo didn’t know that. He’d never once looked at the photos his security team provided in their regular updates on his son.

      A sheen of sweat broke out across his brow at the thought of meeting him now. Already emotions and guilt he’d had no trouble keeping at bay for years were swelling inside him like heavy rain filling a river, and he mentally cursed Amanda Weston and her conniving ways.

      Leo stood up, ignoring the heat of Lexi Somers’ gaze as it raked over his chest, pulling his stomach muscles tight.

      Perhaps he should have told her his relationship to Ty from the outset, but the last thing he wanted was word to get out that he had a son. If it did he’d have to supply Ty with a security detail for the rest of his childhood and he had wanted to avoid that at all costs. ‘Fine. Now you can go get him. I’ll wait here.’

      The surprise that had softened her full lips disappeared and she shook her head. ‘I’m sorry; I can’t do that.’

      Leo felt the return of his earlier annoyance at her stubbornness. ‘Why not?’

      ‘You’re not on his list of appointed people permitted to collect him.’

      Chort vozmi! ‘What a load of rubbish,’ he rasped.

      She stood up to face him and gripped the edges of her desk. ‘It’s not rubbish. We have procedures in the centre to ensure the children’s safety and—’

      ‘If you knew who I was you wouldn’t be arguing with me.’

      He blew out a breath. He sounded like a self-important ass and the look on the brunette’s face said she’d come to the same conclusion.

      ‘Why? Because you’re above the law?’ The imperious question didn’t require an answer but he wanted to give her one. He wanted to take the line his Cossack ancestors would have done: press her up against the wall and take what her wide-spaced golden eyes had been offering since she’d first marched into the room. Then he’d take his son and get the hell out of there.

      Pity a couple of centuries had spoiled that option.

      ‘I’m his father,’ he ground out, the words sounding strange to his ears.

      ‘A father whose name is not on any of our forms,’ she reminded him. ‘And why is that?’

      Leo reined in surging guilt that threatened to spiral into rage and paced two steps to the back of the room.

      He sucked in a deep breath, knowing that logically she had a point even though her question was way out of line.

      He turned back to face her. ‘Look, Miss Somers—’ he unclenched his jaw ‘—I want to be here about as much as you want me here but I don’t have a choice. Amanda delivered a note to my office advising me that there was no one else to take care of Ty. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here.’

      ‘Are you having custody issues?’

      Leo felt his eyes harden. ‘I am not about to discuss my personal business with you.’

      She stood firm. ‘And I’m not about to release a child into the care of a man I’ve never met before and who is not on his list of trusted carers.’

      Leo rubbed his neck. ‘Try his mother again.’

      She looked as if she wouldn’t but then picked up the phone and hit redial.

      ‘Still no answer.’

      Leo swore and saw her eyes widen in silent reprimand. Too bad. The angel didn’t like his language.

      Then he returned to the doll’s chair and sprawled in front of her. ‘So what do we do now?’

      For the first time since she returned she looked unsure and swivelled around to check the clock behind her.

      ‘Half an hour to go, angel. Maybe we should find something else to do other than argue to make the time go quicker.’

      Her eyes took on the size of the dinner plates his lunch had been served on and he cursed his rampaging libido. What was he doing thinking about sex with this woman at a time like this? ‘Forget I said that.’

      ‘I most certainly will. It was tacky in the extreme.’

      Leo’s eyes wandered over her with insolent abandon. ‘Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about it, angel.’

      She gasped and he smiled at her outrage. ‘I most certainly have not! And do not call me angel.’

      He smiled. She had. And so had he.

      ‘I’ll call you whatever I want and you’re a liar.’

      ‘And you’re incredibly rude.’

      He shrugged and checked the clock. ‘Are you seriously going to make me wait until six o’clock before I can take him?’ He’d never come up against such resistance from a woman before.

      ‘No. I’m going to call the police.’