Seduced At Sea. Andrea Laurence

to their shared apartment. When Lexi told her who Ty’s father was she could almost see Aimee slap her forehead.

      ‘I knew I recognised him. Oh, my God. I didn’t know he had a son.’

      ‘What do you know about him?’ Lexi found herself asking without actually meaning to. Because really she already knew any information Aimee could impart would just be more nails in the coffin she had accused him of sleeping in. Her lips twitched now at the remembered surprise on his face when she’d said that. Clearly people didn’t tell him when he was being overbearing and arrogant often enough.

      ‘He’s mega wealthy. And I mean mega.’ Aimee added with emphasis. ‘Russian. Has been in the papers all week because he helped rescue two of his workers from a massive construction accident in Dubai. Remember, I told you about it.’

      ‘Mmm,’ Lexi said noncommittally. She had a vague recollection but the problems with their second centre had been taking up a lot of her head space lately.

      ‘He also changes his girlfriends as often as he changes his underwear and is supposed to be fantastic in bed. Hubba hubba.’

      ‘And which magazine did that little titbit come out of?’ Lexi asked, thinking that it was most likely true.

      ‘I can’t remember. Anyway, what’s he like?’

      ‘Arrogant, rude, obnoxious.’ Chiselled, gorgeous and utterly male, a little voice taunted.

      Which she promptly ignored. She’d met Leo Aleksandrov’s type before. Oh, not with the mega-wealthy tag, but arrogant men who viewed permanent relationships the way they viewed dental hygiene—sometimes required, but not necessarily so.

      Her father had been one of those: a professional golfer who had never married her mother despite having two children with her, and who had then left them all to take up with his mistress. And Brandon had been no better. At the time they’d met he’d been a charismatic, well-connected university jock who had pursued her and convinced her he was falling for her, all in the name of sport.

      Finding out that she had been played like so many other girls he had gone after had made her feel ill, as had his complaint that she had not only been too serious, but that she had been below average in bed. Of course she hadn’t believed him, but it hadn’t stopped her confidence from taking a heavy knock. So heavy, in fact, she hadn’t dated seriously since.

      Suddenly an image of Simon popped into her mind and she groaned. She couldn’t do it. She wasn’t ready to get serious with anyone yet. Maybe she never would be and that might not be a bad thing. She had good friends, a growing business …

      Lexi realised Aimee was still talking about Leo and felt rude for being so caught up in her own thoughts she hadn’t been paying attention. ‘I’m sorry, Aim, I haven’t been listening but I don’t want to talk about this man any more. He’s too irritating for words.’

      ‘Irritating or irresistible?’ her friend joked.

      ‘I’m not going to dignify that with an answer,’ she said, ignoring her brain’s contradictory messages about him. ‘But don’t tell anyone about Ty being his son. I’m not sure what’s going on yet, but I would hate Ty to get hurt in any way.’

      She rang off and let herself out of the room, leaving the bedroom door slightly ajar in order to listen out for Ty.

      She walked down the wide carpeted hallway, taking in the astounding dimensions of the sleekly designed penthouse apartment she was in. So this was how the other half lived!

      It was like being in another world. The whole apartment looked as if it had come straight out of some modern architecture magazine, with not a rumpled doily in sight. She smirked as she thought about what Leo Aleksandrov would make of her and Aimee’s shabby little two-room apartment, with throw rugs and papers and half completed sewing projects hanging around on the dining room table. If she were to put down anything half completed here it would likely get up and run away. And while the place was undoubtedly beautiful, it lacked soul. It lacked that special quality that made a house a home.

      Not that it mattered, she thought, as she stopped in the doorway of the main sitting room, when the exterior walls were made up almost entirely of glass and showcased a view of London Lexi would normally have to buy a ticket to see.

      And in front of that impressive wall of glass was the impressive sight of a brooding Leo Aleksandrov, pacing up and down like a tiger trapped in a too small cage.

      As if sensing her presence, he stopped, and Lexi felt every one of her senses go on high alert as his eyes swept over her.

      She normally had to buy a ticket to see a man like him as well. Usually on a movie screen. His virility was not at all adversely affected by the slightly crumpled shirt that clung to his wide shoulders. He’d rolled his shirtsleeves to reveal powerful, hair-roughened forearms; Lexi already knew the leashed power behind those arms and she shivered.

      He broke her train of thought by shoving his hands into his pockets and she felt a flood of colour swamp her face as she realised that she’d been caught staring.

      Pretending she wasn’t at all flustered by his presence—and wishing it was the truth—she smiled briefly and then turned away to search the room for her bag. ‘Ty is asleep and I’m leaving.’

      ‘You can’t.’

      She stopped in the middle of the room and looked at him. ‘Excuse me?’

      ‘I’ve dismissed Mrs Parsons.’

      ‘Why would you do that? She was perfect.’

      He regarded her levelly. ‘She doesn’t have a passport.’

      Lexi didn’t hide her shock. ‘You dismissed a woman on the grounds that she’s not well traveled? That’s a bit narrow-minded isn’t it?’

      ‘I didn’t dismiss her because of that,’ he flashed at her, rubbing the back of his neck as if this whole conversation was terribly unnecessary. ‘Look, perhaps you should sit down.’

      ‘I don’t want to sit down,’ she flashed right back.

      ‘I’m just as unhappy about this turn of events as you are but, realistically, it would have taken Ty too long to get used to her anyway.’

      Lexi raised an eyebrow. He’d become an expert on his son now had he? ‘So who are you going to get to help you out?’ she asked, knowing before she’d even finished her question what his answer would be. ‘No.’ She shook her head and spoke before he’d even opened his mouth. ‘That’s not possible.’

      ‘I will, of course, pay you for your time.’

      ‘No!’

      His lack of any response to her vehemence made her nervous. ‘Anyway, I’m busy this weekend,’ she said, hating that she felt as if she had to explain herself to this man. She moistened her lips and watched his eyes follow the movement. His gaze lingered and once again she wondered how his lips would feel against her own. Aimee’s words about his sexual prowess popped into her head and her lips were once again bone-dry.

      Oh, Lord, she had to get out of here.

      His eyes returned to hers and she expelled a breath in a rush.

      ‘Doing?’

      ‘I’m going to Paris,’ she declared. Deciding there and then that she’d give Simon a chance. It was time. Past time. And Simon was a saint compared to this man.

      ‘Your friend seemed to think you hadn’t yet made up your mind.’

      Lexi frowned, wondering how he knew that. ‘Aimee doesn’t know everything,’ she said, slightly flustered.

      ‘And whom are you going to the city of light with, hmmm?’

      Lexi felt her jaw clench at his supercilious tone. Simon would never have asked that question! He was well-mannered, polite, civilised, boring …

      No.