Andrea Laurence - Seduced At Sea

She stepped forward, drawn in. ‘If you want to tell me.’

‘Take a seat.’ He indicated the deckchair next to his, his voice low.

She looked from him to the chair and back, a shade warily, and Leo felt some primitive thrill of a bygone age rise up inside himself. The lure was set and she just had to take two more steps and then he’d trap her and tell her to mind her own business. That he would not discuss his relationship with his son with her or anyone else. He might even kiss her as well. Just to find out if she really did taste as good as his recall said she did.

She hesitated beside the chair, but he could tell she hadn’t taken the bait. More was the pity. ‘There’s always tomorrow night.’

He raised a mocking eyebrow. ‘To take a seat?’

Her eyes flashed. ‘To read him a story.’

‘Alas, I’m all out of fairy tales, angel.’

She pursed her lips at the pet name he’d given her and he cocked his head as he considered her. ‘Is that why you became a childcare worker? You like fairy tales.’

‘I like children. They’re honest and pure.’

Like her? He leant back in his chair. ‘Could it be that you prefer dealing with children more than adults?’

‘Of course not.’

‘Of course yes!’ He gave an unrepentant grin at her fervent denial, enjoying himself all of a sudden.

Something her next sharp words ground into dust.

‘Do you have any intention of spending time with your son this weekend?’

‘I didn’t think you wanted an argument,’ he sneered.

‘I don’t. I just think it’s important.’

‘You’re not here to orchestrate a family reunion, Miss Somers, so stop trying.’

Her eyes glittered angrily in the low light. ‘You would have to be a family in the first place for me to be able to do that,’ she blazed back at him.

Fortunately the steward arrived with their beverages and eased the tension that had hardened the air between them. He could feel Lexi watching him but he ignored her and picked up his bottle of mineral water, lamenting the fact that he had given up alcohol seventeen years ago and wishing it was a full bottle of Stolichnaya instead.

‘I don’t understand you,’ she said, breaking the silence once the steward was safely out of earshot. ‘You grew up in what sounds like a wonderful family and yet you treat Ty as if he doesn’t exist.’

Leo observed her with a level of calmness he was far from feeling. ‘I won’t discuss my relationship with my son with you, Miss Somers,’ he said through clenched teeth, ‘so stop prying.’ She pulled the chair out opposite him and Leo felt as if a rock had settled in his stomach. She had an uncanny knack of making him feel guilty about Ty but she didn’t know the truth behind his decision. She didn’t know what he was capable of and for a split second he considered telling her. Which was madness! He never talked about himself. Ever.

And he sure as hell wouldn’t be telling Lexi Somers about it either.

He was just about to return to his suite when she bent one knee up and rested her chin on it. ‘Do you ever do anything besides work?’

A myriad of answers formed in his head but they would be dangerous to play to. Because while intellectually he had already decided to ignore the chemistry between them, physically he had already started to respond to the hint of vanilla carried across to him on the warm evening air.

‘Sometimes,’ he said evenly.

‘Like what?’

Like sex . His nostrils flared as the thought hardened his groin. Right here and right now if she were willing . He saw her eyes widen slightly and knew she had picked up on the direction of his thoughts. Maybe the fact that he was staring at her mouth wasn’t very subtle.

‘Looking for a demonstration, angel?’

The air between them became charged and he noticed her running her silver necklace between her fingers.

Oh, boy .

In trying to find out more about him and how best to influence him into spending time with Ty, Lexi had inadvertently jumped into a minefield with a man who knew where all the loaded mines were.

He wasn’t trying to hide his sexual interest in her and she was shocked to see it. She had convinced herself that what had happened last night was because they had both been half asleep and that the chemistry she felt was entirely onesided, but perhaps that wasn’t the case. Or perhaps he was just bored and toying with her to avoid talking about himself. That would make more sense but, whatever it was, she was just glad he hadn’t remembered his nightmare last night or what had followed.

It would also help if she could stop thinking about how well the man kissed and how hard his muscles had felt pressing her into the bed. God, he made her feel desperate for sex and already her body felt hotter, heavier. But she wasn’t any good at sexual banter and her cup clattered as she put it down. ‘I think I might go to bed,’ she said, inwardly grimacing at her gaucheness.

‘Scared, angel?’

‘Of?’ she asked carelessly, glancing everywhere but at him.

‘The way I make you feel, for one.’ His voice was a lazy purr.

‘Excuse me?’ She coughed out a laugh as if he’d just told her an implausible joke.

His smile said he didn’t believe her for a second and his stunning eyes glittered in the low light, laughing at her.

‘So tell me,’ he said in a way that put her even more on edge, ‘how did lover boy take your rejection last night?’

‘It wasn’t a rejection.’ She bristled at his arrogant confidence. Well, it was, she supposed, but it had nothing to do with him. ‘And his name is Simon.’

‘That wasn’t what I asked.’

‘I’m not telling you,’ she said, wishing now that she had headed for her room when the thought had first occurred to her.

‘It’s different when the boot’s on the other foot, isn’t it, angel?’

‘Stop calling me angel,’ Lexi fumed, feeling decidedly unsettled by his nettling. Especially when she conceded that maybe he had a point. If she wouldn’t answer his questions, why should he answer hers? ‘And of course he wasn’t happy, but he understood.’

It was one of the qualities that had initially drawn her to Simon. Calm, methodical, rational, dependable.

‘Understood what?’ Leo’s dark voice broke into her thoughts. ‘That he came second to me?’

Oh, what an ego!

‘That isn’t what happened at all,’ Lexi countered, uncomfortably aware that Simon would always come second to him if a woman had a choice.

‘No?’ He gave a wolfish smile.

‘No.’

‘So you told him what happened in my bed last night then?’ he asked silkily.

Lexi’s breath lodged in her throat. Damn it, he had remembered what had happened and had only been toying with her. How had she thought even for a second that a man like him would be interested in her as a woman?

‘Your list just got longer,’ she said smartly.

He disconcerted her by laughing. ‘Admit it, angel, you’re attracted to me.’

‘You’re wrong about that.’ She cleared her throat and nearly spilt her cup of tea.. ‘I would never be attracted to a man like you.’ It was a lie, but oh, she wished it wasn’t.

‘Trying to insult me to deflect how you feel isn’t very original,’ he said softly.

‘Neither is the size of your ego.’

Rather than be insulted, he laughed again. ‘I liked you in my bed,’ he said softly.

His lips curved into a lazy grin that made her stomach flip.

‘I was not in your bed,’ she insisted sharply, frustrated by her body’s automatic reaction to his suggestive tone. She had yet to find anything positive about this man and yet her body responded to his every move as if he was master of it. How could that happen when she didn’t even like him?