She didn’t want to feel like this any more, she thought hazily, yet she couldn’t stop herself leaning forward and giving herself up to the pleasure of the moment.
His mobile phone rang, shattering the silence. For a moment he ignored it, before abruptly pulling away. ‘Sorry, Katie, I better take this call.’
She shrugged and tried not to care.
‘Hi, Mark, what’s the situation at the New York office?’
How was he able to kiss with such passion and then sound perfectly controlled the next moment?
Because he didn’t connect with her on an emotional level—she answered her own question and tried to pull herself together.
This was no good—she needed to regain control. She smoothed her hair back from her face, and reached to pick up her handbag.
‘Won’t be long,’ she murmured as she caughtAlexi’s eye.
He nodded. ‘Just deal with it, Mark,’ he snapped. ‘I don’t give second chances—the guy has messed up.’
Katie headed down the corridor. Alexi was a ruthless businessman; she knew that. But she’d also read enough about him in the gossip columns to know he could be ruthless in his private life, too.
He’d been married once, and since his divorce he’d changed his women with the weather.
If this pregnancy test was positive, she was going to be on her own. She was already aware of the rumour that his marriage had ended because he hadn’t wanted children and his ex-wife had.
And their affair meant nothing to him!
How could she have been so stupid?
She’d grown up in a single-parent family, and it had been tough. Even now the memories haunted her.
If the test was negative she would learn her lesson, she promised herself fiercely. And she would finish with Alexi once and for all.
CHAPTER ONE
KATIE walked into the impressive foyer of the Madison Brown building with a feeling of excitement. It was the first day of her new job, and she couldn’t wait to start.
It had taken her a month to find this position—a month of sifting through the many job offers and holding her nerve until the perfect post had come her way. Just in time, as well, because being within the solitude of her apartment had started to become like some kind of torture. Being alone every day had given her too much time to think about Alexi—to miss Alexi—and she didn’t want to do that.
Even the thought of his name now made a feeling of pain rise inside her, and angrily she tried to stifle it. She was being ridiculous. She’d known the score, and she’d done exactly the right thing in leaving Demetri Shipping, and exactly the right thing in finishing with Alexi.
‘Hi.’ She smiled at the receptionist, who looked up at her. ‘Katie Connor, new project manager.’
‘Ah, yes, Ms Connor. Go on up to the top floor. The new managing director wants to talk to you before you start.’
Katie headed for the lifts and tried to ignore the sudden quiver of first-day nerves. Everything would be fine, she told herself firmly. They’d practically headhunted her for this job. The employment agency had told her that she was the only one on their books to have been selected for an interview. And the guy who’d rung to offer the job had told her the interview panel had been impressed with her level of experience. Obviously the fact that she had managed such a successful project at Demetri Shipping had paid off. He’d then told her that, by the time she started work, Madison Brown would be a satellite company of a big conglomerate called Tellesta.
She’d done her homework; she knew that Tellesta was a massive corporation, almost as big as Demetri Shipping.
There was going to be plenty of scope for her to develop her organisation skills—plus there was going to be the opportunity to travel to the sister offices in Paris and New York. She was looking forward to the excitement and the challenges that lay ahead.
The lift doors opened on the top floor, and she walked to the desk at the far end of the room where a young woman was switching on her computer and sorting through the morning post.
‘Hi, my name is Katie Connor, I’m—’
‘The new project-manager.’ The woman finished her sentence for her and smiled. ‘I’m Claire; I’ve been told to show you to your office.’
Katie looked around her with interest as she followed the woman down a long corridor. The modern offices showed spectacular views across London. The boardroom they passed was vast, with state-of-the-art conference equipment. ‘This place is fantastic,’ Katie murmured, lingering at the door.
‘All newly instated,’ Claire informed her proudly. ‘The new parent company completely gutted the place, and money was no object. There’s even a heliport upstairs, for the bigwigs to fly in and out from the airport to save time.’
‘Very impressive.’
‘Yes, it is, isn’t it?’ Claire opened a door at the end of the corridor. ‘This is yours.’
Katie could hardly believe her luck! It was a large corner-office with views along Canary Wharf. With difficulty she dragged her eyes away from the view and concentrated on the desk and the stack of files sitting on top of it.
‘I was told to gather research material for you,’ Claire murmured as she watched Katie flicking through the top layers of papers. ‘And you are to attend a meeting in the boardroom at ten.’
‘OK.’ Katie nodded. ‘I thought the managing director wanted a word first?’
‘He did, but he’s had to go down to one of his other companies. He said he’d see you in the boardroom. Oh, and he’s asked if you will look at the pre-Christmas budget figures and prepare a preliminary report on how you think they can be improved. He wants you to run your ideas past the board.’
‘He wants me to prepare the report before ten?’ Katie felt her nerves start to stretch a little.
‘Afraid so.’ Claire pulled a face. ‘He’s a man in a hurry.’
‘I’ll say!’
As Claire left, Katie took off her suit jacket and hung it up on the hook beside the filing cabinets.
This was what she’d wanted, she told herself as she started to sort through the piles of paper, a job that would challenge her and take her mind off the past.
The excitement of her previous job had been almost addictive—or had that been the excitement of being with Alexi?
Swiftly she cut the thought and told herself that she had missed the cut and thrust of working for a dynamic company for the last few weeks, that was all. Alexi had been a mistake. She flicked through the papers angrily and tried to concentrate. But for a few moments no matter how hard she tried all she could think about was Alexi. Alexi kissing her…Alexi caressing her, possessing her…
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she reminded herself how scared she had felt when she’d thought she was pregnant. Thank heaven that test had come back negative, because Alexi was definitely not into commitment. His business was his one and only priority.
He’d looked at her almost coldly when she’d told him she wasn’t going to stay on with the company.
‘Is this an emotional decision or a business one?’ he’d asked.
‘Does it matter?’
‘Yes.