And it was. With Alekos giving orders, the men worked as an efficient team, but what really surprised her was that he did the actual work himself. His team gave him what he asked for and, while he fixed the pipe they set about cleaning up the water and setting up drying machines.
By the time Alekos had finished, a new section of pipe had replaced the old piece that had rusted away and the cloakroom was drying.
Kelly was just trying to slink away when he closed his hand around her wrist like a vice. ‘No. No more running.’ Hauling her against him, Alekos swung her into his arms; Kelly made a choked sound and clutched at his shoulders for support.
‘Alekos! What are you doing? Put me down.’
Half-alarmed, half-laughing in envy, Vivien put a hand on his arm. ‘Whatever you do, don’t drop her! Gosh, if you’re that desperate you can use my classroom, if you like, it’s empty.’
‘Put me down!’ Kelly snapped, twisting in his arms. ‘I want to keep the respect of these children and I won’t be able to do that if you’re carrying me through the school like—’
‘Like a man?’ Ignoring her, Alekos said something in Greek to his team and strode out of the door. ‘You’ve put on some weight since you were nineteen.’
‘Good.’ Kelly banked down the hurt caused by that comment. ‘I hope you put your back out.’
‘It was a compliment—the extra weight appears to be distributed in all the right places, although I can’t be sure without a closer inspection.’
‘How can you say things like that when you’re involved with another woman? You’re disgusting.’
‘You’re jealous.’
‘I’m not jealous. As far as I’m concerned, your sick-eningly skinny blonde can have you.’ Kelly wriggled, but wriggling just made him hold her more firmly so she lay still, trying not to breathe in his familiar male scent—trying not to look at the dark shadow of his jaw and the impossibly long lashes. ‘Put me down right now, Alekos.’
His answer was to kiss her, and as she slipped downwards through a hazy mist of thick, swirling desire Kelly heard Vivien’s envious voice coming from somewhere in the distance.
‘Given the choice of him or four-million dollars, I’d choose him every time. Way to go, Kel.’
THE sleek black Ferrari roared along the narrow roads; Kelly was glad he’d dropped her into the seat because her legs had turned to jelly. ‘I can’t believe you kissed me in front of everyone. I will never be able to look at any of them again.’
‘I thought we dealt with your inhibitions four years ago.’
‘I was not inhibited! You were just always doing really embarrassing stuff that—’
‘You’d never done before. I know.’ He shifted gears in a smooth movement. ‘I pushed it too fast, but I’d never been with anyone as inexperienced as you.’ He was supremely cool and her face burned hot as a furnace.
‘Well, I’m sorry!’
‘Don’t be. I’m Greek; teaching you was the most erotic experience of my life.’
Kelly squirmed. ‘And then there was the whole thing with the lights.’
‘Lights?’
‘You always wanted them on!’
‘I wanted to see you.’
Kelly slunk lower in her seat, remembering all the ways she’d tried to hide. ‘Haven’t you ever heard of global warming? We’re supposed to be turning lights off. Anyway, never mind that. I’m not inhibited, but that doesn’t mean I’ve turned into an exhibitionist. And, actually, I just don’t want to kiss you. The thought of kissing you revolts me.’
Without taking his eyes off the road, he smiled. ‘Right.’
It was the smile that flipped her over the edge—that and the fact that her pulse rate still hadn’t returned to normal. ‘How dare you just barge in here after four years and not even offer so much as an explanation? You’re not even sorry, are you? You don’t have a conscience. I could never hurt anyone the way you hurt me, but you just don’t care.’
For a moment she thought he wasn’t going to answer. His hands whitened on the wheel and his mouth compressed. ‘I do have a conscience,’ he said harshly. ‘That’s why I didn’t marry you. It would have been wrong.’
‘What? What sort of twisted logic is that? Oh, never mind.’ Kelly closed her eyes, completely humiliated. She’d kissed him back—hungrily, desperately, foolishly. ‘Why did you kiss me, anyway?’
He shifted gears again, his hand strong and steady. ‘Because you wouldn’t stop talking.’
Kelly’s ego shrivelled still further; it was not because she was irresistible or because he just couldn’t help himself. He’d kissed her as a method of shutting her up. ‘Slow down. I get car sick.’ Not for anything would she admit that the kiss had made her dizzy. Alekos knew everything there was to know about kissing a woman, which was just her bad luck, she thought gloomily. Staring out of the window as trees flashed past, she wondered what he’d meant by that comment. Why had his conscience stopped him from marrying her—because it wouldn’t have been fair to deprive all those other women of great sex?
She swallowed down a hysterical laugh.
It was almost worth tearing the ring from round her neck just to make this whole thing end. What did she have left to lose? Only her pride. And Alekos wasn’t stupid. He probably knew exactly how she felt about him.
She wished now she hadn’t given him the address of her cottage, but she’d been so embarrassed by the exhibition he’d created at the school that she’d just wanted to escape.
Her heart pounding, her mouth dry, Kelly tried to think clearly, but it was impossible to think, jammed into this enclosed space with him. The length of his powerful thigh was too close to hers, and every time she risked looking at him the memories came flooding back: his firm, sensual mouth brushing hers, proving to her that she’d never properly been kissed before; his strong, clever hands teaching her what her body could do, stripping away her inhibitions, everything so shockingly intense and exquisitely perfect that she’d felt like the luckiest woman on the planet.
But their relationship had been more than just incredible sex.
It had been laughter and an astonishing chemistry. It had been fun.
It had been the most stimulating relationship she’d ever had, before or since.
And the most painful.
There had been moments when she’d thought that losing him would be the end of her—standing there, waiting for a man who didn’t turn up. Trying to pretend it didn’t matter.
Transported straight back to her childhood, Kelly closed her eyes and reminded herself that it was different. The trouble was that rejection felt pretty much the same, no matter who was responsible.
‘Take the next left,’ she said huskily. ‘I live in the pink cottage with the rusty gate. You can park outside. I’ll get you the ring and you can go.’
This was a good test of how she was doing, she told herself. If the only way she could handle her feelings for Alekos was by not seeing him, then what had the past four years been about? Why invest so much time on rebuilding a life so carefully if it could be that vulnerable?
She’d got over him, hadn’t she? She’d moved on. Apart from the occasionally disturbing dream involving