Accustomed to that reaction from women seeing Alekos for the first time, Kelly bowed to the inevitable. ‘This is Alekos. Alekos, my friend and colleague, Vivien Mason.’
‘Alekos?’ Vivien’s eyes slid questioningly to Kelly, who gave a helpless shrug.
‘He’s the one who bought the ring.’
‘Ring?’ Vivien adopted a vacant expression which might have been convincing if it hadn’t been so exaggerated. ‘Oh, that old thing you keep in the back of your underwear drawer? I remember it—vaguely.’
Kelly’s face turned as red as a traffic light and she was horribly aware of Alekos’s interested stare.
‘Anyway, about this flood.’ Vivien glanced over her shoulder. ‘I’ll call a plumber, shall I?’
Alekos was looking at the water trickling into the corridor. ‘Unless he has super powers, your school will be under water before he arrives. Get me a tool box—something—whatever you have in this school,’ he ordered. ‘And turn off the water at the mains.’ With that, he strode along the corridor, leaving Kelly gaping after him.
‘Alekos, you can’t.’ Her eyes slid over his shockingly expensive suit and handmade shoes, and he turned his head and gave a mocking smile, reading her mind in a single glance.
‘Don’t judge a book by its cover—isn’t that what you English say? I flew straight from meetings in Athens. Just because I’m wearing a suit, doesn’t mean I can’t weld a pipe. Get me something to work with, Kelly.’
‘He can look that good and weld a pipe? Colour me bright green with envy,’ Vivien murmured faintly and Kelly gave her a shove.
‘Go and turn the water off.’
By the time the water was turned off and they’d located a rusty metal box of tools hidden in the caretaker’s cupboard, Alekos had discovered the fault.
‘The joint in this pipe has corroded.’ He’d removed his jacket and his shirt was soaked, sticking to his lean, muscled torso like another skin. ‘What’s in that box?’
‘I have no idea.’ Distracted by the sheer power of his body, Kelly struggled to open the box, staggering under the weight and Alekos frowned down at the assortment of tools.
‘Give me that one—no, the one underneath it; that’s it.’ He proceeded to remove the offending pipe and examine it closely. ‘Here is your problem.’ He ran his finger over a section of ancient pipe. ‘I doubt it’s been replaced since the school was built. Doesn’t anyone maintain this place?’
Vivien was gazing at his shoulders. ‘I don’t think our caretaker possesses your skills. And we’re a bit short of money.’
‘It doesn’t need much money, just regular maintenance. Kelly, my phone is in my back pocket—get it out.’
‘But—’
‘I have my hands rather full at the moment,’ he gritted. ‘Not to mention being soaking wet. If you could not choose this moment to argue, that would be appreciated.’
Kelly stepped through the water and slipped her hand into his pocket, feeling the hard muscle of his body burn through the wet fabric. Quickly, she closed her fingers around his phone and dragged it out, aware that he was as tense as she was. Four years ago she hadn’t been able to keep her hands off his body—and he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off hers.
It was something she’d been trying to forget ever since.
Judging from the sizzling glance he sent in her direction, he felt the same way.
Kelly gulped. ‘What do you want me to do?’
‘Speed dial.’ He gave her instructions and she did as he said, then held the phone to his ear so that he could speak. Listening to the flow of Greek, she wished she’d spent less time focusing on his body when they were together and more time honing her language skills. At very least she should have learned how to say ‘get out of my life’.
‘Do you know what he’s saying?’ Vivien hissed and Kelly shook her head just as Alekos ended the call.
‘I will have a team here in less than ten minutes.’
‘A team?’
‘I can fix this pipe for you, but I don’t have the equipment. We need a new section of pipe, the same diameter; my security team can locate what we need and have it here. It will do them good to have something useful to do instead of hovering on street corners.’ He wiped his damp forehead on his shoulder and then glanced around him in incredulity, taking in the peeling paint. ‘If this place were a ship, it would have sunk by now.’
‘It makes the Titanic look seaworthy,’ Vivien agreed fervently and Kelly rolled her eyes.
Being this close to Alekos, and in these circumstances, was the worst possible torture; she didn’t need to witness hero-worship from her closest friend. ‘Can we just get on with this? Alekos, I’m sure there’s somewhere you need to be. Now that you’ve identified the problem, we can sort it out, so you are free to go.’