‘I gave up a few years ago.’ Alex’s gaze dipped to her mouth and her lips tingled as if he’d reached out and touched them. A blaze of heat shot through her and she snatched up a napkin.
‘Why?’ His strength and agility and obvious skill as he leapt around the yacht had had desire and admiration seeping through her in equal measures.
‘Better to stop at the top of your game,’ he said, his lazy tone completely at odd
s with the brief awareness that had flared in his eyes.
‘Did you ever win?’
‘Yes.’
‘Big boats or little boats?’
‘Both.’
‘Solo or in a team?’
‘Both.’
Agh. Trying to get information out of Alex was nigh on impossible. His defences were so high she’d need crampons and breathing equipment to scale them. And as mountaineering had never appealed, Phoebe decided to switch tactic.
‘What made you go into venture capital?’
‘The bottom line,’ he said dryly.
‘Is that all?’
‘Isn’t that enough?’
‘Nope.’
Alex shrugged. ‘I’m good at it.’
‘Very good at it by all accounts.’
He shot her a quizzical glance. ‘Have you been checking me out?’
‘A little. Of course I didn’t have time to hire investigators. I simply looked you up on the Internet.’
‘What did you find?’
‘Surprisingly little for someone who has such a high profile.’ She’d found heaps of information about his business and his work, but absolutely nothing about his private life. Or Jo, for that matter.
He grinned. ‘I’m not that interesting.’
‘I don’t know about that.’ She might as well admit it. She didn’t need to know any of this for this evening. She wanted to know about him for herself. Which wasn’t all that surprising, she reasoned weakly. She’d always been interested in other people. OK, so she didn’t often burn with this degree of curiosity, but then most people weren’t so evasive. ‘You help people realise their dreams.’
Alex shook his head. ‘It’s all about maximising return.’
‘You helped Jo realise her dream. What return are you expecting from her?’
‘Jo’s family.’
‘What happened to your father?’
‘I never knew him. He died the year after I was born.’
‘And your stepfather?’