The joy of watching the two of them begin to form a bond—as they’d chatted about cars or had chased each other in a wild game of tag on the beach—had been intense at times, but it had also brought with it regret, confusion...and fear.
I needed to be careful. Alexi’s relationship with his son did not change his relationship with me.
But as I walked into the living room and glimpsed Alexi standing alone on the balcony, his pensive expression lit by the lights of the city and the gold of the sunset, I felt the reaction I had struggled to ignore all day ripple over my skin.
The chemistry was still there and still unbearably intense—last night had not dimmed it in the slightest. That one searing look he had given me in the car had proved that beyond a doubt.
‘Would you like a drink?’ I asked.
Alexi turned and shook his head.
I trembled, blaming the breeze that drifted in from the balcony, even though the evening was warm.
I should go and join him, talk to him, thank him again for the wonderful day he had given Cai...and myself. But I knew I couldn’t talk without babbling, and the balcony felt too intimate, my thoughts too volatile, to allow me to get that close to him. So I de
toured to the sideboard, planning to pour myself a drink. And spotted a note in Jessie’s handwriting propped on the dining table, addressed to me.
I picked it up and flicked it open.
Hey Cuz,
I hope you and Alexi and Cai had a fabulous day together. I’ve decided to take a last-minute trip to Paris and finally see the City of Lights, like I’ve been promising myself for ever!
I’ll make sure I’m back before you start work—just text me if you need me in the meantime.
Alexi seems like a good guy—he’s also super-hot! I’m sure the last thing you need right now is your old maid cousin cramping your style.
You can thank me later.
Jess xx
I screwed up the note with shaking hands.
Oh, Jess, what have you done?
My cousin wasn’t an old maid—she was younger than me, having taken me in when she was still in catering college. And she wouldn’t have cramped my style. If anything she would have been an important safety valve. One I desperately needed as I stole another glance at Alexi’s silhouette standing in the sunset looking proud, indomitable and... Yup, super-hot.
My cousin had deserted me in my hour of need. In fact, she’d gone over to the dark side—encouraging rather than curtailing the madness that had overtaken my senses the night before. Unfortunately, the same madness was coursing through my veins once more.
As I struggled to control the wave of excitement and need, the weird mix of panic and validation at Jessie’s desertion—and attempted to make a sensible decision about what to do without our chaperone in residence—Alexi turned, almost as if he’d sensed my struggle and decided to intervene.
I could feel his gaze rake over me as it had in the car, igniting every inch of exposed skin.
‘Stop hiding, Belle, and come here,’ he said, his expression full of the same intensity I had seen on his face as he’d lifted Cai out of his car seat and held him close. But this time his expression wasn’t stunned—it was raw and turbulent.
The need throbbed and ached at my core, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself from crossing the room towards him.
When I reached him, he cradled my cheek, the rough calluses of his palm stroking the sensitive skin.
‘Where is your cousin?’ he asked.
So he’d noticed Jessie’s absence too. He had to know how much more volatile the situation between us would become without her here.
‘She...she left a note,’ I babbled, the burning sensation becoming overwhelming as his head lowered to mine.
‘What does it say?’ he coaxed, before his warm lips settled on my neck, licking and nibbling the pulse point.
I gasped, sobbed, as he rubbed his mouth against my collar bone in an erotic rhythm that blurred my already dazed senses.