It was probably just more of his need to be in control, she decided. After all, he’d never loved her so a divorce was the inevitable outcome. But knowing Zander it would be when he decided.
‘If you play the macho Greek then you know I’ll fight you,’ she croaked, making a feeble attempt to behave the way she felt she should and ignore her traitorous instincts.
‘I expect no less.’ His eyes glittered as they locked on hers. ‘I love combat. Particularly when it’s physical, agape mou.’
Suddenly breathing was a struggle. ‘Zander—?’
‘Have you forgotten that first time—’ his voice was low and disturbingly male as he hauled her still closer to him, the hard muscle of his leg brushing against her thigh ‘—we were on the beach?’
He wasn’t playing fair.
They should be looking forward, not back.
She closed her eyes, but it was a mistake. Without the reality of her surroundings the images exploded in her head without restraint.
His voice was relentless. ‘You’d done nothing but avoid me—’
She opened her eyes. ‘You were the boss. I didn’t want to get involved.’
‘But I did. You were always running—’ his voice purred in her ear ‘—teasing, playing games, making me chase you—’
Her eyes meshed with his. ‘It would have been better for both of us if I’d kept running.’
A wry smile touched his firm mouth and his grip on her tightened. ‘No. You were utterly sublime, agape mou. Not an experience I would have chosen to miss, whatever the price.’
The people around them had melted into the background. It was just the two of them. The two of them and the past.
She remembered the warmth of the sand and the weight of his powerful body as he’d neatly floored her and then rolled her under him on the beach.
‘I’d never had to chase a woman before.’ His smile was just for her. ‘It was unbelievably erotic.’
Her breathing was shallow as she remembered what had happened afterwards.
How utterly perfect it had been—
Suddenly aware that they were the object of considerable curiosity, she chewed her lip and felt her cheeks grow hot. ‘This is the wrong place for this conversation,’ she muttered, mortified in case the people around them could guess what had been going on. ‘Why did you ask me to come tonight?’
His eyes gleamed. ‘Because I enjoy your company.’
She gave a disbelieving laugh. ‘We fight.’
‘I enjoy fighting,’ he drawled. ‘It’s the reason I’m in business.’
‘You’re in business because you like winning.’
He smiled and reached for two glasses of champagne. ‘That too.’
She looked at him in frustration. ‘Have you ever lost a deal?’
‘No.’ He handed her one of the glasses. ‘Never.’
His tone made her shiver. ‘What makes you so driven, Zander?’ Suddenly she wanted to understand him. ‘What makes you go after more when you already have so much?’
Long dark lashes shielded the expression in his eyes. ‘Because I’m a cold, ruthless businessman who doesn’t have a compassionate bone in his body.’
She blushed slightly, recognisi
ng her own description. ‘You never open up, do you, Zander?’