With that in mind, he pulled out his phone and called the tender to come and pick them up directly from the beach. If she wanted to enjoy a beach he’d take her to a real one that wasn’t crowded with noisy holidaymakers like this one.
Lexi closed her eyes and turned her face up to the sun and let another fistful of sugar-soft sand sift through her fingers as she lay on the beach chair Leo had organised to be delivered from the nearby yacht. The beach was privately owned and, since they were the only ones on it, it almost felt as if they were shipwrecked. Shipwrecked with an icebox full of treats and drinks, a beach umbrella to ward off the sun’s rays, since there were no actual trees on the island to speak of, and a mega-yacht anchored a little way out at sea with every conceivable luxury known to mankind. She smiled and nearly pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
The only sound around her was the sound of Ty and Leo building a sandcastle by the water’s edge and the whisper of the gentle waves as they rolled on and off the beach.
This was so far removed from her real life it was like entering a
fantastic dream. She just had to keep reminding herself of that every time her mind started trying to build its own sandcastles in the air!
‘So what do you think of this beach?’ Leo’s deep voice rumbled from somewhere overhead and interrupted her happy thoughts.
Lexi squinted up at his dark outline and smiled. ‘It’s okay if you like this sort of thing,’ she mused as if she wasn’t sure if she did.
His eyes trailed over her and her nipples peaked. ‘It seems to me this is exactly the sort of thing you like.’
‘Well, the sand is very soft.’
‘And hot. Like you. And now me.’
‘You could always take a dip in the ocean to cool off.’
‘I do plan to take a dip,’ he said suggestively, ‘but it’s not in the ocean. Have you had enough of this beach for one day?’
Lexi felt a zing of excitement deep inside her as his brilliant blue eyes lingered on her lips. She had now. ‘Yes. You?’
‘No need to ask, angel.’
Leo quickly organised the tender to head over and pick them up and, after a shower and a light dinner, Lexi returned to her room and wrapped herself in an oversized cotton cardigan before wandering outside to her private balcony. She had thought about heading up onto one of the main decks for a relaxing drink but she was tired from all the sun and lack of sleep the night before, and didn’t want to appear as if she was deliberately seeking Leo out. Their relationship had shifted gear in a big way today and she didn’t know what to make of it or how to ask what he was thinking without appearing needy and insecure.
She knew he still had secrets and she didn’t feel as if she could truly let herself relax with him until she found out more about him. She was desperate to know who Sasha was for one, and why Leo’s dreams were so tormented. She’d been wrong about how he felt about Amanda and she didn’t want to make up stories in her head about Sasha either, but that seemed impossible for her not to do.
‘Is Ty asleep?’
Lexi felt Leo’s presence just before he spoke and looked over her shoulder, her heart skipping a beat at the sight of him, fresh from the shower in T-shirt and jeans. There was something about seeing him in casual gear that reached out to her. He looked like someone who was accessible and not the out of reach Russian oligarch that he really was. ‘Yes. He went out like a light half an hour ago.’
She turned back to stare out over the water and felt him come up behind her. ‘And you? How are you feeling?’
Confused.
‘Tired. It was a wonderful day. Thank you for taking us.’
He reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back into his chest. ‘The day’s not over yet,’ he murmured against the top of her head.
Lexi let herself lean her full weight into him and soaked up his manly smell, which now seemed so familiar to her.
Gathering her courage in hand, she decided she had nothing to lose by asking the question uppermost in her mind. ‘Can I ask you something?’
‘You know that always makes a man want to say no.’
‘Who’s Sasha?’
He stiffened for a moment before fanning his hands out over her belly and bending his knees a little so he could nuzzle the side of her neck. ‘Sasha is no one you need to worry about.’
Lexi felt herself stiffen this time and gripped the wooden railing more tightly. ‘You’re not still seeing her, are you?’
He stopped nuzzling her and spun her abruptly towards him, grasping her chin between his thumb and finger and forcing her eyes to his, his expression fierce. ‘I’m not your father or your ex, Lexi. I don’t play around on a woman if I’m sleeping with her.’
Lexi swallowed, not doubting him for a second but remembering an earlier comment he had made about not having girlfriends, only bed partners. ‘That’s good to know.’