His Last Chance at Redemption by Michelle Conder

never nightmares, angel.’
    She forced herself to hold his sensual gaze and decided the best thing she could do was to ignore his sexual banter. ‘Do you have them often?’ she asked, trying to redirect the conversation.
    ‘Erotic dreams? Not since I was a youth.’
    ‘Nightmares.’
    His eyes turned flinty. ‘You were mistaken if you thought I was having a nightmare. Perhaps you’re just looking for an excuse as to why you kissed me last night.’
    ‘
You
kissed
me
.’
    ‘That’s not how I remember it.’ He gazed at her through sleepy eyes.
    It wasn’t exactly how she remembered it either.
    ‘You were asleep. I was … We were both half asleep,’ she babbled stupidly.
    ‘And it was a lovely way to be woken up. I won’t be at all upset if you do it again.’
    ‘I would never go into your room voluntarily. You called out in your sleep. Someone named Sasha.’
    ‘You must have been mistaken. But now
I’m
going to bed.’ He stood up abruptly and towered over her. ‘Care to give me a goodnight kiss, angel?’
    Lexi stiffened at the audacious invitation and the instaneous ‘yes’ that leapt into her mind.
    ‘Just in case you’re labouring under the misapprehension that I find you funny, Mr Aleksandrov, I don’t.’
    She held her breath as his smouldering gaze lingered on her mouth. ‘Now there’s a pity. We might have had some fun together if you should ever lighten up.’
    If she …? Lexi’s face paled as his offhanded comment bit deep and shattered her confidence.
    Arrogant, stupid ass!

CHAPTER SIX
    T HE next morning Lexi didn’t see Leo at all, which was a good thing, she told herself.
    She was still frustrated at their conversation last night, realising too late that he’d used sexual innuendo to avoid talking about Ty and then had inadvertently hit on the same complaint Brandon had had with her. And if at times she appeared uptight it was because she’d learned to guard her feelings from a young age, her father’s betrayal having sapped all the happiness from her home for a long time after he’d left.
    She frowned. Maybe she should just give up on her goal to reunite father and son. Maybe it would be better if she avoided Leo at all costs. Ty wasn’t her child and she knew better than to become too attached to a child who was in her temporary care. And maybe Ty was better off with Amanda. It certainly seemed that way with the little interest Leo continued to display towards his son.
    Yes, she’d stop playing some modern version of Mary Poppins and keep well away from Leo Aleksandrov. Right after she spoke to him this morning about the young Greek girl, Carolina, he had apparently assigned to assist her. As if she needed an assistant!
    She rounded a corner of the yacht and smiled politely as yet another group of uber-trendy individuals passed her in the corridor.
    Leo’s weekend guests had arrived throughout the morning,some joining her and Ty by the pool and slipping into holiday mode as if they’d been born to it. One woman in particular, the supermodel Katya—no last name required, which was so yesterday, Lexi thought churlishly—had immediately rubbed her up the wrong way. Though whether that was because she had clung to Leo like the last autumn leaf on a tree or because she had that air of practised superiority about her Lexi wasn’t sure.
    Oh, who was she kidding? She’d been put out because of the way
Leo
had looked at
her
. A woman who was tall, stunning and exactly his type. Lexi wondered if she was his current mistress and felt her mouth pinch together. If she was, he was more of a cad than she had given him credit for. Flirting outrageously with her—kissing her and touching her—while his girlfriend was in transit from America.
    Lexi wandered from deck to deck and had no idea what level she was now on. She was almost out of breath and finally understood that the central glass elevator, beautifully inlaid with designer plants and flowers, was not just a showpiece for