of her life for years had been her burning ambition to succeed on her own. She had no close friends, except perhaps Eve, who was now dead…
She turned and gazed at the sea; the Statis yacht, aptly named Lion Lore, rode at anchor and as she watched the coloured lights from prow to stern flashed on, as the sun sank below the horizon in majestic glory, turning the sea blood-red.
‘You must visit the outdoor opera in Verona; it is an experience not to be missed.’ His hand covered hers on the table. ‘Will you let me take you, Saffron?’ he asked in that throaty, sexy voice of his, his thumb teasingly stroking her palm.
In that second she realised she wanted to say yes! But she knew he was asking for a lot more than an evening at the opera and, snatching her hand from his, she jumped to her feet. ‘It’s time we left. Anna will need me.’
‘She’s not the only one,’ Alex taunted softly as he led her out into the balmy night air. Stopping at the edge of the water, he turned her to face him, linking his hands loosely around her waist.
Saffron tensed. Why did his words sound like a threat, she wondered, when his every look and touch promised her delights she could only guess at, and secretly longed for…?
‘Funny. For a girl with a passion for overtures…’ he bent and brushed the top of her head with the lightest of kisses ‘…you are very slow on picking up on them.’ His dark eyes smiled teasingly down at her.
Saffron grinned, her tension vanishing. ‘God, that was a terrible pun, Alex!’
‘It worked—it made you smile.’ And, holding hands, they made their way back to the yacht.
DINNER was again an informal affair; Anna had arranged for a hot and cold buffet to be served, unsure at what time Alex and Saffron would return.
Once more in the company of the older woman, Saffron sighed with relief, and the tension of the afternoon and her complete capitulation to Alex’s sexual charm faded to the back of her mind as the three of them partook of a leisurely meal on the rear deck beneath the star-studded canopy of the night sky.
Saffron sipped her wine and cast a speculative glance beneath her thick lashes at Alex. He and his mother were discussing some people they knew and Saffron was quite happy to let the conversation wash over her as she secretly studied him. He wasn’t really handsome—his features were too hard-cut and there was a certain ruthless hauteur about him that said, Watcher beware!—and yet he fascinated her as no other man she had ever met had.
Why was that? Why did she find herself wondering what it would be like to lose her virginity to a potent, sensual man like Alex Statis? Under her dress she felt her breasts go suddenly heavy; she trembled and folded her arms defensively across her chest, sitting straighter in the chair and fighting down the colour rising in her throat.
Why did he affect her so intimately? And, more important, why did she think she knew him? she asked herself for the hundredth time. He was way outside her sphere of experience, and yet there was something…! He was dressed as casually as usual in cream trousers and a blue knit polo shirt, his bare feet slipped into a pair of navy loafers, and yet the feeling of leashed power just below the surface was blatantly apparent. She’d bet he was a dynamic businessman, and she wondered just what kind of business he was in. Anna had told her the cruise line was now only a tiny part of Alex’s business interests. He kept it going in deference to his late father, but he had expanded into a host of other projects.
‘Sorry, ladies, but I have work to do.’ Saffron was jolted back to awareness by the sound of Alex’s voice. Startled, she looked up as he rose to his full height— well over six feet—and for a moment his dark gaze settled on her upturned face.
‘Don’t keep Mama up too late, will you, Saffron? We have guests arriving tomorrow.’
‘Hmmph!’ Anna’s inelegant snort prevented Saffron from answering. ‘It’s time you got yourself a decent wife and presented me with a few grandchildren, instead of fooling around.’
‘I might surprise you and do just that, Mother.’ He held Saffron’s gaze even as he responded to Anna. ‘What do you think, Saffron? Would I make a good husband?’ he asked with mocking amusement.
‘I wouldn’t know; I don’t know you,’ she said coolly and, turning her head, she caught the oddest look on Anna’s face.
‘Then I’ll have to make sure you do,’ Alex murmured, before moving to drop a brief kiss on the top of Anna’s head and adding, ‘You promised to behave yourself, Mama, so make sure you do.’
Saffron’s puzzled glance slid between the two of them. ‘What was that about?’ she asked when Alex had gone. ‘You always behave yourself.’
‘Yes…well…you haven’t seen the guests yet,’ Anna replied with dry irony, and Saffron could get no more out of the woman, though she did try as she saw her safely to bed.
By seven o’clock the following evening Saffron was beginning to see what Anna had meant. The boat had docked earlier in the day at an exclusive marina on the Athenian riviera some half an hour’s drive from the centre of Athens. She hadn’t seen Alex since breakfast that morning, when to her astonishment, on leaving the table, he had kissed his mother as usual and then bestowed a brief kiss on her—Saffron’s—softly parted lips as well, with the muttered comment, ‘As set-ups go, you’re the best yet.’
Blushing fiery red, Saffron had glanced at Anna to see her smiling like a Cheshire cat. ‘What was that about?’ she’d asked suspiciously.
‘Forget it, Saffy; Alex is a law unto himself.’
Forgetting had not been so easy, but they had seen nothing more of him until a couple of hours ago, when three long black limousines had drawn up and he’d appeared with his guests.
‘Give me your arm, dear, and let’s get the greetings over with,’ Anna had commanded as the party had trooped up the gangway.
‘You don’t sound very enthusiastic.’ Saffron cast a worried glance at her employer as she took the older woman’s arm and walked along to the foredeck and main reception area.
‘I’m not,’ Anna whispered in an aside before turning to the woman approaching her with a social smile. The woman was obviously Greek, and about the same age as Anna, but still very attractive.
‘Katherina, how lovely to see you.’ Kisses on both cheeks were exchanged and then Anna turned to a younger woman. ‘And Maria—how nice. And who is your friend—or is it your friend, Alex?’ She eyed her son, who brought up the rear of the group with another, older man.
‘Allow me to introduce Sylvia, who for the past three years has been the very efficient director of our health and leisure chain.’
Saffron’s head jerked round in surprise. So Alex owned a string of health clubs. Now why should that bother her? But it did. There was something niggling at the back of her mind, and if she could just remember… But she did not have the chance as she was swept into a flurry of introductions.
Sylvia, the only English member of the party, was about thirty and stunningly attractive, with black hair, dark eyes, a perfect figure and face, and a smile that would have floored Casanova himself. She dismissed Saffron with a contemptuous glance once she realised she was only a companion. As did Katherina and her daughter Maria. The older man, Spiros, was apparently Katherina’s husband.
Saffron shot a worried glance at Anna, who seemed to have gone very quiet among this crowd of confident relatives, and, edging her way to her side, she asked, ‘Are you all right?’
Alex caught her whispered question and responded for his mother. ‘Of course she is; she is with her family.’ But Saffron wasn’t so sure. And now, Saffron having just finished massaging