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‘Of everything front of house.’
‘Yeah,’ he mutters. ‘You were more than efficient. You control everything else too. Multiple jobs—even how the milk spills into a cup...’
I loathe feeling as though I have no control over my life. My whole childhood was hostage to my mother’s whims. Ava and I had no choice about where we lived or for how long. Mum made us pack up and move on in an afternoon. I left places and people I loved without the chance to say goodbye or explain why. That’s not how I live now and it’s not how I’ll ever make anyone live.
‘Two control freaks trapped in a stalled gondola in the middle of an electrical storm...what a nightmare.’ I manage a smile.
He smiles back. ‘It’s not so awful.’
I shoot him a sceptical look. ‘I can feel your pulse racing.’
‘It is,’ he says. ‘But not because I’m scared.’
My pulse races. Not because I’m scared either. ‘I guess there’s nothing like a natural disaster as a great leveller. Your money isn’t going to make any difference now.’
‘Have I lost what little lustre I had?’ He’s mock mournful.
‘You know I was never attracted to your billions, but your brawn could still be useful.’
‘Brawn?’ He almost chokes on a laugh. ‘How so?’
Searing temptation takes hold of me and suddenly it doesn’t matter that he froze me out the last time I tried flirting with him. This time he’s intimately close—I can feel his pulse, see his smile, and it’s intoxicating. ‘I think my chances of survival will be higher if you cushion my landing.’
‘What?’ His jaw drops.
‘If you’re wrapped around me I’ll be protected.’
‘So I’ll go splat and you’ll be saved.’ He smiles. ‘From this height?’
Amusement shimmers through us both.
‘I’m happy to increase my odds even if it’s only by an infinitesimal amount,’ I breathe.
He leans closer. ‘Are you asking me to hold you?’
I can’t answer. His grip on my fingers tightens and while he cups my jaw with his other hand he leans closer still. I stop breathing.
And my stomach rumbles. Loudly. I stifle a moan. As if it weren’t mortifying enough to be so gauche in here with him.
‘You’re hungry,’ he teases softly.
I’m thirsty too. Frankly I have all kinds of needs right now. ‘I’ll survive.’
But my pulse skips. If this is the moment before my death then I don’t want to go without having ever kissed a man. And a man is right here with me and he seems like he might—
‘Do you need distraction from that as well as the imminent disaster?’ he asks.
‘What kind of distraction are you thinking of?’
‘Well, you did think I was the entertainment but I think a lap dance might make the car swing too much. I think we’re going to have to take this gently and slowly.’
I stare at him warily, because when it comes down to it I can never trust anyone. ‘You froze me out with your silence in the restaurant.’
‘No. You stunned me into silence.’ His expression softens. ‘I was trying to stay in control. I couldn’t do this there.’
‘This?’
The brush of his lips is balmy, teasing. His tenderness takes me by surprise, as does the moment he takes to lean back and search my eyes. I realise he’s seeking my consent.
