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‘You’re a one-per-center, though. You’re already in a bunch of minority sections. Top of your class. Most wealthy.’
Most gorgeous.
‘And you think that makes me more likely to be killed in a freak gondola accident?’ He sounds amused.
‘You’re all kinds of special,’ I mumble.
His hand tightens on mine. ‘Look at me,’ he says softly. ‘We’re going to be fine.’
‘You don’t know that.’ But I breathe out slowly. I am not going to lose it here. I never lose it. I stay calm even when a situation seems dire. ‘But there’s nothing either of us can do in this moment to make it better.’
‘No?’
I pause, struck by a sudden frisson in the atmosphere between us.
‘Powerless is not a position I’m used to being in,’ he says.
I can well believe it. And, even though I mightn’t have the money he does, I do have my own drive. ‘Me neither.’
‘You were in charge of all the wait staff.’ He nods. ‘You’re usually in control?’
‘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 howI’llever 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.’
Mypulse 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.
