"Finally ... food," Alistair said as the door opened. She looked across at him. He grinned at her. "I'm starved."

Erik stood sharply. She stared at his right hand. It was clenched into a fist and shaking. She raised her eyes to his face and saw he was staring across the table at his brother. Her eyes moved to him. His brother was staring at her. There was a hunger in his eyes that unnerved her. She got the impression he wasn't starving for food.

Standing, she smiled when Erik looked at her, his eyes dark and saying things that she didn't dare believe. His reaction had nothing to do with the fact his brother had clearly come on to her. She was thankful for the distraction when Laura came over, nudging her out of the way so she could talk to Erik.

The food was laid out on the table and she went to the coffee urn, desperate for another caffeine fix.

Simon opened the doors onto the small garden and she took a deep breath when cooler air washed over her, waking her up and lifting the oppressively muggy air of the room.

She went to the balcony and sipped her coffee, grateful for a break from reading the contract and from sitting next to Erik. Being so close to him was too distracting. She just couldn't focus on her work when he was near her.

"There seemed to be something you didn't like in the contract," an amused voice said and she felt someone step up close beside her.

Really close.

She looked up into the eyes of Alistair. He smiled broadly and devoured a small neat triangular sandwich in one bite.

"Paragraph 157," she said, watching his expression closely.

He cocked a brow, the smile remaining fixed on his face, and then leaned closer to her. He smelt like sin-dark and enticing.

"Wouldn't you like to know about that one," he whispered, his breath cool against her face.

She frowned. There was definitely something not right about this contract. Alistair grinned and licked his

teeth. There was definitely something not right about him either.

"You're not supposed to talk to the opposing lawyer." Erik's deep voice stirred her senses.

She turned to look at him at the same time as his brother did. His face was darker than midnight.

"Oh ... I didn't know," Alistair said innocently and took hold of her hand. He shook it, running his other

hand over the back of it and covering it completely. He held onto it. She frowned again. "It's been nice

meeting you. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other soon."

He walked away and she stared at his back, confused and trying to figure out what he'd meant. She was going to be sitting across from him for the rest of the day and Tuesday too. Of course they'd be seeing each other. Or did he mean something else. He'd said they'd be seeing more of each other. Just how much more of her did he want to see?

She looked over at Erik. He was leaning against the railings, his eyes fixed on the garden below.

"What's paragraph 157 about?" she said, nervous about asking him. She had to know.

"You read it," he said.

"But I don't understand it."

He straightened, turned and frowned into the room. She presumed it was directed at his brother. She

was surprised when he walked in, leaving her on the balcony. It made her feel cold, as though he was angry with her for some reason, rather than his brother.

She followed him in and placed her cup down on the side.

"Do you have somewhere I can smoke?" Erik said, close by her elbow.

"There's the roof." She pointed upwards and felt a bit stupid when he smiled. It wasn't as though he wouldn't know where the roof was. They were generally on top of buildings.

"I can take you there," Laura said with a sweet smile.

He shook his head. "Kim looks hot."

Kim raised her brows when he turned to look at her.

He smiled and she blushed.

"I think she could use the air, and maybe we could discuss that paragraph."

Chapter 5.

Kim toyed with the cuff of her jacket and then removed it. She folded it neatly and slung it over her arm.

The lift was taking forever to come.

Erik shifted foot to foot beside her. Her gaze crept across to his shoes. If she had to guess, she'd say Armani. He was wearing black again. At least now she knew why he liked the colour. It was sensual.

She swallowed at that thought. What kind of client was so open with his lawyers? All the clients she'd ever met were formal, high-power businessmen who wouldn't have given her the time of day if they'd met on the street. But not Erik. From the contract, she could see he had money, and not just a little of it. Why was he so different?

"Sorry it's taking so long," she said, filling the silence.

He shrugged and smiled. His expression could easily have been taken for saying that he didn't care, but

she didn't let herself believe what her heart was saying to her. He'd just seen how warm she'd been in the stifling heat of the meeting room and that's why he'd asked her to go with him.

The lift pinged.

The doors clunked open.

She swallowed hard again and waited for him to step in before following him.

Turning, she pressed the button for the top floor and breathed deep as the doors closed. She was all right. She took deep breaths, telling herself that everything was going to be fine. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine herself in a larger space than the tiny cramped metal box that was now raising her up floors while leaving a perilously large empty shaft below for them to fall into when the cables snapped.

Her heart began to race.

It didn't help that she could feel Erik close behind her, just a little off to her right.

Her hands shook.

This was stupid. She shouldn't have mentioned the lift. She should have told him they'd have to take the

stairs.

She looked up and swore she could hear the cables rattling as the lift eased jerkily past a floor.

Then her worst nightmare happened.

It stopped.

She stared wide-eyed at the walls of the lift, trying to sense if it was still moving, desperate to convince

herself it was.

She smiled shakily over her shoulder at Erik.

He frowned.

"It does this a lot," she squeaked and then cleared her throat, trying not to let him see her fear.

He stepped towards her, cool and collected and seemingly not at all bothered by the fact that they were

trapped in a oppressively hot metal box about to plummet to their untimely deaths.

And all she could think about was kissing him, because if she was going to die, she wanted to know for real what it felt like before she went. She'd die happy then.

He brushed against her, pressing the alarm button, and then stepped back. A small squeaking noise

escaped her throat again. He smiled reassuringly, as though he'd seen how scared she was.

"It'll move again soon. You'll see," he said in a deep, calm voice.

She nodded and latched onto those words and the sound of his voice. It soothed her for a moment.

And then the lift moved.

It wasn't so much movement as a shudder. Metal rattled above her. Her heart sped into overdrive.

Her chest felt tight as she struggled to breathe normally. She gasped at air, but it only dried her throat

out, making it impossible to breathe. She looked at Erik, her eyes wide, and her whole body trembling as she panicked.

Any moment now, they were going to die.

"Are you all right?" he said, cocking his head to one side, looking concerned.

She nodded but then it turned into a shake of her head.

"I don't like lifts." She managed to squeeze the words out. Her voice sounded impossibly tiny and tight in her ears.

"You should have said." He pressed the alarm button again. Several times. "We could have taken the stairs."