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She suddenlyrealized that she didn’t want him to leave. She wasn’t ready for this to endyet.

She went afterhim, catching him just as he stepped onto the elevator. She made it onto theelevator too before the doors slid shut.

“Why are youleaving?” she demanded, glaring at him heatedly. “You’re acting like a jerk. Wewere having a conversation. There’s no reason for you to walk out on me.”

He lifted theeyebrows again. “The conversation was going nowhere. I understand that you feeluncomfortable about seeing me when you were with your boyfriend Saturday night.It’s perfectly natural. And you needn’t feel any guilt about discontinuing myservices.”

“He’s not myboyfriend,” she snapped, beginning with the most irrelevant of her objections.“And none of that is the point. You’re not acting like yourself. That’s whatall I wanted.”

“Lori, you’represuming too much.” He wasn’t looking at her now. He’d pressed the button forthe ground floor and was staring at the numbers light up as the elevatorstarted to descend. His voice was still cool and control, but his jaw andshoulders had tensed. “We’ve never had a personal relationship.”

“I’m not sayingwe did!” Her voice was loud, and she wished he would just get angry, show somereal emotion instead of the impersonal mask he put on. “I know it wasprofessional. But I thought we ...we worked well together. And I told you Ididn’t want to pretend anything, so I thought you were...were basically beingyourself when we talked.”

“You presumetoo much.” His eyes never left the lit numbers, but she noticed that his handwas clenched around the handle of his case.

“Stop sayingthat,” she bit out. The hotel was built in the forties, and the elevator wasone of the old fashioned ones with a thick brass rail running across the middleof the walls and an emergency stop they didn’t require a key. Afraid theelevator would reach the bottom before they could finish this conversation, Loripulled the emergency stop bottom, relieved when no alarm went off. “I’m notmaking this up. I’m not imagining things. I know how you normally act with me,and I know that’s not how you’re acting now. What the hell is wrong with you?Did I offend you somehow?”

“You didn’toffend me.” He reached for the emergency stop, but she planted herself in frontof him to keep him from starting the elevator up again.

“Well, then whyare you acting like you’re mad?” she demanded.

“I’m not mad.”His expression was still controlled, but a little muscle was twitching on oneside of his jaw and his voice sounded slightly impatient. “Lori, can you pleaseget out of the way?”

“No.” She wasstarting to understand now. Hewasmad. This coolness must be some sortof instinctive cover to mask his real feelings. She had no idea why he would beangry with her, however, and the idea really bothered her. “If I offended youin some way, I’d like to know how. I never wanted to. I’ve always tried to...tobe nice.”

Finally, he mether eyes again. “Lori, you don’t have to be nice. You pay me for my services.”

She almostsputtered in outrage. “What the hell does that mean? Of course, I have to benice. You’re a human being, aren’t you? What the fuck did your father do to youto make you think you don’t deserve to be treated with dignity and humanity?”

She hadn’treally meant to voice that last question. Her volatile feelings and confusiongot the best of her. But shehadvoiced it. Almost spit it out in hisface.

It finallybroke the iron control Ander had been using to rein in his feelings.

He turned on herabruptly, stepping forward, pressing her back against the wall with his intensepresence rather than force. “Lori,” he began, his voice thick and low. Heplanted one hand on the wall next to her head. “Ifuckyou. Youpayme. That’s our arrangement. That doesn’t entitle you to invade my privacy, demandto see the ‘real me,’ or pry into whatever motivations I might have for doingwhat I do.”

She gulped.She’d never seen him like this before. His blue-gray eyes held hers imprisoned.He was almost pulsing with some sort of intense emotion, and the force of itleft her trembling and boneless. “I didn’t mean ...” She had to start over whenher voice cracked. “I didn’t mean I wanted you to spill your guts. I justdidn’t want you to act so hard and cold. You’re mad at me, and I don’t knowwhy.”

“I’m not mad,”he said again, although his entire body belied his words. He was coiled sotightly he was practically shuddering. His cheeks were slightly flushed, andhis eyes had ignited.

Absurdly, Lorifelt her body respond. She knew it was entirely inappropriate. They were in themiddle of a very bizarre argument, and sex should be the last thing on hermind. But he looked so intense, almost passionate. For once, he seemed to beexpressing something real—with his body language if not with his words.

Her innermuscles clenched, and she felt her nipples tighten. Hoped it wasn’t visiblethrough the slinky silk of her camisole.

“You’re sureacting mad,” she snapped back. “You look like you want to rip my head off.”

“Lori.” Hisvoice was even thicker than before, and it ridiculously made her think aboutsex. He leaned his face toward her and gritted out against her ear, “Lori, givethis up. If you want to keep our appointment, we can go back upstairs. But myprivate thoughts are none of your concern.”

She shuddered.He wasn’t even touching her, but she felt him all over her skin. Blazing withheat and desire, she still managed to hold up her end of the argument. “I toldyou I don’t want you to spill your guts. Keep your private thoughts toyourself. Just tell me how I made you mad.”

“For the fourthtime,” Ander rasped, still speaking into her ear. “I’m not mad.”

She shiftedrestlessly against the wall, dying for some sort of friction against her skin.Her squirming caused her to brush up against Ander.

She feltsomething. Something that shocked her so much her mouth fell open. Her lowerbelly had brushed against the front of Ander’s trousers.

He was hard.

He must haveseen her reaction. He must know that she knew he was aroused. He didn’tacknowledge it in any way, though. He’d pulled back enough to look her in theeye and ask hoarsely, “Tell me why you’ve continued to schedule engagementswith me.”

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