'Oh, yes, there are snakes-' his grin widened as he glanced towards her thoroughly inadequate shoes '-and then there are the giant

anteaters, jaguars and the-'

'OK, I think I've heard enough,' she said breathlessly, interrupting him

with a shaky smile. Any moment now she'd be clinging to his arm and begging him to fly her home. 'I'm sure Mr Cordeiro wouldn't live here if it were that dangerous.'

The pilot threw back his head and laughed. 'You obviously don't know the first thing about him. He lives here because it's that dangerous, baby doll. He has a low boredom threshold. Likes to live life on the edge, so to speak.'

Baby doll? The careless way he'd diminished her to nothing irritated

Grace sufficiently for her to forget her nerves. All her life she'd been

patronised and underestimated. All her life people had doubted and dismissed her. And she'd proved them wrong, over and over again. She'd fought against the odds and she'd succeeded. Until now.

Now she was in danger of losing everything she'd worked for.

And she wasn't going to let that happen.

This was probably the most important fight of her life and she was going to win. She had to win. And to win she had to forget that she was probably the worst person in the world to be given the responsibility of talking numbers with the Brazilian billionaire with the computer brain.

She had to forget everything except the consequences of losing. And the

people depending on her. If she failed then they lost their jobs, it was as simple as that.

If Rafael Cordeiro called in his loan, then it was all over.

The humid, oppressive heat wrapped itself around her like a thick, suffocating cloak and she pushed a damp strand of hair away from her face, her eyes drawn upwards, following the straight lines of the trees that rose to such impressive heights. It was like being in a remote, exotic paradise and it was hard to remember that cities like London and Rio de

Janeiro even existed. 'Isn't he afraid, living out here?'

'Cordeiro?' The pilot chewed on a piece of gum and gave a grim smile.

'He isn't afraid of anything.'

Knowing that if she heard any more about the man she wouldn't have

the courage to face him, let alone fight her corner, Grace stumbled out of

the helicopter and discovered that her legs were shaking. At that precise

moment she would have been hard pressed to say whether she was more afraid of the jungle or Rafael Cordeiro.

In a world obsessed with celebrity and image, he treated the notion of both with something approaching contempt, rejecting every invitation to talk about himself. And he didn't need to, because everyone else did the

talking for him. The papers were full of curvaceous blondes who'd been

persuaded to 'tell all' for the right amount of money. And so the whole world knew about his relentless pursuit of his billions, his prowess as a lover and his determined refusal to indulge in 'happy ever after'.

Once. Once he'd done that and the news of his glamorous wife's

departure from his life after less than three months of wedded bliss had

filled the newspapers with stories that had lasted longer than the marriage.

He'd been impossible to live with.

He'd ended their relationship by email.

He was only interested in making money. And more money.

The speculation had been endless but if any of it was to be believed then Rafael Cordeiro was little more than a machine and she knew, she

just knew, even before she had to fight for her business, that he was

going to be just the sort of man that brought out the worst in her.

She wouldn't look at him, she promised herself. If she didn't look at him

she wouldn't become tongue-tied or stammer. She'd just pretend that she was in her small sitting room at home, talking to the mirror as shealways did when she had an important presentation to memorise.

Grace felt her stomach lurch again and this time the feeling of sickness

that enveloped her had nothing to do with the helicopter and everything to do with her past. At times like this-times that really mattered-the

memories rolled up behind her like a giant wave, waiting to engulf her.

For her this was the ultimate test. And she wouldn't fail. She just couldn't.

Too much was at stake.

There was no reason to be afraid of Rafael Cordeiro, she assured

herself as she stroked a hand over her straight, formal skirt and forced herself to move forward onto the wooden walkway that was suspended

above the forest floor.

His personal life, no matter how dark, wasn't her concern. This meeting was about business and, whatever murk hovered around the man, he was a businessman, like her father. When she showed him her

plans for taking the business into profit, he'd be positive. He'd change

his mind about calling in the loan. She would save everyone's job and then she could fly home and leave the jaguars, the snakes and the billionaire Brazilian businessman to their jungle hideaway.

The tropical heat made her suit stick to her body and suddenly she

realised just how woefully ill-prepared she was to meet this man. She wasn't even comfortable in her clothes. Stooping to free the spindly heel of her shoe from the careless bite of the wooden planks beneath her feet,

Grace clutched the briefcase in her hand and suddenly wished she'd

gone over the figures one more time in the helicopter.

But what difference would that have made? With the help of her

father, she'd committed them to memory. There was nothing in her

briefcase that wasn't already fixed in her mind.

Jerking her shoe from the jaws of the walkway, she regained her balance and straightened. And saw him.

He stood directly in front of her, as dark and dangerous as anything

that might have prowled out of the jungle, his body completely still, his eyes watchful.

And he was watching her.

Entirely unprepared for the physical impact of the man, Grace ceased

to breathe. The helicopter, the rainforest and all her problems just

seemed to melt into the background and she was conscious only of him.

His tarnished reputation had caused her mind to conjure up physical images that were so far removed from reality that for a moment Grace

couldn't do anything except stare, as hundreds of women had undoubtedly stared before her.

His eyes locked on hers with the lethal accuracy of a deadly weapon

and the breath left her body and every thought was sucked from her

mind. For a wildly unsettling moment she couldn't remember anything

about herself. She couldn't remember what she was doing here. Her body felt strangely lethargic and warmth as thick as treacle spread slowly through her limbs.

'Miss Thacker?' The hard bite of his deep, masculine voice was sufficient to wake her from her dreamy contemplation of his manly

attributes and she gave a little start, desperately hoping that he hadn't

noticed her embarrassing reaction.

So much for being cool and businesslike, she thought. And so much for her plan not to look at him. His physical presence and his film-star looks demanded attention. As she stood there gaping, it was a struggle to

remind herself that this man was said to be ruthless and cold-hearted.

For her, that wasn't a winning combination of character traits.

Looking into his deep-set, cynical eyes, she decided that there was something about his cool scrutiny that made him more menacing and intimidating than all the jungle predators put together and she knew in

an instant that his pilot had been telling the truth about one thing-this man was no angel.

Forcing her legs to move, she walked towards him, her briefcase in

one hand, the other seeking the reassurance of the rough rope handrail.

Even without the benefit of billions of dollars, Rafael Cordeiro would have attracted women. His hair was blue-black and swept back from a

face that was as hard as it was handsome. The golden sheen of his bronzed skin betrayed his Brazilian heritage and the soft fabric of his casual shirt clung to shoulders that were wide and powerful.

She watched for his reaction to her arrival but he revealed nothing.

His mouth didn't shift into a smile and his eyes, so dark and brooding, showed no sign of welcome. It seemed that he was as unfriendly as he was handsome and the way he was looking at her made her want to

sprint back up the walkway and leap into the departing helicopter.

If she hadn't known better she would have thought she'd upset him in