CHAPTER 5

Katherine cursed as she stumbled for the umpteenth time. She knew it had been a bad idea to wear heels this high, but her eyes had won against her head when she had been getting ready for work earlier in the morning. Now, she was bearing the brunt for her irrational decisions. She had many other comfortable shoes to wear on her formal outfits, but those shiny fuschia stilettoes were very appealing to her eyes.

It had played tricks with her mind,and she'd decided to wear them despite fully knowing that she could not walk about comfortably with shoes that high. Then came what she had most dreaded, but she knew was inevitable. She had to go down some stairs.

Her heart pounded in her chest as the fear that she would trip and fall down the stairs to the floor below, in front of all those people swelled. But what could she do? She had to go down the stairs. There were only ten of them,so perhaps there was still a chance that she could make it down the lot of them without falling.

Placing her shaky hand on the handrail, Katherine took in a deep breath, eyes firmly locked on her feet, brain focused on placing toe before heel. Then she started descending the stairs. One…Two…Three…Four… Five… Six…Seven…Relief swelled in her heart, but at the last moment Katherine let down her guard. She lost her focus and tripped.

Falling well over the last three steps, if Katie could've had a heart attack that instant, she probably would've. But instead of feeling the cold hard crack of the tiled white floor against her knees, warmth enveloped her, and a pair of strong arms wrapped against her body so that she ended up collapsing into a solid wall of male flesh. Her wobbly legs nearly gave in, but the strong hands holding her up steadied her until she was firm.

Relief hit her like a cool breeze, along with an earthy scent of rosewood and sandalwood and then Katherine remembered that someone had caught her before she fell and he was still holding her up. Katherine looked up to meet the deep black eyes of Nicholas Smith looking down at her. That couldn't have been a bigger slap to the face. Him? Nicholas Smith had saved her?

If she had been the one in his shoes, from the number of frustrating things she had been doing to him on purpose all week, he should have gladly let her fall so he could bask in the ecstasy of her embarrassing herself in front of everyone. But instead, he'd saved her.

But wait a minute. His arms were still around her. Katherine felt heat rise in her face and she quickly wriggled away from him, putting some distance between them. She couldn't even look him in the eyes.

"Thank you so much." She whispered . "If you hadn't been there, I don't know what would've…"

"You should be more careful." He said with a small smile. Then, he started up the stairs. Katherine watched him as he went. Guilt over what she had done stung her somewhere deep down. Maybe Nicholas Smith wasn't as bad as she thought. Maybe…she just didn't understand him.

Throughout the morning,as hard as she tried, Katie just couldn't understand why he did what he did. Later that day, when she passed by his table, she gently dropped the documents he needed after making sure they were well clipped together with the office pin. She decided to give him a second chance and wipe his slate clean.

"Thank you Miss Cooper." His mellifluous voice rang out just as she turned the corner to her table. Katie stopped in her tracks and looked at him, dazed. If she thought that had been shocking, then he did something even more surprising. He looked up from his desktop long enough to give her a small smile.

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Nicholas Smith for some reason felt somewhat exhausted after the days work. All he wanted was to leave the premises and head for home. Today, unlike all others when he would have driven himself, he had told his chauffeur to come and pick him up. Trailing his eyes out through the window, they were just leaving the driveway when the car passed a tall, slender woman in a black coat that embraced the slender curve of her waist lovingly.

Katherine Cooper.

She was just heading home too. He never thought he would find a tall, slender woman this attractive, but for some reason he did find Katherine Cooper attractive. She reminded him of a toy. And just like a kid would be, he felt drawn to her. He wanted badly to play with this intriguing toy that was just within his reach.

"Miles?" He called out to the chauffeur.

"Yes sir?''

"Stop the car."