The Dominant Male. Sarah Holland
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said dreamily. ‘Let me know what happens!’
Rhiannon gave her a sharp look and left the office, striding as purposefully as she could across the open-plan area with its potted palms and air-conditioning, heading for the chairman’s lift.
The lift took her to the fifteenth floor with luxurious speed.
Her reflection in the mirrored wall undermined her confidence. The shimmer of helpless femininity in her green eyes was so severe she could barely look at it herself.
Nervous, she tidied her long black hair, but it still fell softly around her flushed pink face, making her look girlish despite the smart red skirt-suit she wore—and even that made her look desirably female, with its nipped-in waist and figure-hugging cut.
Walking out of the lift and onto the plush oyster-coloured carpets, she tried to look confident, but inside her heart was thudding hard and her legs were actually shaking.
‘Miss Windmorr!’ The secretary smiled as she entered the outer rooms. ‘Mr Solomon is expecting you.’
‘Thank you!’ she said unsteadily.
‘Gabriel Stone is with him!’ breathed the secretary. ‘He is the sexiest man I’ve ever seen in my life! Lucky you, being invited in to meet him!’
‘Lucky old me!’ Rhiannon said thickly, and knocked on the door, then entered at Solomon’s shout.
Gabriel Stone was standing by the windows, with Steve Solomon next to him. Both men were in an attitude of old friends, but it was clear—so clear—who was the more powerful of the two, because not only did Gabriel Stone tower over Steve Solomon but everything about him, from the cut of his impeccable grey suit to the lift of his dark head, shouted, Power. Authority. Masculinity. Superiority.
He turned with a cool smile to look at her, ruthless blue eyes glittering with mockery.
In silence she met his gaze measure for measure, but her heart was beating like a crazy drum.
She wanted him so much she could barely stand.
And he knew it. How could he fail to notice that her eyes flashed over him with desire? Flashed over the hard muscles emphasised by the grey suit, the taut waistcoat, the silver watch-chain gleaming across it and the dark red silk tie knotted at his throat.
‘Miss Windmorr!’ he drawled smokily. ‘We meet again.’
‘Hello, Mr Stone.’ Her voice was more confident than she could have prayed for it to be. ‘What brings you to my offices?’
‘Oh, are they yours? I was under the impression that they belonged to Steve Solomon, here.’
‘Yes, of course. Forgive me.’ Humiliating colour stung her cheeks. ‘Welcome to Solomon Associates, Mr Stone. How may we help you?’
He smiled with lazy satisfaction. ‘Well, now, that’s the kind of welcome I prefer!’
Rhiannon’s green eyes filled with furious rebellion as she thought to herself, You rotten, power-wielding snake!
‘I’ve been discussing the possibility of switching all my accounts from Rawdon and Taylor to Solomon’s. I’d prefer to test the water first, so I’ll only hand over one account initially. I’d like you, Miss Windmorr, to work on it for me.’
‘I’m afraid I can’t at the moment,’ she informed him. ‘I’m still working on Carillo’s Cuban coffee.’
‘What a pity,’ said Gabriel softly. ‘In that case, I’ll have to withdraw my offer.’
Her jaw dropped in shock.
‘Er, Mr Stone,’ Steve said rapidly, shooting a furious glare at her, ‘I’m sure Rhiannon will be pleased to work for—’
‘I did want her to handle my account,’ said Gabriel with a smile and a sinister note in his voice. ‘Only her. Nobody else.’
‘I’m sure she’ll agree to—’
‘But, if she prefers not to—’ Gabriel strode coolly past her towards the door ‘—I shall have to take my business elsewhere.’
‘Rhiannon!’ Steve exploded, dark eyes blazing.
‘Yes, all right!’ she muttered thickly, and turned, calling resentfully, ‘Please wait, Mr Stone!’
He turned, a mocking smile on his hard mouth.
She hated him—and desired him—more in that moment, standing there with the light of victory in his eyes, than she could ever have thought possible.
‘Of course I’ll work on the account,’ she said tightly.
‘I’m delighted to hear it,’ Gabriel drawled with a cynical smile, and moved back into the room, arrogance itself as he stood there, dark head lifted with authority. ‘Mr Solomon—would you be so good as to leave us alone now, to discuss the details?’
‘Yes, of course!’ Steve hurriedly moved away while Rhiannon stood rigidly, aware that she was being set up but helpless to stop it. ‘Just tell my secretary when my office is free again.’
Gabriel Stone gave a cool nod, and a second later the door had closed, leaving them alone.
The silence between them seethed with sexual attraction, fierce cross-currents of emotion, and an awareness of each other that was nothing short of electrifying.
Rhiannon spoke first—out of necessity as well as nerves.
‘How did you engineer this?’
‘Simple,’ he drawled. ‘I just had my secretary ring your boss and say the magic words: “Mr Gabriel Stone would like to meet with you in one hour’s time.”‘ He smiled lazily. ‘Of course, he said yes. They always do.’
‘Must be nice to be so powerful!’
He laughed softly. ‘Yes, it is!’
‘And what about the rest of your plan? Sending that ridiculous gift, that insulting invitation and—’
‘I wanted you to be angry by the time your boss summoned you. I wanted you to refuse to work with me in his presence, just to make sure you understood your position.’
‘And what is my position?’
‘Powerless,’ he drawled mockingly.
Rage blazed through her veins so fiercely that she practically had to nail herself to the floor to stop herself hitting his dark, arrogant face.
He smiled. ‘I suppose you want to slap my face. That’s only natural. A pity your hands are so effectively tied.’
‘My hands are not tied!’ she choked out ‘I can hit you any time I want!’
‘Go on, then. See where it gets you.’
She fumed impotently, hands curling into fists at her sides.
‘Darling,’ he murmured, ‘never make a threat you’re not prepared to carry out.’
‘Don’t you dare call me darling!’ she said under her breath, tears spurting suddenly to sting her eyes. ‘I loathe you for what you’re doing. And just what do you hope to achieve by it anyway?’
‘I would have thought that was perfectly obvious!’
‘Sex?’ she whispered fiercely, her vision blurring.
‘No need to say it like that!’ He frowned. ‘I saw and felt how much I turned you on. I can assure you the feeling is mutual. Surely, after years of a sexless relationship with that clown, you should be eager to feel like a woman again? So why the frightened whisper? Anyone would think I wanted to do something terrible to you instead of make love to you.’
Rhiannon had already looked away, breathless with horror at the continuing accuracy of his guesses—not only about her response to him