The Dom with the Dragon Tattoo(6)
“You have an excellent knowledge of wine.” He relaxed back in his chair and smoothed a hand across the tablecloth. She’d definitely ruffled his feathers.
Rebecca raised an eyebrow. “Would you expect anything less from an ambassador’s daughter? My father and mother would often entertain important guests at our home in Rio and naturally expected me to have a comprehensive knowledge of the finer things in life.”
“I understand you were an only child, Rebecca?”
“Yes.”
“It sounds like a lonely existence.”
She heard herself sigh. “At times it was.”
The wine waiter returned to their table and quietly and efficiently poured wine into two glasses.
Tyler Stone took a sip then nodded affirmatively, allowing the wine waiter to fade away. He seemed completely at ease in his surroundings, just as she’d imagined him to be. To her, confidence in a man acted as an aphrodisiac, and Tyler had it in spades. It had been six months since she’d been this close to an alpha male. Six months since she and Mitch had gone their separate ways.
“Rebecca, let’s get down to business. I’ve been trying to get you to work for Cerberus for well over a year now. You’ve flatly refused to join my team in Houston. Why the sudden change of heart?”
Rebecca nonchalantly sipped at the agreeable Beaujolais, enjoying the feel as the tang from the citrus grapes slowly spread across her palate.
“Surely it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind, Mr. Stone?”
“It is, but I’d like to know what makes you tick. You’d be leading a professional team and working in a challenging environment at Cerberus Technology.”
“I have my own team at Omega Computing.”
He drummed his fingers on the tablecloth. “You haven’t answered my question.”
She was thirty-three years old and needed to reassess her life. “I guess there’s nothing keeping me in Boston anymore. I had a long-term relationship that’s over now. It didn’t finish well.”
Chapter Three
Tyler hadn’t liked her changing the wine order. In his opinion she’d done it far too stridently. If he hadn’t thought she’d be a great asset to his company, he’d have put her firmly in her place, just as he would with any wayward sub. Unfortunately, she wasn’t his sub, or, he imagined, anyone else’s. However, Cerberus Technology needed the expertise that Rebecca Miles had to offer, so he remained silent—for now.
His introspection was thankfully cut short when a smiling waiter brought their meals to the table.
As Rebecca helped herself to condiments, he glanced across at her. She was dressed in an unappealing gray business suit, and he figured she’d gone out of her way to make herself unattractive to men, relying on her talent, rather than her looks. Something niggled him though, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. The drab, sexless image she portrayed didn’t seem quite right.
Think, man, think. What’s wrong with this picture?
Meeting her for the first time, he gained the distinct impression that she hid her real identity behind those ugly thick-rimmed glasses. Surely she didn’t pick them because she liked them? They were hideous. He refused to accept the evidence of his eyes, because somehow he found her strangely alluring, almost as though her plainness hid a rare incredible beauty beneath. He was well aware that didn’t make any sense, but that was how he felt. Rebecca was boringly plain yet achingly beautiful. How crazy was that? Not a trace of makeup adorned her unblemished face, and for some unknown reason he found her lack of try hard refreshing.
She was opinionated to the point of being aggressive. She was confident and self-assured to the point of arrogance. She epitomized everything he steered clear of in a woman. As a respected Dom, who demanded his subs be obedient at all times, he shouldn’t find her remotely attractive, yet strangely he did.
Her lips were full, and he watched a moist tongue swipe away remnants of the butter sauce that had oozed from her salmon.
Even the way she held her wineglass endowed her with an elegance that seemed at odds with her plain-Jane looks.
The nagging doubts continued to feed his imagination as he cut into his steak, allowing the blood to follow the knife. “As I’m sure you are aware, cyberterrorism is a major threat to our country’s security. Cerberus Technology is a world leader in the cutting-edge software needed for the twenty-first century.”
“Of course I am aware. That’s why I contacted you.” Not a single tremor betrayed her as she held her fork completely motionless, midway between plate and mouth.
Tyler wondered if she were always so unflappable. He would love to make this woman tremble uncontrollably. His cock hardened at the mere thought of it.