The Dominant Male. Sarah Holland

had told her that the tiger was herself…a man-eater.

      ‘Glad to see you’re being more agreeable,’ Gabriel murmured with a smile, misinterpreting her stare. ‘So let’s see what else you’re agreeable to, shall we? We agree, for instance, that you have to take this job. We agree that I currently have total professional control over you. And we also agree that we will one day be lovers.’

      ‘I never agreed to the last one!’ she told him flatly, lifting her dark head and trying to look convincing.

      ‘That’s because I’m going to demand submission, darling. And I’ll start on Saturday night, when you arrive at my house.’

      ‘Ah, yes! Saturday night! I’d forgotten, in all this non-excitement, about your insulting little note and that truly humiliating costume!’

      ‘But you’ll look sensational,’ he said deeply, and the sudden tenderness of his voice made her heart melt like an ice-cream in a microwave. ‘How can you possibly see that as humiliating?’

      She hesitated while her stupid heart carried on melting: ‘I…’ She felt her skin shiver with excitement: ‘Well, I…I just have no intention of wearing it—or of attending your dinner party.’

      ‘You will, or I’ll have you fired.’

      ‘Fired!’ She was so furious she could hardly speak coherently. ‘I beg your pardon, Mr Stone, but I am a highly qualified, highly respected woman, and I do not need your say-so to remain employed!’ Her eyes flashed with rage. ‘I can walk into another top job anywhere in advertising, and don’t you forget it!’

      ‘That may be so.’ His eyes turned ruthless. ‘But I happen to know all about the Moretti account.’

      Her breath caught in horror. ‘The Moretti account…?’

      ‘Mmm. Shall we talk about it alone? Or shall I call Steve back in here to make it a cosy threesome?’

      Rhiannon’s face paled with disbelief. He sounded so sure, so arrogant. He must know all the gory details. And she certainly wasn’t about to put it to the test. Not the Moretti scandal…

      It had been her first major account as creative director, three years ago. She had been working on a top-secret campaign for Moretti Cars to launch the Panther, a long, sleek sports car they had just built to corner the market in affordable glamour.