His jaw clenched. ‘You can be a real bitch. Sue me for that too, if you want. Now, could we stop playing games? I won’t ask you any personal questions, other than will you accept my job offer?’ Leaning back in his chair, he unbuttoned his jacket, shot his cuffs, waited for her reply.

She couldn’t help but notice his hard flat stomach under his white custom shirt. And the fact that he didn’t wear cufflinks. She liked that. She’d always viewed cufflinks as pretentious. Only an observation, the little voice inside her head pointed out innocently. No one’s trying to persuade you of anything.

His gaze narrowed. ‘What?’

‘Nothing.’ Then Kate pointed. ‘You don’t wear cufflinks. Is that allowed when you’re a CEO?’

A shrug, a bland, blue stare. ‘Everything’s allowed when you’re me. My company is privately held.’

Her spine stiffened. As she opened her mouth to speak, he stopped her with a lifted finger, picked up his phone and hit a button. ‘I’m calling Max. He’s scheduled to fly out at seven. He’ll fill you in on all the details en route. As will Werner in our Amsterdam office. Now, in the nicest possible way, I’d like to invite you to work for us. Just the one assignment in Amsterdam. Yes or no, Miss Hart? I’m done fucking around. Just a minute, Max.’ He held her gaze.

‘You’re a control freak,’ she muttered.

‘Is that a yes?’

Silence.

‘Two weeks, a month, that’s it. Money’s no object. Come now, say yes.’ He smiled, a beautiful, charming, practised smile.

Why did it seem that his smile was offering her the entire world and its pleasures? Clearly, a lunatic thought.

‘Very well,’ he softly said into the lengthening silence, his blue gaze grave. ‘Give me two weeks of your time. I won’t ask for more.’

A pause, a last small grimace, a barely discernible nod.

His instant smile could have melted the entire polar ice cap in under a minute. ‘Welcome aboard, Miss Hart. I look forward to working with you.’ He grinned. ‘At a distance, of course.’

He was way too smooth and way too beautiful and way too familiar with getting his way. But, deep down, irrationally, she wanted the job more than anything. And she knew better than to fall under his spell. Screwing the CEO was never wise.

As if, anyway.

Besides, the word bondage had come up on one of the murkier blogs in Europe. Whether it was true or not, a man that rich and powerful?

Anything was possible.

CHAPTER 2

Dominic walked her out to the foyer where Max was waiting. He introduced them, made a few gracious remarks about Miss Hart joining the firm as a contractor, said, ‘Thank you, Max, thank you, Miss Hart, good journey,’ and walked away. The fact that Max was there waiting for her would have pissed her off if she’d been given the time to properly register her resentment before being whisked off in a limo by Dominic Knight’s vice president, ADC and all around chargé d’affaires.

That Max was ex-MI6 was immediately apparent from the top of his blond brush-cut to the tips of his desert-booted toes. His British upper class accent was both calming and intimidating. ‘May I say how pleased we are to have you with Knight Enterprises,’ he said as he settled into the seat beside her. ‘Nick was intent on hiring you.’

‘I got that impression,’ she said, drily.

He laughed. ‘You’ll get used to it. Everyone does or they’re gone.’

‘That was pretty clear too.’

Max merely shrugged. ‘I don’t think he even notices. He sees it as efficiency.’

She stared him down for a second. ‘Don’t say, “Get used to it”, or I’ll strangle you.’

He laughed. ‘I wouldn’t dare.’

She sniffed. ‘I don’t need this job, you know.’

‘I do know. We do have a serious issue in Amsterdam, Miss Hart, so take it from me personally, we’re grateful for your help. Your reputation precedes you. No one quite matches your skill set in cyber forensics.’ He gave her an avuncular smile. ‘We’ve taken the liberty of collecting your luggage from your hotel. It’s already at the airfield. I have some papers for you to sign on the plane. Nothing out of the ordinary,’ he said at the sudden scepticism in her gaze. ‘Just the usual forms for our contractors. Pam, my personal assistant, will run you through the process. Then I’ll give you an idea of what you’re up against. We’ve been trying to sort out this mess for a while, without luck. You’re the talent we need.

‘As for Dominic, rest easy, Miss Hart, you’ll find it simple enough to work for him. He’s interested in results and I’m sure you won’t have any problem delivering. You’ll have carte blanche on this project. We’re trying to avoid a PR disaster. This plant is supposed to be state-of-the-art in terms of employee health and safety. It’s a pilot project for green technology and community involvement in an area of the Balkans that has high unemployment. And now morale is low, production is down, the parts aren’t up to standard, workers are beginning to complain. It’s only a matter of time until stories about the working conditions hit the news media. So’ – he flipped his hand in her direction – ‘you’re going to make Dominic happy and solve the mess.’

Making Dominic happy was probably every woman’s dream. ‘Someone’s skimming off the top, I presume,’ she said instead.