He looked like he was biting down a grin. His eyes boldly held hers, as though he was ready to battle with her all over again.
“Do you want to know why I had concerns about you applying?”
Su
re. Hit her with it. As if he hadn’t put her down enough already. “You look like you want to tell me.”
“You’re too willing to please. And that’s lethal in a distiller.”
Becca stared back at him, unflinching. “Do I seem willing to please you?”
A ghost of a smile passed his lips. “No. You don’t. Why is that, do you think?”
It was like an elite game of tennis. He served, she volleyed. He hit back hard and she had to leap to keep up. She felt exhilarated.
“Maybe I think you’re impossible to please.” She arched an eyebrow.
He ran a finger along his jaw, his stare speculative. “You could be right. But I think it’s more than that. I think you don’t want to please me.”
There was something in the way he said it that made her blood heat up. His voice was slow. Measured. And too damn sexy.
“Why would I want to please you?”
“You shouldn’t. You should only want to please yourself. That’s what I’m looking for in a distiller. Somebody who knows what they’re tasting. Who understands what they like, and not because somebody told them to like it, but because every sense they possess delights at the flavor. Because they understand the pleasure that taste can give and can’t live without the way their body feels when they experience it.”
Her skin felt like it was on fire. “I understand pleasure.”
“Do you?”
Their gazes locked. “Yes.”
“Okay. We’ll do a taste test as part of your application. Meet me in the barrel room on Friday evening.”
Becca blinked. She was set to go out with Naomi, Alex, and his Army friend on Friday. She’d opened her mouth to tell Daniel she couldn’t make that night, but she’d quickly closed it again. Because it would only confirm his prejudices against her.
“I’m free between six and eight p.m. After that I’ll have to leave. I have a prior engagement.” There was no way she was telling him about a date.
“Six it is then.” He nodded. “Thank you for your time.”
She knew when she was being dismissed. Becca nodded and stood, walking toward the door. “Thank you for yours.”
As she walked out, she could have swore she heard him murmur, “It was a pleasure,” but it might have been the blood still rushing through her ears. As she passed by Eliana’s office – the door unusually open – the elegant lady beckoned her in.
“How did it go?” she asked.
“I have to do a taste test.”
Eliana’s lips curled. “You’ll be fine. You’re an excellent distiller. And don’t mind Daniel, he can be an ass sometimes.”
Becca bit down a laugh, because Eliana’s thoughts echoed her own. “Thank you.”
Chapter Eight
Becca checked her make up in the bathroom mirror, touching her fingertip to her bottom lip to smooth away a lipstick smudge. She’d had to get ready for her night out while at work, as she’d have no time between her taste test and meeting Naomi and her husband at the bar. Glancing down at her tight jeans, off-white silky shell, and black wool jacket, she wondered if Daniel would think that she’d made an effort for him.
And then she decided she didn’t care. He could think whatever he wanted. She’d do this stupid taste test then call a cab to take her to town, while messaging Naomi a drink order so she could down it as soon as she’d walked inside Moonlight Bar, because she was certain that Daniel Carter would have driven her crazy by then.
The thought of two hours alone with him in the barrel room – actually a separate building to the rest of the distillery – was enough to drive her to drink.