Everly was shocked that Kian offered her the job so quickly. He was an extremely attractive and powerful man, if not a bit odd. All of which she decided she liked about him. It made her trust him as he had shown so much trust in her.

She was grateful that she could finally move on. She didn't want to keep using Stacy and causing any more trouble for her. It was time for her to take care of herself. She thanked him profusely before she headed to the door.

“You need a ride?” he asked as she tapped on her phone to call an Uber.

“I'm just going to get one now,” she said.

“Don't be ridiculous. I can take you.”

“I don't want to put you to any trouble.”

“It's not any trouble. You are going to take care of my daughter so the least I can do is take care of you.”

Everly wasn't sure what to think of that, but she wasn't going to turn down a free ride back to Stacy’s apartment. Kian had already been so good to her. She was confused and didn’t quite know what to think. They walked into the six-car garage off the mansion.

Holding Ember’s car seat in one hand, he opened the door to the passenger seat for Everly to step inside. He then strapped Ember’s seat in the back. When he got behind the wheel, he began to explain how she would have access to this vehicle when she came to work for him.

“I wasn't expecting anything like that.”

“It's important that you have access to everything you need to take care of Ember.”

She sat in silence as he followed her GPS directions back to her apartment. When they arrived, he carried the baby in her car seat upstairs and they went inside. Stacy wasn't home. He set Ember’s seat on the table and looked around the apartment.

“There certainly is a wide disparity in accommodations on this planet,” he muttered in the dining room.

“What?” she asked as she threw her belongings into her suitcase in the bedroom.

She wasn't sure what he had just said. But she thought he'd said something like “disparity in accommodations on this planet”. That was a strange way of saying that Stacy’s apartment sucked.

“Stacy has been a really good friend,” she said, grabbing her laptop and her suitcase. “She let me stay here rent-free. I want to pay her back someday soon.”

“I’m sure you will. You sound like a loyal friend,” he said, picking up Ember’s baby seat.

He carried Ember in one hand and rolled Everly’s suitcase with the other. She slung her backpack, with the heavy old laptop, over her shoulder and followed him out.

They stowed everything in the car and drove back through the city, out into the suburbs, and into the country, headed to the estate. It was a long but beautiful drive and she enjoyed spending time with her new employer. She couldn’t help but notice that Kian was extremely attractive.

He had a face that looked like it should be in a Hollywood action movie, with high chiseled cheekbones, big, bright blue eyes, a strong, square jaw, and full kissable lips that seemed to beg for her to brush her own lips over them. He had a head of thick, black hair and just a dusting of stubble on his chin.

She had to squeeze her eyes and push the thoughts of him out of her mind. Why was she thinking about how hot her boss was? She couldn't get involved with him. No matter how strong and handsome and kind he was. It was totally inappropriate to have these thoughts.

She chalked it up to the fact that she’d just been divorced yesterday and had lost her baby only six months ago. Her subconscious was looking for any port in the storm. It was telling her that he was attracted to her, when she knew that it couldn't possibly be true. He was just an extremely hot dad who wanted the best for his daughter.

When they arrived back at the mansion, he parked the SUV in the six-car garage and retrieved Ember from the backseat. Three other tall, built, attractive men strode into the garage to help unload her things from the car. She stared up at them with a gasp, and Kian grumbled at their presence.

“I told you to make yourselves scarce,” he growled.

“We thought that you could use some help,” said one with long wavy black hair.

He had blue eyes as bright as Kian’s, but he was a few inches shorter than Kian, with a leaner build and visible tattoos on his arms. Another had long, straight blond hair, green eyes and a bright smile. The third was dark and brooding, but with a gleam of intelligence in his amber eyes.

“I might as well introduce you now,” he said. “Everly, this is Cato.” Kian pointed to the one with the intelligent eyes. “This is Aiden.” Kian gestured to the one with wavy black hair and a family resemblance to Kian. “And this is Dax.” Kian pointed at the one with long blond hair and broad shoulders.

“It's nice to meet all of you,” she said.

They helped carry her few things into the house. Everly had to wonder why these attractive men lived together in the mansion. Were they brothers? Were they part of a sports team? Were they male models? She couldn’t understand what was going on. But something about them made her feel safe. So, she decided not to question it too much.

They took her things to her bedroom, a huge suite right next door to the nursery. A window looked out on a sprawling backyard with manicured grounds, a swimming pool, a greenhouse and a well-kept lawn. She sat in the window seat and mused over the beautiful view that swept up into the mountains beyond. Kian set her suitcase beside her bed and she let her backpack fall to the floor.

“This is so beautiful,” she said. “I don't know how to thank you.”

“You don't need to thank me. You just need to take care of Ember,” he said. “And be happy.”

“Of course. I can start that now.”

“That door leads into the nursery,” he said, pointing across the room. “Here is the baby monitor. If she ever needs anything, I want you to attend to her. Ember is very much like a human, so you shouldn't have any problems.” He bit his lip when he said that, and Everly drew her eyebrows together.

“Like a human?” she asked.

“I mean, she is a human,” he said, crossing his arms as if that explained everything.

“Of course,” Everly said.

“I mean babies are human beings, so she deserves to be respected.”

“I totally agree with you on that.” She smiled.

“Well, I have some business to attend to. So, I will leave you to it,” he said, looking disturbed. He turned and left the room.

Baby cooing came from the monitor, so she walked through the door into the nursery and found Ember sitting in the middle of the crib. The adorable little girl looked up at her with bright blue eyes just like her father’s. The baby’s laughter made her dark curls bounce. Ember reached up to Everly, and Everly picked her up, bringing the adorable chubby little baby into her arms. Her head smelled heavenly and Everly decided that she was the luckiest woman in the world right then and there. Despite getting the sudden feeling that Kian wanted to get away from her.

“I'm going to take such good care of you, Ember,” she said, holding the baby in her arms.

Ember's nursery had a large bay window that looked out on the backyard. There was a crib, a changing table, a dresser, and a colorful rug on the floor. The room had all the toys and accessories a baby could need. They sat together on the window seat and looked out at the yard.

“When the weather is better, I'll take you for long walks outside,” she said, holding the child close.

As she tended to Ember, changed her diaper, and played with her on the floor, Everly's thoughts turned to the baby's father. There was something about Kian that attracted her to him. He was strong and bold and protective, and he seemed to want to take care of her even though he’d just met her. She knew that she was just reading things into his kindness. But it made her want to get closer to him and learn more about him. When he’d rushed out of her room, it had made her kind of sad.

She couldn't afford to be attracted to her boss. But she knew that it was going to happen whether she liked it or not. He was just too handsome for her not to be.

She took Ember downstairs and looked around the first floor for the kitchen. Finally, she found the man named Cato sitting at the table in a large, sprawling kitchen with stainless steel appliances, black cabinets, and white marble countertops.

“Can I help you?” Cato asked, looking up from a book.

“I just wanted to get Ember a bottle,” she said.

“The formula is already prepared in the refrigerator. That will be part of my duties now — I can show you everything,” he said.

Cato stood, closing his book, and walked over to the counter where she stood. First, he pulled a bottle out of the refrigerator and popped it into the microwave.

“You put it in the microwave for thirty seconds.” When it dinged, he pulled it out, shook it, and tested it on his arm. “This should be just the right temperature,” he said, handing the bottle to Everly.

Everly gave the bottle to Ember, who sucked it down with sheer pleasure. Cato pulled a container of baby formula out of the cabinet and set it on the counter.

“To make the formula, you just put two scoops into a bottle and add boiling water.”

He showed her where everything was and then told her that Ember was now taking some solid foods.

“Her applesauce, squash, and pears are in here,” he said, opening a cabinet full of baby food bottles. “Avocados are in the fridge, and we keep the bananas on the counter. It’s complicated, but you get used to it.”

“Uh huh,” Everly said, not thinking it was very complicated.

“What's going on?” Kian said from the door of the kitchen.

He looked angry. He strode across the room to Cato, giving him a heated glare.

“I was just explaining to Everly how to feed Ember,” Cato said matter-of-factly.

“I was just about to do that,” Kian said.

“Very well,” Cato said, going to the table and picking up his book. “I'll leave you, then.”

Cato left the room, giving Kian a smug look on his way out. Everly didn't want to know what that was all about. The men seemed like they were some sort of crew or family. But there was also some kind of unspoken rivalry between them. She really hoped that she wasn't going to be part of it.

“Cato told me how to make Ember’s bottle. And where to find her solid foods.”

“Good, good,” Kian said.

He grabbed himself a bottle of water from the refrigerator as she crossed the room. She put Ember in the high chair and the baby drank her bottle.

“You can feed her some solid food now, too,” he said. “If she'll take it. Her feeding times are on the chart on the refrigerator.”

Everly checked the chart and then went to a cabinet to get a small jar of applesauce. She sat down beside Ember at the table. The child dropped the bottle when she saw the applesauce container and made a delighted squeal.

Kian sat down opposite Everly and watched her carefully spoon the applesauce and Ember's mouth.

“You're a natural,” he said.

“I’m so glad I have Ember to look after now.”

“I heard that mating can be difficult for humans.”

She looked up at him quizzically and then shook her head.

“‘Mating’ might not be difficult for some, but it has been for me.”

“I can’t imagine why anyone would let you go,” he said, taking a sip of his water and leaning closer.

“My ex-husband left me for another woman right after I lost our first child. It was the hardest thing that I've ever experienced in my life.”

“You lost a child?” he asked, reaching across the table to touch her hand.

A spark radiated between them, and she had to snatch her hand away as the desire built in her core. She looked up into his gorgeous blue eyes, unsure what to think. He was so compassionate and good to her, but she didn't want to read into his kindness. She knew that she was going to fail at that.