This was my chance. Abby was in bed, Ryan and I were alone in the house, and if I didn’t make a move now, I was going to chicken out. And while I was nervous as hell, I wanted this. I could do this.

But what exactly was one to wear when faced with the challenge of seducing one’s new boss? I pulled the suitcase out from under the bed in the room Ryan had put my things earlier—my room, for now, I supposed. But since I hadn’t exactly been packing with seduction in mind, the selection was slim.

I imagined showing up in lingerie to make my intentions perfectly clear, but each time I ran through the scenario in my head, I felt like an idiot, like a cheesy actress in a B-rated movie. I could always skip clothing altogether and scurry over to his office in the towel currently wrapped around me, but no—again, too cheesy. So, I settled on a light cotton summer dress that didn’t quite reach mid-thigh and draped open in the back to my waist. It was pretty and sexy—more than enough to get the juices flowing if he was interested—but casual enough that I could walk away with my dignity intact if I chickened out. Not that I was going to chicken out. But for all I knew, he’d asked to speak to me to let me know I’d done a terrible job with Abby and he wanted me to leave—not exactly the right time to be trying to get the guy into bed.

Tamping down the butterflies fluttering in my stomach, I dropped the towel, slipped into the dress and checked my reflection in the mirror. I turned this way and that, fully aware that I was, at this point, simply procrastinating.

But really, what the hell was I doing? I’d known Ryan Cade a whole day and a half. And I worked for him! He didn’t even know who I really was, and here I was planning on seducing the man in his home? This was crazy. Foolish. And this was not going to happen. I was not going to have sex with Ryan Cade.

It was time to talk to him and set the record straight—and nothing more.

My body seemed to groan in protest, but I grabbed a sweater from my bag and threw it on over the dress. Throwing my hair up into a ponytail, I squared my shoulders and started toward the door. I’d been trying to find a way to come clean all day, and this was my chance.

But as I opened the door and took a step out into the hall, I ran right into Ryan at full force. Colliding hard against his chest, my breath whooshed from my lungs and I stared dazedly up at him for one dumbfounded moment.

Caught off guard, I couldn’t think. All I could focus on was the desire blazing in his eyes and the heat of his body so close to mine. I had no idea what to do when his arms wrapped around me and pulled me even harder against his body. And my mind was still reeling when his lips swooped in and covered mine.

His kiss wasn’t gentle, but it made every nerve ending in my body tingle in anticipation. This wasn’t like the few, hopeful kisses I’d experienced before. There was no hesitancy in it, no question. He was a man who knew what he wanted, and right then he wanted me.

I realized at some point in the past few seconds, I’d wrapped my arms around him, and my fingers were grazing through the short hair at the base of his neck. This wasn’t supposed to be happening, but damn it, I wanted it like I’d never wanted anything before.

He pulled his lips away after a moment, and I almost whimpered at the loss, but he was back quickly, and this time his lips started a blazing trail of frantic kisses along my jaw, down my neck. By the time he reached my collarbone I was holding onto his neck in fear my knees would give out.

“I’ve wanted to touch you all day, Emma,” he said in between kisses. “You have no idea how difficult it’s been to keep my hands to myself.” As if to emphasize his point, his hands began to wander, grazing over my hips and up my ribs. When his hands moved higher and cupped my breasts, I couldn’t stop the quiet moan that slipped from my lips.

It was as if his hands knew exactly how to make my body respond, grazing back and forth across my nipples with just enough pressure to draw them into hard peaks instantly.

I slid my hands across his shoulders, feeling his muscles flex beneath my fingers as his mouth moved lower, kissing across the upper swells of my breasts. The thin fabric of my chenille sweater hampered any further descent, but it didn’t hinder him. He continued on, kissing my breasts through the fabric and toying with one nipple and then the other with his tongue.

“Ryan, I…” I didn’t know what to say, I only knew I never wanted him to stop. And I wanted him naked; I wanted to feel the bare flesh of his back, and his biceps, and everywhere else on his chiseled body.

“I know, Emma. I want it too. I want to strip you naked and kiss every inch of your body. I want to fuck you until you’re screaming my name,” he whispered ruggedly as a violent jolt of arousal surged through my body.

Abby’s scream sounded suddenly from down the hall and Ryan’s lips froze.

In a flash, we were both racing down toward her. He dashed into her room and I lingered back in the hall, not certain if I should go in as well, and happy to stay where I was to try to get the heat in my veins to cool to a low simmer.

“There was a monster, and it had humongous toes, daddy, and they were going to step on me!” Abby cried as Ryan gathered her up in his arms. I did my damnedest to focus on the situation at hand, and not think about how his arms had encircled me just a moment ago; how his lips had been blazing a fiery trail down my body.

“It’s OK, honey. I’m the only thing with big toes here, and I promise I won’t step on you,” Ryan soothed, stroking his daughter’s hair.

“Can I sleep in your bed tonight, daddy?” Abby asked, and I heard the heavy exhale of his breath as what had started in the hall just a few moments ago had been conclusively put on hold indefinitely.

“Of course you can,” he replied as he stood up, carrying the small child in his arms. He walked toward the door and smiled ruefully to me as he started down the hall to his bedroom.

I stayed where I was, still trying to get my pulse to slow to something that resembled normal. My heart beat so loudly I could hear blood whooshing past my ears, and everywhere he’d kissed still tingled as if it were humming with the anticipation of more.

But there would be no more. There wasn’t supposed to be any at all. I’d been all set to explain who I was—not for the first time today—and once again I’d been thwarted by my own irrational response to a man who I was now quite certain had been put on this earth to be a living, breathing advertisement for sex.

I breathed a heavy sigh, promising myself once again to set things to right come morning, and walked back to my room. I flopped back on my bed and proceeded to toss and turn, hour after hour. I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened, about what could have happened if Abby hadn’t come to the rescue and put an abrupt halt to a horrendous mistake. And it was a mistake. Ryan was way out of my league; he was more than just experienced, he was an expert. He’d known exactly how to make my body respond, and that kind of knowledge could only have come from plenty of practice.

Groaning inwardly, I tried to force my mind to go blank, willing sleep to drag me under.

* * *

I awoke incrementally the next morning, at first only vaguely aware that the scene playing out in my mind was nothing more than a dream. But as I pulled myself upward toward consciousness, I was aware of another presence in close proximity. I could hear the quiet inhale and exhale of breath not far from me, and the slight movement that lightly jostled the mattress made me wonder if I was merely pulling myself from one dream into another.

“Wake up, Emma,” a little girl’s voice spoke, breaking the last remnants of the dream.

“Hey, kiddo,” I smiled sleepily, trying to pry my eyes open. “I don’t suppose I can talk you into crawling into bed with me and going back to sleep?”

A quick glance out the window told me Abby was either an early riser or else I’d slept through an entire day. The sky was a blue-black shroud of darkness, just the slightest hint of color peeking up over the horizon. It would be another hour still before the sky lightened enough that I’d consider calling it morning.

“You can’t go back to sleep Emma. We have too much to do today,” Abby said matter-of-factly.

“Oh? What’s on the agenda today, sweetheart?” I asked, giving up all hope of sleeping past five in the morning and sitting up slowly.

“It’s Tuesday. And that’s the day mommy always took me to the park. She called it ‘girl’ time,” she said more quietly than I’d heard her speak before. She was fidgeting with the edge of the blanket, making it clear she was uncertain—not something I’d seen often in Abby. “I don’t know why mommy called it ‘girl’ time though, ‘cause there were boys at the park too. But that’s ok. I didn’t mind them too much. So, I thought…I mean…if it’s OK with you Emma,” she stumbled over her words, eventually letting the thought trail off unfinished.

It wasn’t often Abby was without words. It reminded me that as well-adjusted as she seemed, that didn’t mean there were no underlying issues that would work their way to the surface over time.

“I would love to go with you to the park today, Abby. Thank you for inviting me.”

She beamed brightly, her normal exuberance breaking through, and she bounced off the bed. She came around the bed and started pulling on my arm. As much as I wanted to bury myself back underneath the covers, I couldn’t help but smile and I swung my legs over the side of the bed.

Before I’d stood up, she’d skipped across the room and was hurrying down the hall, no doubt to inform her father of today’s agenda.

Right, her father. Ryan. The walking advertisement for sex. After last night, facing Ryan was not how I wanted to start my day. It wasn’t like much had ended up happening, but it would have. I knew that. Though I’d decided against it, the moment I felt his arms close around me, I’d wanted it more than I could remember wanting anything in my life. But now, with time and distance between us, it was just as much a bad idea as it had been before it had started.

I dragged myself out of bed and somehow managed to pull myself together enough to make it through breakfast without making an utter fool of myself. Ryan didn’t say a word about last night, but every time I looked at him I could feel the heat in his gaze, and my traitorous body couldn’t help butrespond.

It was a relief when we left the house a half hour later, bound for a park a few blocks away. Although all three of us were in the vehicle, it was as if there was some unspoken agreement that nothing could happen so long as Abby was with us. I slowly began to relax as we followed her from one piece of equipment to the next, and I was almost feeling calm when Abby through the both of us for a loop.

“You’re not doing it right!” Abby shrieked at Ryan as he started to push her lightly on the swing. She leaped off the swing, running across the park and crouching beneath the slide.

Ryan stared after her, a stunned expression on his handsome face. It didn’t take me long to figure out what was going on. I knew I was about to overstep the line by a mile, but even though I’d been twenty years old when I lost my mother, I could relate to how Abby was feeling more than Ryan could.

He started forward, the expression on his face making it clear he was diving into unfamiliar territory, but I placed my hand against his chest.

“Ryan…let me,” I whispered, and I thought for a moment he might push right past me, but his shoulders slumped just a little then and he nodded.

I hurried after Abby, trying to make my step look as calm as possible, and I sat down on the grass next to the huddling little body. She wasn’t crying, but I could see the tears glistening in her eyes.

“Would you like to talk about your mother, Abby? It’s OK if you want to,” I tried to coach, without pushing.

“Me and mommy went to the park on Tuesdays,” she said in between sniffles, and then she was silent as if that was the end of the conversation.

“And what else, sweetheart?”

“Mommy was really busy. Mrs. Chester took care of me most of the time. But she was old, and she smelled like cheese. Mommy didn’t smell like cheese.”

I tried to ignore the fist that seemed to clench around my heart. Sadly, what Abby was saying helped to explain why she hadn’t appeared as traumatized by the loss of her mother as other children might seem. It sounded like the woman had spent little time with her daughter. And that made my heart ache doubly so for the child who had lost someone who should have been so prominent in her life…but wasn’t.

“My mommy smelled like lilacs,” I told her, smiling at the memory.

“Did your mommy die, too?” she asked.

“Yes. She died last year. I was away at college when she died so I hadn’t seen her very much, but I was very sad. Even when we don’t get to see our mommies much, it’s still sad when they’re gone, isn’t it?”

She sniffled and nodded, and then crawled out from beneath the slide and plopped down in my lap. I heard Ryan’s footsteps approach from behind seconds later, but he stopped a few feet away. I looked up at him and smiled, trying to let him know the crisis was over—at least for the moment.