Everly

I ran a hand through my still-damp hair as I plodded down the stairs an hour later. A hot shower and a change of clothes had done me a world of good. I officially felt like myself again. I was anxious to meet the little lady I would be caring for in the coming months.

I followed the intoxicating scent of sweet berries down a long hallway before veering left into a huge, state-of-the-art kitchen. I spotted Mrs. Potts by the stove stirring the source of the wonderful smell.

“Let me help you with something,” I said as I walked up.

“Of course not, sit and eat.” Mrs. Potts gestured to the table.

“Are you baking a pie?” I leaned over her shoulder, inhaling the sweet scent of strawberries and sugar bubbling on the stove.

“Strawberry rhubarb for dinner tonight. Mr. Kingsley’s favorite.”

“I can help. I love to bake,” I offered again.

“Are you my new au pair?” a sweet voice sang.

I whipped around. A tiny blond-haired angel peered up at me.

I grinned. “Hi, I’m Everly. It’s nice to meet you.” I grinned widely.

“I’m Savannah Marie Kingsley. You’re from ‘Merica?” The sweet ring of her voice coupled with her accent nearly melted me right there.

“I am from America. I came all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to see you.”

“Daddy!” Savannah called at the top of her lungs before I heard heavy footsteps down the hall. “Everly is really pretty!”

A tall, broad form with the widest shoulders and most defined biceps I’d ever seen turned the corner, and my mouth dropped. Savannah spun and latched onto his leg, her eyes twinkling as she smiled up at the man who had yanked the breath straight out of my lungs a bit more than an hour ago.

“Mason?” I asked.

Mrs. Potts’s eyes went from his back to mine. “Oh, I just assumed you realized… this is Mr. Kingsley, the owner of the estate.”

“And the man who hired you.”

His gravelly voice landed with a whirlwind in my stomach. Never in a million years would I have assumed that this man could be the owner of everything around me. Mason Kingsley was a man’s man, so muscular and broad he looked as though he spent his days doing manual labor. He was, without a doubt, the most handsome man I’d ever seen. Sadly, he also seemed to dislike my very presence here.

His blue eyes cast up and down my form, sending shivers coursing through me. They narrowed when they reached my face, and he nodded then averted his eyes again.

“Can we take Everly for a walk in the gardens, Daddy?” Savannah hopped up and down with the excitement only a kid could muster.

“Sure, love. That sounds fun.”

No, no, no. That did not sound fun at all. Walking next to that sweet baby girl and the gorgeous man she called daddy would be the death of me. No way could I spend my days with an arrogant, moody, devastatingly good-looking asshole. He’d drive me insane with his mysterious looks and growly replies. Leave me aching and breathless every time he was in the room. Mason Kingsley made me feel all sorts of conflicting emotions with just a single look.

“Sit, sit,” Mrs. Potts said. “Everly needs something to eat before she goes off touring the grounds.”

I sat, anxiety piercing my veins as I felt every nerve in my body on high alert in his presence. My gaze washed over the sharp angles of his rugged face. My fingers begged to touch the steel cut of his jaw, the laugh lines around his eyes, the bronze shade of his skin… everything about him was enthralling.

He glanced up, eyes catching mine.

I waited for his words, begging my lips to form sentences as I felt every slow, thundering heartbeat in my chest. What was this? Why did he have this all-consuming hold over me? For the life of me, I couldn’t read him, his stormy blue eyes shielding the thoughts that surely were spinning in his mind. He made me so uncomfortable, so painfully aware of myself.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Savannah asked sweetly.

I almost choked, tearing my eyes from Mason’s as I felt heat bloom up my neck. “No, no, I don’t, honey.” I focused on the sandwich in front of me suddenly, feeling my tummy rumble.

“Daddy says he’ll never get married, but I want a mum like the other kids at school.”

Oh my god. Kill me now. If I could melt into the floor and disappear, I would.

“Well…” I stammered, unsure of what to say. Awkward silence fell thick between all of us.

Mrs. Potts patted Savannah on the head. “Savannah is a chatty little thing—loves people and could talk your ear off.”

“She’s sweet.” I smiled deeply as I felt the love emanating from this tight-knit family.

Mason leaned over and cooed in Savannah’s ear, “I said not too many questions today, Savannah. We have to let Everly settle in.”

My ovaries almost exploded. I’d only seen the gruff side of him before, but this guy was like a giant teddy bear wrapped around his daughter's little finger. I’d been wrong to jump to assumptions about him, even if he had been a cranky bastard on the drive from the train station.

“But we’re going to be best friends! I can tell, Daddy.” Savannah shot me a wide grin before winding her fingers in mine.

I smiled, giving her hand a squeeze. “We are going to be the very best of friends.”

“I’m all finished!” the little girl squealed and hopped from her seat. “Can we go for a walk now, Daddy?”

His normally hard face melted into sweet sincerity when he looked into her bright eyes. “Sure, baby. Just for a bit, then I have to get back to work.” He linked his hand in hers and stood from the table.

“Come on, Everly, we’re going for a walk with Daddy!” Savannah snagged my hand in her other one so Mason and I were linked through the ball of energy hopping between us.

I shot Mason a half smile, noticing the hard set of his jaw and the way his eyes seemed to harden and flash away every time our gazes met. What was up with that? I couldn’t have done anything to warrant that kind of treatment. He made me feel like a troll infiltrating his perfect, beautiful life, like I didn’t belong. Little did he know that that only solidified my determination.

I did belong here. I was great with kids, I loved kids. This would be the best time of both my and Savannah’s lives if he just gave me a chance.

Or he could just stay the hell out of my way.

I’d take either at this point, as long as his penetrating dark stare wasn’t eating up my insides for the next three months.

Mason, Savannah, and I took off down the hallway, hands still linked as she swung between us. Somehow, it felt oddly right. As though we’d been doing this for years instead of minutes.

“Lead me to the garden, Savannah!” I called when we stepped through the doors I’d walked in an hour ago.

“This way!” She bolted off, the wind carrying her giggle.

“Hope the bedroom is to your liking.” Mason’s throaty voice shocked the hell out of me.

I shot him a sideways glance, wondering if he even deserved an answer. “It's fine.”

Short, simple, sweet—that was how I would keep my interactions with him.

Just before we turned the corner of the house, Mason stopped and grabbed my elbow, his head leaning toward mine and swallowing all the oxygen between us. “Savannah means everything to me. I need to know I can trust you with her.”

I froze in place, too aware of the burning sensation of his palm on my forearm. I licked my lips, fire coiling in my belly before I whispered. “Maybe that’s something you should have asked before I flew all the way across the ocean.”

One slash of dark eyebrow rose before a stubborn smile twitched his lips. “Good point.”

“So you can smile?”

Both of his eyebrows nearly shot into his hairline. He shook his head a moment, squeezed my arm a little tighter, then brushed his nose across the shell of my ear. “If something, or someone, gives me a reason to.”

My blood throbbed with his words. The wash of his breath across my neck sent a flurry of fireflies loose into my ribcage.

“You're a beautiful woman, Everly. Maybe I should have asked for a photo before hiring you.”

I tipped my chin up, challenging him with a cocky smile. “And then you wouldn’t have hired me?” I tipped my chin up, challenging him with a cocky smile.

“Not at all. I just would have known what kind of torture I was in for,” he stated matter-of-factly as he watched his daughter weaving in and out of the rose bushes ahead of us.

I stood there, rooted to my spot, stupefied by his words as excitement burned through my system as it never had before. Mason Kingsley was a man of mystery, a man of few words, a man who already had me completely beguiled. Taking care of a five-year-old would be a breeze. Controlling my body’s reaction to her daddy would be the real problem.

“Everly! Let’s play tag! Daddy’s it!” She shrieked and darted away from him.

Mason’s lean body jogged after the tiny girl whose corn silk ringlets flew on the wind behind her.

I felt as if I had stepped right into a modern Jane Austen fantasy, complete with my own brooding Mr. Darcy. “Coming!”