Five years earlier...

Georgia watched the house grow larger and larger as they approached. She had no clue that anyone but the British Royals had houses this large in the heart of London.

She had worked for Diana Mailler for over six months. When Diana had announced her engagement, she had been quickly called back to her home in London from New York, and she had told Georgia to pack her bag.

More than willing to go with her, Georgia did as she was bid and arrived in London beside Diana.

"I can't believe that he's called me home like a child. I'm an adult. I have the right to come and go as I please." Diana pouted in a way only a nineteen-year-old could.

Georgia had her doubts, but it was not her place to disagree with her employer. In fact, she thought the call home was just in time. It would save the young girl a lot of grief since it was obvious her fiancé was only after her money.

"Wait until you meet my brother, Ewan. He is a total brute with absolutely no feeling whatsoever. He never laughs or jokes. I can't even remember that last time I saw him smile. I think it was before he was in the military."

"He was in the military?" Georgia's husband had been in the Army, and he had died while serving overseas.

"Yes, I was little at the time, so I don't remember it very well. After my father died, he finally came home, but he wasn't the same Ewan I remembered as a girl. Most people are afraid of him."

"Are you?" Georgia looked at the beautiful young girl. She had silky blond hair, light brown eyes, and she was a petite five foot. She looked like a little doll.

Diana frowned as she thought about it. "Yes, I think I am, or else I wouldn't be returning home." She pointed at the large house that now loomed in front of them. "Maybe if he got married, that would soften him a little." Diana giggled. "I don't think there is a woman who would be brave enough, despite all of his money."

"You'd be surprised what people would do for money, Miss Diana," Georgia said dryly, thinking of the long string of boyfriends the young girl had had over the past six months.

Diana led the way up the front steps, stopping in front of a man in the entry hall.

"Parks," she greeted coldly, taking off her coat. "Georgia, this is Craig Parks, my brother's personal assistant. Craig, this is Georgia Dawson, my personal assistant," Diana stressed the 'my' in the last sentence.

If Craig Parks was surprised, he hid it well.

"Ms. Dawson."

"Mr. Parks." Georgia nodded.

There was a movement in front of them on the stairs, and Georgia looked right into a pair of deeply assessing whiskey-colored eyes. There was no friendly greeting or welcome in them. They were emotionless, as was the rest of his face, but what a face.

His sharp, well-defined jaw had a bit of a late afternoon shadow on it, and his sharp nose and cheekbones were somewhat softened by a full mouth that, at the moment, was pressed into a thin line as his eyes moved past her to Diana.

His light sandy brown hair was cut to fall in perfect waves, and she had never seen such broad shoulders on a man before. He owned his space, and there was an aura of power that followed behind him. He was one of those rare people with magnetism. Everybody in the room was immediately drawn to his energy.

"Diana," his clipped English accent greeted.

"Ewan," she returned.

It was extremely evident that there was no love lost between them as they sized up each other.

"And you are?" He turned to Georgia suddenly.

"Georgia Dawson." Georgia didn't hold out her hand, convinced he would ignore it if she did.

"She's my personal assistant Ewan." Diana sounded like a little child trying to stake her claim on a new toy.

He turned away from her and Diana as he reached for his coat. It was black wool and fit just as well as his dark grey suit did.

"Craig, will you make the ladies comfortable. Ms. Dawson, I'll see you in my office first thing tomorrow morning so that we can discuss your continued employment." He reached past Georgia, entering her personal space as he reached for a briefcase on the chair behind her.

She felt his energy all the way to her toes. He was a massive man, and Georgia was not exactly petite at five foot eight, but she felt small next to him.

His eyes met hers again, only this time they were inches away, and he smelled so good. She clenched her hands in fists by her sides to keep the others from seeing them tremble, and she tensed her rubbery knees.

As he stepped back, he had his briefcase in one hand while his other hand reached up to button his coat. Georgia's eyes were drawn to his nimble fingers as they worked the buttons. What would those fingers feel like on her skin? Jolted by that thought, she stepped back. She had never thought of any man other than her husband in that way.

Georgia's eyes quickly met his, she couldn't tell what he was thinking, but she had a distinct feeling that he knew exactly what her thoughts were. Without another word, he moved towards the door. "Ladies." He nodded, and then he was gone.

"So much for a heartfelt homecoming." Diana shook her head as she headed towards the stairs. "I know my way, Parks. Will you please take care of Georgia? I'm going to bed."

"I'll see you first thing in the morning Georgia," Diana mimicked her brother's command.

Keeping her thoughts to herself, she asked no questions as she was led in the opposite direction at the top of the stairs.

Her room was beautiful and large. Regal was the only word to describe it. There were curtains of white satin brocade with gold trim at the French windows, which opened onto a balcony and matching all-white bedding on a gilded bed. A large marble fireplace took up one wall with two armchairs in front of it. There was no closet, only a wardrobe, but the bathroom was equally as stunning.

She turned to Parks with a smile. "Thanks."

He just nodded and left.

Georgia walked over to her window and looked down on the garden below. What it lacked in size, it made up for in beauty. She imagined in the spring it was a little oasis in the heart of London.

Sighing, she took her suitcase and started to unpack her things. As she crossed to and fro, she caught her image in the mirror. Her ebony hair was pulled back in a tight chignon, and her black-rimmed glasses made her look bookish. All in all, she thought she presented a very professional appearance.

What had he thought of her? She reached up and unpinned her hair and took off her glasses, returning to her old image. Would he prefer this woman more than the one she had been earlier, she wondered?

Had he been as physically affected by their closeness as she had? He hadn't shown any evidence that he had been. Groaning, she began to strip for her shower. Why did it even matter? He was her employer's brother, which meant that he was off-limits even if he were to return her interest.

It had been two years since her husband's death, two years since she had felt the touch of a man. That was all it was, she told herself. It was her hormones.

Hormones she could deal with.

*******

She gave herself the same pep talk at least four more times before she knocked on Ewan Mailler's door the next morning. Having had a good night's sleep and spending the last hour with Diana, she felt like her old self and had passed the previous evening's reaction off as jet lag.

The door opened, and Craig Parks stood back, allowing her to enter. She was wearing one of her nicest black skirt suits, and she knew she looked professional and competent.

"Ms. Dawson."

"Mr. Parks."

As she entered the room and took in the massive scale of it, she tried her best not to let it affect her. However, as soon as she saw him again, the room faded from view. His large frame sat behind a massive desk. He was wearing a crisp light blue dress shirt and a striped blue and yellow tie.

She had not let her mind make him into something he wasn't since she had last seen him. He was truly a spectacular looking man.

Parks motioned for her to take a seat, and she followed his lead, sitting in one of the chairs opposite Mr. Mailler's desk. Parks took the chair next to her.

After a few more moments, Mailler looked up from his laptop, his cold eyes assessing her appearance as if he was looking for a flaw to use against her. Georgia sat still, not fidgeting and doing her best to hold his gaze when his eyes met hers.

After what felt like minutes, but must have been seconds, he looked down and reached for a folder on his desk. "Your resume is quite impressive, Ms. Dawson. Tell me, have you enjoyed working for my sister these past six months?"

Georgia felt she had two options, to lay it on thick or tell the truth. Her gut told her that this man would see through any lie she or anyone told.

"No, not particularly. But it's a good job and while time-consuming, relatively easy, and it pays well." Georgia refused to look away from his searching glance. His whiskey-colored eyes not betraying any thoughts or feelings.

"Tell me about her fiancé? I take it you have met the man?"

"Yes." Georgia was uncomfortable about revealing any of Miss Diana's personal information, even to her brother.

After a moment when she didn't speak, Mailler rose and moved around to her side of the desk, leaning on it, so he towered over her.

"Your silence is commendable, but let us be clear, Ms. Dawson, you work for me. My sister may have hired you, and she, by all means, has the right to fire you, but I am your direct boss. I pay your salary, and I have the right to fire you just as she does."

Georgia looked up at him, considering his comment. She had no doubt he was frank in what he said, but would he willingly go against what his sister wanted? Diana seemed to get almost anything she wanted.

"I don't base my decisions on my sister's happiness if that clarifies the situation. I base them on what is best for this family of which I am the head." He spoke softly but clearly as if he had read Georgia's mind.

Georgia gave a small nod, and he moved back around the desk, allowing her to breathe again. She watched as he sat in his chair, leaning back. "Now, tell me about my sister's fiancé."

Taking a deep breath, she inhaled his cologne and had to clear her throat before she could speak. She then spent the next fifteen minutes giving him a rundown of the past six months' events and what she honestly thought of the man.

"I believe that she was called home at just the right moment, but I wouldn't be surprised if he followed her here," she eventually concluded.

Mailler, who had watched her closely while she talked, finally looked over at Parks. "Find out what he's up to." Then he hit his laptop, bringing it back to life again. "I'll see you and Park's here tomorrow at the same time as today, please."

At least he said please. She smiled at the thought.

"Is something amusing, Ms. Dawson?" He haughtily arched an eyebrow.

She felt her lips tremble as they tried their best to hold back a laugh. Maybe it was nerves, maybe that was why she found such a small thing so funny all of a sudden.

Not trusting her voice, she shook her head.

He waited, his eyes boring into hers, willing her to answer him, and when she continued to keep silent, he eventually looked down at his watch. "Thank you, Ms. Dawson, that's all."

Suppressing a giggle but unable to hide her smile any longer, she grinned as she rose from her seat. "You're very welcome, Mr. Mailler."

He only gave her a fleeting glance before he was absorbed in whatever was on the screen in front of him.

Still grinning, she nodded to Park's, who at least returned her smile before she left the room. "Thank you, Mr. Parks."

"You're very welcome, Ms. Dawson," he said, mimicking her response.

Closing the door behind her, she shook her head. This was going to be a very interesting job, and the hardest part would be not blushing when she met with Mr. Mailler every day after spending the night fantasizing about him.

She had loved her husband deeply, but it had been a comfortable love, full of warm, deeply abiding emotions that had developed over years of growing up together. He had been a good-looking man, but she had never had dreams about him like the one she had had the previous night about Mailer.

Part of her believed she should feel guilty about that, but the other part of her just wanted to enjoy the fact that she was feeling anything at all in that department, and with his looks and whiskey-colored eyes, she doubted that she was the only one who had these thoughts. In fact, she was sure if she asked around, she would find out that he had a very active private life full of beautiful, wealthy, and socially appropriate women. Something she would do well to remember she wasn't.

The next day and every day after, if he was home, she presented herself in front of Mr. Mailler, doing her best to forget the dreams of the night before. If he ever suspected that she had vivid fantasies about him, he never let on, and she did her best to guard the fact.