“Over the past two years I’ve mainly been exploring other avenues,” she said. “But I can assure you my knowledge and experience are there, and I am passionate about childcare. Your daughter Nora seems absolutely wonderful, and I feel as if we could genuinely have a great bond if we were to spend some time together.”

  Dash smiled and nodded.

  He could tell that she was holding back on something, that likely in the past two years something had happened to this lady, and for that reason, she had left her hometown and travelled a long way to get to Misty Vale. But he was a good judge of character, and his dragon could sense liars and cheats too, and this woman was not one of them. She had a good heart and soul, and she may have had some adversity, but he could tell she was a genuinely good person who could do with a chance. He looked down at the references again, all of them so lovely and full of praise.

  “I think we’ll be a good fit,” he said with a wry smile, and he was sure he saw a little blush creep across her cheeks. “I’d love it if you could come over for a trial run? I’ll check these references today and if you write your number down, I’ll give you a call once they’ve all checked out.”

  She smiled and nodded enthusiastically and then she scribbled her number on the top of her resume. He watched the way she looped the numbers together and then signed her name. She was so poised and delicate. Man, he wanted to tear her apart in the naughtiest way possible.

  When she leaned back and pushed her hair behind her ears, her large blue eyes really stood out to him again and he felt a warm pang in his heart.

  “Thank you for meeting with me Dash,” she said as she rose to her feet.

  “No,” he said as he joined her and held out his hand. “Thank you for coming.”

  She took his hand, and he took it, and the feeling rocketed through them again. She breathed in deeply, her eyes widening, and Dash had to focus on bearing his feet down into the ground to counteract the cosmic shift within him.

  This was big.

  She was important.

  Her hand fell from his and the electricity seemed to linger in the air between them, and as she stepped away from the table and made her way to the door, he knew that he was in trouble.

  Dragons don’t feel like this for nothing, his inner voice was screaming. This woman is going to change your life.

  Chapter 5

  Dash Livingstone. The name had been on the tip of her tongue and rattling around her mind since the second she had met him properly in the lobby of the B&B. He had done nothing but command her thoughts, and now she knew she was gearing up to see him again, she was so nervous she felt as if she could faint.

  Dash Livingstone.

  What a man.

  The second she had lay eyes on him and she had felt something intense between them, she knew she was going to be in trouble. She had come to Misty Vale to find herself, and now she was finding that all she could think about was a man that she barely knew. And not only that, but he was potentially going to be her employer.

  She looked at herself in the mirror and noticed the sparkle in her eyes. Since she had broken up with Toby, she had felt so dull and flat, but now she was regaining control and starting again, and she could see that in some ways she was healing. Her eyes seemed alive again, and she couldn’t help but wonder whether it had something to do with the new town, or the people she was meeting along the way on her new journey.

  He powered his way into her thoughts again.

  God, he was sexy.

  But he was also slightly terrifying, and Amelia knew that he clearly had the potential to become an overpowering force. She found herself half smiling and half worrying. She was going to have to screw her head back on and stop all of this fantasizing. She was going to be looking after Nora Livingstone and she had to get her head in that instead. It felt good to be finally going back to work properly and to do something that she was passionate about, she couldn’t let a man throw her off course. No matter how hot and intimidating he may be.

  Dash had called her later on in the afternoon after their meeting at Misty Brews, and he had been happy with her references and that they had all checked out. He said she had clearly made a big impression on a lot of young people’s lives, and she was being missed back in her hometown by some of the kids she had babysat across the years. It had been so lovely to hear that, and she was grateful to Dash for telling her. When he had asked if she was still okay to come for a trial run as soon as possible she had been delighted to say yes and now she was ready to step out the door and head over to the Livingstone house. He had given her the address and she had gotten ready quickly. She really didn’t want to mess this one up, she needed this job, and for her to be getting so settled and into Misty Vale life after only a day in town was even more amazing.

  She grabbed her purse and slipped on her jacket before she headed out into the late evening sun. It was time to show Dash Livingstone what she was all about.

  She could tell that he was a man who dressed well and had fine taste, but she hadn’t really thought a whole lot about what Dash’s home might look like. When she saw the street that she was pulling into from inside the cab, she knew her mouth was gaping open and she found her hands shaking.

  This was more than intimidating.

  This was like something she had never seen before in her entire life, and something that she never could have expected.

  The houses all along the small, closed off lane, were all ginormous in size and style. They were all different in the way they looked, but the one thing they all had in common was the sheer enormity of them and the flashy cars on the drive. She was supercars, classic cars, some that looked as if they had come from another planet and must have been some of the expensive new electric models that she had heard about in the news. Amelia felt her heart beat faster with nerves, and as the cab pulled up at the bottom of the drive of one of the homes, she was at least a little relieved to see that Dash had a slick black truck parked there and not a bright red sports car.

  She stepped out and looked up at the place. It was a huge property that looked as if it had been architecturally designed to the owner’s specifications. It looked more traditional than modern, but there was a large pane of glass running down the center showing off the staircase and a dramatic chandelier. It had to be at least three floors high, and she could tell that it must have cost Dash a fortune. For a quiet mountain town, homes like this must have run into the millions and millions of dollars, and she wondered how on earth she had ended up there feeling like a fish out of water.

  “Calm down,” she coached herself quietly. “You can handle this.”

  Before she reached the top of the drive and got to the front door, it was already opening and she could see a very excited Nora jumping up and down, with Dash standing not far behind her. He looked incredible, like he had earlier in the day. But this time he didn’t have his long overcoat on, and he had pulled up his sleeves on his sweater. It didn’t seem to matter how casual or smart he dressed, he just looked good. He could probably have worn an old sack as a top and still looked incredible. Amelia found herself feeling slightly flustered, but she pushed it down. She wasn’t going to let her nerves get the better of her this time. She had waited two long years for this independence and freedom, and she was going to seize it with both hands.

  “Hi, Mary Poppins!” Nora said sweetly as Amelia reached the door.

  “Well, hello there, Nora,” Amelia said in her best British accent before she winked and they both laughed.

  Dash smiled and stood back to let Amelia step inside, and when she followed Nora over the threshold, she had to truly stop her mouth from gaping open again when she saw how amazing the house looked. Directly in front of her was a massive staircase that split into two halfway up and wrapped into a gallery balcony all around the first floor. The chandelier that she had been able to see from the street looked even more impressive up closely, and all of its crystals twinkled and glistened above them and reflected on the marble floors underfoot.

  “This is quite a house,” Amelia said, knowing there was no way she couldn’t comment on it without looking foolish or as if she was deliberately avoiding it.

  “Daddy designed it,” Nora said before Dash had a chance to interject, and he laughed and rubbed his hand down his five-o clock shadow.

  “Wow, did you?” Amelia was impressed.

  “That’s right,” he said humbly. “In fact, I had a hand in all of the houses in our little street here. Part of my business is within architecture and planning, so we’re pretty well set up for it.”

  “That all sounds very interesting,” Amelia smiled.

  “It’s boring really,” Nora said cheekily. “Even my daddy says so.”

  Amelia looked up at Dash and they caught each other’s eyes and laughed. Nora really was a little spitfire, and Amelia had the feeling she knew exactly where it came from. She was strong and confident, just like her father.

  “Well,” Dash said. “Why don’t we head through to the kitchen and we can show Amelia what you’re working on for school tomorrow?” Dash said with a warm smile as he looked down at Nora.

  Nora excitedly nodded her head and reached for Amelia’s hand, and she led her through the house, past the staircase and into the right-hand side of the property and toward a magnificent kitchen and living area. Amelia was so impressed, the place was huge. And the kitchen was both homely and palatial. Dash had designed a space that incorporated a brilliant cooking space, a place to dine with a long, elegant table, and then at the far end an open plan living area with big L-shaped couches and a huge flat screen on the wall. Behind there was a big set of bi fold doors that gave way to the view of the garden that had been landscaped to perfection. She was sure she could see a pool and a hot tub at the far end on a patio area, a pergola, a wonderful set of outdoor couches that formed another entertaining space with an outdoor kitchen and bar. Behind the garden the pine trees were high and overbearing and they provided complete privacy. It was a stunning home, and Amelia had never imagined anything quite like it.

  “Look,” Nora said as she led Amelia to the large dining table and let her take in the view of the big pictures and paintings that were scattered around. “We’ve been learning about the planets,” Nora said with a proud smile. “And my teacher asked us to choose and paint our favorite planet, but I like all of them, so I chose three.”

  Amelia smiled. It may have been mostly large circles filled with dollops of paint, but she could clearly tell what she was looking at and Nora definitely had a talent.

  “Well, isn’t this amazing,” Amelia grinned. “I can see that we have Earth, Mars, and is that one Saturn?” she pointed to the rings that looped around the last planet perfectly.

  “Yes,” Nora smiled. “I like Earth the best because it’s where we live.”

  Dash and Amelia caught each other’s eyes and he smiled and raised his eyebrows.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.

  Amelia nodded.

  “I have coffee, sparkling water, soda?”

  “Sparkling water would be fantastic,” Amelia replied, and she watched as he moved over to the large refrigerator and opened one of the doors. Inside it appeared to be all drinks, and it wasn’t long before she clocked on that in fact, he had four refrigerator doors lining the wall.

  “This is the drinks,” he said, as if reading her mind. “Then this door is food, the next freezer and the last, well that’s kind of just anything.” He laughed.

  He placed a glass down in front of Amelia and began to pour. Just feeling him over her shoulder made her heart pound and her stomach knot into a tight squeeze of excitement. He was so hot, and so controlled, and it made her want to throw all of her control out the window and pounce on him. She didn’t know where it was coming from, this intense desire, but it was so strong and felt so right that it was unnerving her.

  You can’t feel this way, she told herself internally. You just can’t.

  She knew she had moved away from her hometown to start again as an independent woman on her own, and she really didn’t want to get into a relationship again where she felt like she was losing herself. She had to remain strong and fight these feelings. She was working for the man for God’s sake.

  Dash sat down opposite her, and they caught each other’s eye again. Between them Nora was chattering away about the solar system and drawing big colorful circles in the correct order to show them exactly what was there and how it was laid out. But Dash and Amelia were focused fully on each other, she could sense it. She saw the way his eyes flicked over hers, the way he breathed and the way he was watching her. She couldn’t tell whether it was because he was sizing her up to see if she was good enough to be in charge of his daughter and spend so much time in his home, or whether he was as intrigued by her as she was by him.

  The night passed by in a lovely way, with the three of them eating dinner together, Dash showed Amelia where everything was in the kitchen, and they laughed and joked together as they cooked pizza from scratch and let Nora pick the toppings. After a couple of hours in the Livingstone house, Amelia felt right at home, and it was clear that she and Nora had bonded fast, just as she had expected. When it came time for Nora to go to bed, Amelia said goodbye to them both at the door as her cab pulled up the driveway. It had been such a wonderful night she didn’t want to leave.

  “So,” Dash said as he looked down at his daughter and patted her on the shoulder. “Did you enjoy having Amelia here with us tonight?”

  “I loved it, Daddy!” Nora beamed. “She is so much fun and so much better than the other nanny’s you’ve had here. Please can she stay, please can she?”

  Amelia smiled and Dash cocked his head to the side.

  “Well I guess that’s up to Amelia, if she feels that this is something she would like to make a regular thing… A proper thing?”

  They had already discussed what the routine would be when it came to Nora’s care, and it sounded like the perfect set up. It was almost too good to be true.

  “I would love to,” Amelia smiled, not wanting to let Nora wait a second longer for her answer. “I would love to nanny for you Nora, I think you and I will have great fun together.”

  “Yay!” Nora said excitedly as she clapped her hands together and jumped up and down on the spot. “I have my own real-life Mary Poppins!”

  Dash and Amelia laughed, and they looked into each other’s eyes.

  “Well,” Amelia said as she took a step back away from the house. “I had a great time tonight, and I’ll be seeing you both…?”

  “How about we start the day after tomorrow?” he asked. “That way you can at least unpack your bags here in town before throwing yourself straight into work.”

  His eyes glistened and it made her feel warm all over.

  “Perfect,” she smiled.

  She waved goodbye as she climbed into the cab, and couldn’t believe it when she saw the time and it was almost 10pm. Nora had stayed up so late, but it was clear that it had been needed for them all tonight. She imagined she was an early riser anyway and could no doubt have a little bit of a lie in before school in the morning.

  As the cab made its way back to the B&B, Amelia was on cloud nine, but she also had her reservations. Her and Dash were now being thrown together properly, and whatever she was feeling for him she was going to have to bury deep. She was working for him now… and she wanted to do her very best.

  She may have felt pulled to him on a more intimate level… but it was time to toe the line and have some self-control.

  “You don’t even know if he even likes you…” she whispered almost silently to herself.

  But that wasn’t technically true… she felt it.

  She felt it more than she had ever felt anything.

  Chapter 6

  Dash stepped out of his truck and tossed the keys to the valet. The kid was new, but he could tell that he already was fully aware who Dash was and he stumbled as he went to catch them and then was overly apologetic.

  “It’s okay,” Dash said with a warm smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

  The Golf Club was a place he and his family had been coming since the moment it had opened, hell, they did own the place. And whenever he set foot here, he appreciated how attentive and polite the staff were to him, but sometimes he also just wished for a little anonymity. He wasn’t the type of guy who looked for special treatment, but it seemed to come with the territory of being a Livingstone.

  He stepped inside the big, gilded doors to a flurry of hello’s and good mornings as he made his way along to the club room. He had a meeting there with his family and brothers in arms in less than an hour, but before he jumped headfirst into business, he wanted to unpack the past few days.

  It had been a total whirlwind, and his head was as fucked up as it had ever been.

  Amelia.

  The new nanny he had hired for Nora, was keeping him awake at night. He took a seat at a table overlooking the green and ordered a black coffee and a shot of bourbon. He wanted to keep the fire inside him burning and also take the edge of what had been a day filled with uncertainly and second guessing himself.

  He felt the change in him, and it was making him nervous.

  He had heard his kind talk about what it was like to find their one true mate… but he had always assumed it would never happen to him. Not after what had gone down with Nora’s mother and the way she had left them the way she did. Since then he had always vowed never to fall in love, and to never even consider finding another mate. Never mind the one true person he was supposed to be with.

  He had been used for his money, taken for granted for the lifestyle he could give to women, and then left in the dust with a baby in his arms and no idea of what he was doing. It had been the darkest moment of his life, but luckily, Nora had been a shining light for him.