Recalling their encounter

The instant she shut the bathroom door,Grace dropped the blanket and started removing her damp clothes.

She headed straight toward the shower. Encased in glass, it had an enormous amount of space, the fixtures steel and glass. Obviously, it had been custom-built for someone much bigger than her.

She stripped and stood in the centre of the cubicle, under the three showerheads. The spray hit her so high that she was in danger of drowning. She reached up and tried to tilt them down but they wouldn't budge. Giving up, she stood shivering on the tiles outside.

Jacob's firm knock came a minute later. Cracking open the door, she peeked around it.

"You should be getting warmed up. I told you I'd throw it in." He scowled, all male annoyance and faintly menacing good looks.

A thought nudged at the back of her mind but she pushed it aside. Her stepfather's attempt at wresting custody of Simon from her was her problem and despite his kindness, Jacob wouldn't want to know about it. After all, she'd just been his temporary secretary.

She grabbed the robe, hiding behind the door. "Wait." Snuggling into the garment, which smelt reassuringly ofJacob and devoured her entire body, she tugged the door fully open. "I need you to set the showerheads lower. I feel like I'm standing under the Niagara Falls."

Shaking his head, he walked into the humid room. "They're electronic." He showed her a control panel on the outside wall of the shower. "See?"

Grace flicked her gaze up from her appreciative view of his backside. The man was muscled everywhere. She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to run her hands all over that beautiful golden skin. "How was I supposed to know your house was so gadgety ?" Grateful that she sounded normal, she made a face at him. "Okay, fix them anyway now that you're here."

He shook his head again and disappeared out of sight. His footsteps retreated down the hall until they faded altogether. Grace let out her breath and slipped back inside the bathroom. Shutting the door firmly, she quickly stripped and turned the taps as hot as she could handle.

It took only seconds for water to pour over her.

Jacob was in a daze after he returned back down. It wasn't easy when erotic visions of Grace in black lace dominated his thoughts.Even now he found himself turning away when she approached, wanting nothing more than to strip off those layers of clothing and wrap her tiny naked body in a tight embrace. It would be the easiest way to forget how hard it was to watch her.

"I will not seduce Grace," he repeated over and over, and knew he was lying. Having her encased in his robe wasn't enough. He wanted her encased in him, while her body sheathed his in hot, wet welcome.

Poor, sweet Grace would probably run a mile if she discovered what he was thinking. Bundled up in his white robe, she'd looked even smaller than usual. Though she wasn't a petite woman, next to his bulk she appeared fragile.

Grace had definitely awakened the sexual desire within him. The question was,did she have any interest in him as well? Well ... she had called him gorgeous. Despite his frustrated desire, he smiled, remembering the first time he'd seen her.

He'd looked up from drafting changes to a contract, expecting to find a mature woman in his office doorway. The agency knew his requirements. He didn't want some young would-be starlet trying to impress him with her "charms" - he wanted superb typing skills not mediocre acting skills.

The woman in the doorway he saw had her dark hair pulled back into a severe bun, lush lips softened only by gloss and lovely blue eyes. He'd detected a trace of challenge in those too-blue eyes, as if his reputation didn't scare her. She'd been dressed in a business suit. He'd stared and stared, unable to look away. She was gorgeous and he knew it - there was no denying it.

After several moments in silence, she'd cleared her throat and asked what she could do for him.

"Do you know how to type?" He asked gruffly.

She blinked. He watched the color rise in her cheeks before she spoke. "Well... yes."

"Then you can fill in this form and give me the information that comes with it." He pointed to the page on his desk and then glanced down at his watch. "That will be the end of our meeting. If you wish, you may start to work right now or better tomorrow."

"I'll join right away"

Her brow furrowed, and she looked away before nodding and exiting the office. He continued working, occasionally casting covert glances toward her. He'd wanted to groan in despair. It would've taken a blind man not to notice that she was stunning. But the fact that she didn't seem interested in anything about him drove him crazy.

"I need this dictation typed as fast as possible," he'd growled, throwing her a tape.

She'd caught it and left, without commenting on his rudeness. Dismissing her from his mind, he'd started to race through another piece of work, aware that without a competent secretary, his day was likely to end sometime in the wee hours of the morning.

Less than half an hour later, she'd walked back in. Handing him several typed sheets, she'd picked up his handwritten edits to the contract and returned to her workstation. Wondering at her confidence, he'd turned his eyes to what she'd given him and just about died of shock.

Stalking out, he'd stood over her desk. "Name?"

"Grace Anne." Her response had been cool.

"Do you want to be a movie star?"

Blue, blue eyes had widened. "Good God, no."

He'd grinned at that disgusted statement. It had been the first time that she'd made him smile. "Fine.

Good work. Do I have you for the next three months?"

"Yes."

His delight in having found an extremely efficient secretary hidden beneath the form of a beautiful woman had been borne out. By the end of her first week, she'd organized his office, caught up on the backlog of filing and yelled at him when he'd raised his voice to her.

She'd become one of his best workers yet. He hadn't known that women were capable of such amazing feats of organisational ability.

In less than two weeks, she'd surpassed his expectations. Not once, ever, had she failed to respond immediately whenever he sent a document in to her, and he was grateful for that.

And somewhere along the way, he'd found himself coming to work just to hear her tart responses to his questions, and bask in her sunny smile. They'd never crossed any line, never even touched, but in his heart he'd known that he wanted to claim her as his woman. Only his promise to himself that he'd be faithful, unlike his philandering father and womanizing half brothers, had kept him from taking her. Or perhaps it had been the fact that Grace had seen him as honorable and he'd wanted to live up to her expectations.