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"You may go in."

"Thanks."

Allison followed herfriend, feet sinking into the most luxurious carpet she’d everfelt. After a tentative knock, Hillary swept the doors open to anoffice twice the size of the dragon assistant.

The office was veryimpressive following the same color scheme seen throughout thebuilding, with the majestic view of the city seen through the largewindow.

His dark head wasbent to the laptop opened in front of him, and what she could see ofhis face was a hard, uncompromising expression that sent furtherchills up and down her spine.

With an authoritativeflick of one hand, he asked them to give him a minute as he continuedto look at his laptop. It gave her time to look around the office,admiring the sparse yet elegant decor.

A huge electronicfireplace gave the appearance of coziness. Yellow sofas were placedin one corner of the room. A door was open that no doubt led tobathrooms and perhaps a bedroom when he didn’t want to leavefor the night.

She was jolted out ofher reverie by the deep baritone voice.

"Ms. Jackson,you’re free to go. I’m sure you have work to do, and I’massuming Ms. Simpson can stand alone." Allison was given aclose-up view of the attractive yet hard face.

"Yes, sir, ofcourse." Hillary handed Allison her folder and left the officewith a sympathetic smile, closing the doors behind her.

"Sit." Heflicked a hand to one of the chairs.

"I have mydocuments-"

"Not necessary.I have it all right here. Why don't you start by telling me why youwant to work here."

Perching on the edgeof the padded blue-grey chair, she forced herself to meet theexpressionless amber eyes without flinching. "It's a perfectopportunity to offer the company my expertise."

The minute the wordswere out of her mouth, she realized she’d said the wrong thing."As well as the opportunity to work with a company as large asthis one. Mr. Hamilton-" Leaning forward earnestly, shecontinued. "As you can see, I’m very good at my job andjust need a chance to show what I can do."

His eyes wanderedover her face with a coolness that left a chill. "You owned yourown company."

She knew it wascoming but somehow wasn’t prepared. "I did."

"Which foldedafter five years."

Forcing herself notto take offense, she recalled the advice her friend had given her andanswered in kind. "It did. Bad management plus personal issues."

"You ran it withyour ex."

"Yes."

He glanced briefly athis laptop, giving the impression that her entire life was laid outbefore him. "It never occurred to you to check the bottom line?The company had been limping along for a year before it wasdiscovered this man had been dipping into the profits."

It made her soundstupid and unable to handle her affairs. It also brought back thepainful memories of finding out that Gavin had not only been cheatingon her but had been using the company they’d formed together tosend his mistress to nursing school.

Lifting her chin, shegave him a cool look. "I trusted him completely, and I had someissues of my own."

"Your mother?"

"Yes."

For a full minute,his amber eyes assessed and dissected her. Allison was aware of howshe looked. She was a size sixteen black woman with a flawless browncomplexion and thick dark hair.

She’d chosen towear a black turtle neck sweater, which she’d teamed with a redpantsuit for the interview. She’d chosen not to wear too muchmakeup and settled for shimmering red lip gloss.

"I’m heronly child and it’s my responsibility to make sure she has thebest care possible. I make no excuses for that."

He continued to lookat her for a few seconds before inclining his head slightly. "Whatcan you bring to the company?"

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