And so one moment changes your life! Never was there a truer reflection of the phrase. Everything as she knew it changed that night, and she still resented Jake for how her life had turned out. That day and the repercussions over the years had shaped her life, and she swore she'd never get into a situation like ever again.

She thought about Evan, he was sweet, caring, funny and sexy, more than she'd ever hope to see in a man. But he was her boss, and was in a position to ruin her and she couldn't let him do that. It had taken years to get her confidence back, and she wasn't sure that even now she had fully regained feelings of self worth. She couldn't let another man hit her into the gutter in the way that Jake had. If Evan was going to be in her life, then it would be as her boss, that was the position where he'd benefit her most, and she just had to prevent a repeat of their after dinner activities in the future.

On Monday she was dreading going to work. She didn't know how to face Evan. She'd left him in the street after throwing herself into his kiss so enthusiastically. And she'd purposely not answered her phone all weekend.

The office was quieter than usual, and she saw Eric scowling at her desk as she arrived. This was not how she needed this day to start.

"You ok?" she asked as she poured a mug of coffee from the machine.

He nodded, "I've just got a lot of hassle from above!" He gestured to the heavens but meant Evan.

"Anything I can help with?"

Eric groaned, then shook his head, "our beloved boss has just emailed me, is seems he's stepping back, talking about opening a small separate project. Something personal. Personal I tell you! That means that we..." he gestured around the room, "we have to pick up the pieces. Can you believe it?"

"Really?" Maddie couldn't help but relive her conversation with Evan where he'd told her how he missed cooking for people who mattered, for friends and exclusive people. Had he seriously taken her advice?

He nodded handing her an email, and she scanned it quickly, feeling her heart race as she realised that this was the restaurant he wanted to run. This was the concept he'd always dreamed about. He was following his dreams, days after discussing them with her. She didn't know what this, meant, but she felt touched that he may have actually listened to her.

Days passed and she still hadn't seen Evan, Eric was fraught; he was trying to organise a presentation of how he saw things developing over the next five years. There were a few candidates in line for the newly created management positions. It was really a company shake up and change had unsettled people. Gina was sniffing at a rise in the ranks, though she wasn't an obvious candidate in Maddie's eyes. Eric was at the moment the head honcho, but who knew what would happen if some outstanding candidates applied for positions in the restructure. Maddie smiled to herself, she couldn't see him running a restaurant, Eric thrived on the power that this job gave him. She was happy with her role; she had no intentions of changing anything. Not yet, it was all too soon.

On Friday afternoon she had a work email asking her to attend an address for an important meeting. It was an unsigned from the generic Club Tate email address, and on discussion with Gina, it seemed that she'd neither sent it, nor received something similar, so it wasn't a routine email to all staff.

Eric was visiting one of the restaurants to deal with some staffing issues, and she presumed it must be him. Though why he hadn't signed it she didn't know, he was hardly into subterfuge, the man was as obvious with his intentions as a man could be.

"I think it must be some plan of Eric's. I think he's feeling a bit vulnerable since that Peter visited," Gina offered.

Peter was a management candidate who'd wowed Evan apparently - he hadn't shown his face this week, and had been sent by their owner to discuss business plans with Eric. Eric had looked white with fear when the other man left, and he'd disappeared straight afterwards and they hadn't seen him since.

"You reckon? You think he wants something?"

Gina shrugged, "other than you on a plate?" When Maddie laughed, the receptionist added, "the man is a menace. I'd not go."

Maddie sighed, "it's a work email. I have to attend, this is my job."

A little concerned she cleared all the work on her desk and as the time approached got a taxi across town. As the car cut through leafy suburbs to the address she'd given, she realised that they were in a rather selective part of town. Getting out of the taxi she rechecked the details. In front of her was a boarded up shop and some run down offices.

She'd been brought up to worry about dark alleyways, predators, stranger danger, and as she stood looking at the shell of a building, a huge part of her wanted to run away as far as she could, but curiosity, that old adage about killing the cat seemed to be both correct, and correct for women as well as felines, because she felt compelled to walk towards the derelict building. Knocking on the only door she could see, she waited but there was no reply. So she pushed at the door and it slid open with a creek.

Inside was as bad as the outside, half plastered walls separated the various rooms, and wires hung from the ceilings in a dangerous way, fortunately the floor was solid, but there was barely a path through litter and debris.

This wasn't even a building site, it was far more primitive and basic than that, and she had no idea why she was there, Eric was nowhere to be seen, but then there was no one there. And it was all a little bit spooky. Wanting to get out of there, she spun around heading for the door, and it was then she heard footsteps coming towards her.

Turning back she came face to chest with a black t-shirt. Raising her eyes she looked into Evan's chocolate eyes. And until that moment he was the last person she expected to see, he hadn't emailed, hadn't called, but as soon as she set eyes on him it all made sense. Of course it was Evan.

"Hi!" her voice was a whisper, the last time she'd seen him had been out of the rear window of her taxi a week earlier.

He smiled and the dark room was lit up, "I'm glad you came, I was a bit anonymous as I didn't think you'd come if you knew it was me you were meeting!"

"You're my boss! Of course I'd come." She didn't tell him that she'd presumed she was meeting Eric; she had a feeling that would upset him.

"Not for much longer!" he announced. "Did Eric tell you?"

She nodded, "he didn't say much, other than you're giving up the reins. So you're following your dreams?"

He smiled down at her, "it's something I've been thinking of for a while, but when you reminded me that I'd strived to be in a position where I could do all this, I looked into in seriously. I'll still be involved with the chefs, after all the restaurants take my name, but really I want to concentrate on this."

Her eyes widened, "THIS? This is your restaurant?" She hated that she sounded so surprised.

He led her into the construction site. "You have to don some rose tinted spectacles, but the plans work. This will be the kitchen, and the rest will be the dining room. And...." he spun around to face her, "upstairs will be five rooms, for guests to stay. I'm thinking small, but packages for groups or couples, weddings, small parties etc. What do you think?"

"I think you must have great vision! This is really hard to visualise, but the idea sounds fantastic. Like a boutique venue, multipurpose yet exclusive. Think that's a niche not explored to date."

"That's what I thought, it has to be different, not a regular restaurant, but an event. You know we only open for events, for special occasions." Smiling, he led her into the back of the building, where a small counter had a kettle and a few chipped mugs. "Coffee?"

She nodded, "black, no sugar."

"I know!"

She blushed the deepest shade of red, "did you make me coffee...."

He held a hand up stopping her, "I know from dinner the other night. And I have to tell you as you seem to keep beating yourself up over things. We didn't sleep together Maddie. "

She gasped, "We didn't?" and she was unable to drag her eyes from him.

"Nope, we were both drunk, and passed out on the bed."

"Phew!" she rubbed her eyes, the relief was immense, she'd feared the worst. And if truth be told she had a history of doing things like that, so it hadn't been the surprise it should have been. But then the shame of her behaviour hit her, the fact that she'd been in the position where he could have quite easily had sex with her, and the fact that she couldn't remember anything more weren't positive points. She looked up at him meekly, "is it worse that I can't remember, or worse that I presumed we did?"

He smiled, "it's never good to be drunk and not remember really but we were both the same, and to be honest I'm glad we met."

She shook her head, this was starting again, flirting, next he'd be touching, "I can't do this..."

"Why?" he reached out and held both her arms, forcing her to look at him. "What is wrong with the thought of me and you? Because to me it's a rather appealing vision, I think...make that I know we'll be good together."

It left Maddie clutching at straws, she couldn't tell him that she wasn't worthy of him, that she was damaged goods, that all her relationships had been skewed by the betrayals she'd suffered at sixteen, instead she stammered, "you're my boss..."

He laughed at her attempts to avoid her, wishing he knew why she was so evasive, "not any more, I told you I'm going to have a completely non decision making role. I'm stepping right back, you can't use that as an excuse. Do you like me?"

"Of course I do, you're a really nice guy!" It was the understatement of the year.

And was greeted by a laugh, "A nice guy?" he leaned in to rest his forehead on hers, "Just nice?"

Her heart had started to pound, she tried to pull away, shake off the effect he had on her, but he wouldn't budge.

"You are more than nice..."

"Yay!" he whispered. "That's more like it. Can I tell you that you intrigue me? That you're beautiful, funny, vibrant, outgoing yet humble. You excite me because you're so different."

His words were having a profound effect on her, and she was blushing profusely, trying desperately to flee from his gaze. "Stop," she whispered, "I can't do this."

Evan lifted a hand and tilted her chin, seeking her eyes, and he saw the thinly veiled passion there, desire, if he thought that she didn't want him then he'd walk away, he wasn't all about bashing her head against a brick wall. But he knew that she felt the same way, her eyes betrayed her, as did her lips every time they kissed. "Madeline, I really want to get to know you better, and I don't believe that you feel different. I can't, not when you burn with such fire, I'm not about to make a nuisance of myself, but on the other hand, I didn't get to where I am without being driven, motivated."

Before she could argue or protest his lips landed on hers in the softest most gentle gesture imaginable. Her legs weakened and she fell into him, his arms sliding around her, holding her tight. With a groan, she lifted a hand to his face, cupping his cheek, the other hand curling in his hair. Allowing herself to fall under his spell.