She knocked gently on the door and let herself in when he acknowledged her. Sean barely glanced up, giving her an opportunity to study him, and she did. He had the kind of rich man’s aristocratic beauty that drew women in, with a well-tailored suit and broad shoulders. He looked a little unhappy too, and India had an odd, instinctive urge to cheer him up. Maybe, beyond his looks, women were sucked in by that, the strange pull to nurture a sad, beautiful man.
Chapter 2 - India
“Unhappy? Why would he be unhappy? He’s got more money than any human being could ever use, and he’s beautiful, and he has new women every time I see him.” Heather asked as she held the door open for India. As had quickly become their routine in the last couple of weeks, they were grabbing food for Sean and themselves at a cafe down the street that specialized in the kind of gourmet sandwiches that Sean found moderately acceptable. He had never once told her he liked something, only that he found it either acceptable or unacceptable, which seemed like an unhappy way to live.
After two weeks of working for Sean Blackstone, India had expected to start to hate him, but instead, she felt sorry for him. No one else believed Sean Blackstone could be unhappy, as if being wealthy and gorgeous granted instant happiness. Who knew, maybe it did? India wasn’t familiar with that kind of wealth.
India shrugged, sipping her kombucha as she walked. She had become irrationally convinced over the past few days that Sean needed someone to hug him and tell him they saw him. India didn’t have many people in the world, but she had her brother, and her brother would drop everything if she needed him. And considering her brother’s profession, everything was really quite a lot. Her brother would do violence on her behalf. Meanwhile, Sean seemed to have no one.
“I don’t know. He has a sort of haunted, sad look in his eyes sometimes.isn’t that what draws you to him?”
“Uh, nope,” Heather cackled. “I’m drawn to the broad shoulders and perfect abs. And those lips. So pillowy.”
India dropped this line of questioning because it was pointless. She planned to disappear from this place before she ever found out if there was anything behind the cold ice of Sean’s unusual gray-green eyes. It was easier to gossip with Heather about Sean Blackstone as a physical specimen, and that better fit the role she played, anyway. “He has nice lips. They do look soft. But I’ve never seen his abs.”
“His abs, hoo boy,” Heather whispered, fanning herself dramatically. It had become clear over the past few days that Heather was not taking this non-disclosure agreement seriously. But an NDA in this kind of circumstance probably wasn’t legally binding or ethical in any kind of way. This made India wonder if Sean was sad because he was creepy.
Did creepy people feel sad about their actions, or did they roll with being creepy, happily unaware?
India had formed an odd, unlikely friendship with Heather after running into each other on the lunch hour for a few consecutive days. Heather was not the type of woman India usually made friends with, but she was funny, even if it was unintentional, and fun to be around. And okay, India rarely made friends with anyone other than her tight-knit crew. And she never spoke to her crew in person.
“Would it be weird if we stayed friends after this temp job is over?” she asked, glancing at Heather.
Heather grinned so big that it looked like her face was about to crack open, and she bounced a little. “No, not weird! Let’s! I enjoy your company, and you don’t even seem old at all.”
“Old? I’m 28. Shouldn’t you know that as the HR director? You saw my resume.” India frowned, looking down at her outfit and wondering just how old she looked.
“Oh! Right! I forgot that we’re the same age. It’s just that you dress so...” Heather floundered and India fought the urge to giggle. At least her disguise was working on someone at Blackstone industries, even if the sharp-eyed Sean Blackstone seemed to see right through it and straight to her tits.
They walked up into the elevator bay and headed their separate ways, and India was thoughtful as she made her way back to her desk, logged into her computer and checked the background processes she was running. They would gain her deeper access into the company’s systems. Being on the company’s network made all the coffee runs and dealing with her creepy boss worth it. She and her crew had attempted this same process remotely and had been shut down.
After a few minutes, Sean wandered in, and India handed him his coffee and the bag with his fancy sandwich in it. He was glaring at her rather fiercely, and for a minute she thought it was possible that he had seen what she was doing. Her heart rate elevated, and it definitely wasn’t because of the way Sean’s flat stomach looked in those tailored rich guy slacks.
“I found the instant coffee in the cabinet and disposed of it,” he said.
She giggled, letting go of the breath she had been holding. “Ah, that was good while it lasted.”
“No, it wasn’t.” He was giving her some kind of alpha male death glare, which she assumed was supposed to cause cowering. She still wanted to hug him, though.
“Oh, I have a question for you. Are you sad because you’re slightly creepy and you feel guilty about it?”
He stared at her for a long moment. “I believe that is one of those questions you should keep inside your head.”
“I have a bit of a filter problem. Heather thinks you’re too handsome to be sad, but I know pretty men can have sad days, too. My brother has a therapist.”
He turned and stalked towards his office, muttering, “Jesus, where do they find these temps?”
“If you need a hug, you can let me know. I give fantastic hugs!” she offered. He paused and turned around, stalking back over, moving in close to her and boxing her against her desk.
“What if I need a fuck?”
She wanted to run out of the room, but instead, she met his eyes and grinned. “Does that line usually work for you? Hugs are all that’s on offer.” He frowned at her and backed off, gone as quickly as he had appeared, and India tried to calm her racing heart. How could she be attracted to that jackass? Maybe all the talking to Heather about abs and lips was messing with her mind.
Turning back to her computer, she forced herself to focus on her work.
Chapter 3 - Sean
“You can talk to me though, if you need someone to talk to,” India said as she wandered into Sean’s office. She gasped and covered her eyes with a hand, her cheeks flushing when she realized what she had walked in on. “Oh! Right! Sorry.”
