Avery wants to nail the man responsible for her sister's disappearance, CEO Carter Thebes, but the last thing she expects is to feel sorry for him, or worse, develop feelings. Can she unearth his secret before her emotions undo her efforts?
***
Aver...
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The moment she stepped into the office behind Amy, Colton forgot all about his need to get home and shed Carter. He wasn't even sure there was the need to rush this session as he'd originally wanted. And it had nothing to do with the state in which Avery Honey walked into his office, like a bloody wet dream incarnate.
It was her damn eyes.
As she entered through that frosty door, a nervous energy flickered in her smile, but a strange cold glint flashed in her eyes. Eyes so dark they had a gravity of their own, and when she glanced at his face before eyeing his desk, he felt a great desire to have them pin him again.
What is your secret? He found himself wondering as Amy led her to one of the two seats opposite his desk. It had him wishing he wasn't sitting behind the desk. The large desk created a crevasse of distance and hierarchy, something he'd worked tirelessly to move away from over the years. And suddenly, the desire to be sitting beside her, sitting anywhere other than the damn CEO's office, tingled up and down his spine.
"Mr Thebes, this is Avery Honey, the last interviewee for today." Amy's voice was snappy. "He is present for the interview, but I'll be—"
"Assisting me," Colton suddenly cut in, extending his hand towards Avery over the table. He couldn't tell what it was about her that suddenly made him sit up and pay attention while he'd practically fallen asleep at the others. Perhaps that brief slashing of coldness in her eyes had him curious. Or perhaps why a woman in designer heels and clothing even sought a menial job as a CEO's assistant. Surely not for the glamour of it.
"I thought you wanted me to—?" Amy threw him a look that boarded on rolling her eyes.
"Please sit, Avery, and start by telling us why you would be the best candidate for the job?" Colton cleared his throat to interrupt Amy and pointed Avery to take a seat.
"Well, I." He watched her shift in her chair, as any nervous interviewee would, but her voice was sure and confident. Timidity, it seemed, was only limited to her body. A fact that fascinated him further.
What is it you want?
"I recently graduated from the academy—" Avery's eyes pinned his again.
"In Meteorology?" He made a show of referring to her resume, though there was no need for that. He remembered perfectly well she had MA in Meteorology, the first person he'd ever met with such a degree, yet she sought an administrative job. Odd. Very odd.
She nodded, and he urged her on. "Why that field?"
The way she blinked at him, innocently, had him smiling before she even said, "Because I loved looking at the stars as a kid."
"Isn't that astronomy?"
"I wish someone had told little Avery that." She smiled, a warm kind of smile that shifts the temperature in the room by a degree.
