Lost and Found (Growing Pains #1)(54)

“But…wait…are you trying to say I get to work here?” She turned to him suddenly, making him back up. “Do I get an office? Are you saying I get an office? Do I get to work here? With a door? Sean, tell me you are kidding. Tell me right now that you are kidding or else I might try to click my heels!”

Despite Sean’s attempt to be grumpy, a twinkle infused his troubled eyes and the corner of his lips lifted. “Yes. Will it work?”

“Oh my god! Yes!” She gushed. With a ten-gallon smile, she nearly threw herself at him for a hug just as big. Obviously, she refrained. Randomly hugging bosses was probably not the model of professional behavior.

“Yay! Thank you!” She moved through the office as if she was born to it. Behind her desk, she sat in her new seat. It was cush, just like Sean’s.

“Did you hear that?” she asked, bobbing in the chair a little.

Sean’s brow furrowed and he looked around. “What’s that? Something wrong?” His tired eyes turned back to her.

“Listen.” She couldn’t help her goofy smile as she crouched halfway out of her chair, put her hands out to the side elegantly, and sat down again with the cush.

“Oh, man. This chair is so nice!” She swiveled like a five-year-old as she checked out her surroundings. Sean, perking up at her pleasure, fully entered the office and sat in the visitor chair with a lopsided grin.

“So it works?”

“Does it work? Wait—“Krista jumped up, ran to the door, and closed it. “I have a door, Sean! An office and a door! Does it work—what a dumb question! Definitely!”

He regarded her for a moment longer. She gazed back with a beaming smile, waiting for her good mood to seep into his tired and cranky visage. Instead, as he took her in, his brow knit and he became distracted.

“All right,” he smoothed his trousers over his knees. “I will be moving up here eventually as well. They’re making a corner office ready for me. For now, I’ll stay put. Good?”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

“Great,” he got up and made ready to leave. “Anything else?”

“Um, well, what am I supposed to work on? And do I take orders directly from you, or does Mr. Montgomery still dictate my time? I don’t have to deal with Dan crop dusting me anymore!”

Sean’s mental path visibly stuttered. Halfway through whatever he planned to say, he paused with a wrinkled nose. “Crop dusting?”

Krista, swiveling in her chair, had her eyes on the comfortable arm rests when she answered. “Yeah, you know, walking by while farting. Office crop dusting they call it.” She glanced up. Seeing his look of hopeless confusion, she explained, “You know, when people walk through the office while letting out a silent but deadly one? They spread it out so no one knows who did it…” She raised her eyebrows, mostly unbelieving he didn’t know of this practice.

A weird, lopsided grin crawled up the right side of his face while his eyebrows were doing floppy, funny things. She had a feeling he couldn’t believe someone could be as outlandish as she was. The guy needed to get out more!

“Well,” she continued, unperturbed, “that’s what Dan always did. When he had particularly bad gas days, he’d do walk-throughs and sorta…sprinkle the fart. Crop dusting! I don’t have to hear him fart anymore! Oh, this is the best day!”

Sean couldn’t help but chuckle. Sobering once again, he said, “You have a list in your email of what I would like you to work on. As for bosses…well, James is technically your boss. For now I am your Team Leader. You listen to me, do as I do, work on what I say, and we land our guy. After that the sales team will return you, hopefully unharmed, to Mr. Montgomery.”

The gorgeous smirk was there, but his eyes were still distracted and haunted. Dude needed to get some sleep. Maybe he kept on drinking. Hangovers had a way of making even the most gorgeous people look ugly. Well, in his case, maybe not ugly, but definitely not as hot.

“You okay?” she almost regretted asking. One lunch didn’t make them friends. In fact, if they were magnets, the sides pointed at each other at the moment would’ve had a repelling effect. There was too much attraction there for it to be any other way.

Still, he was obviously struggling.

He looked at her intently, deciding if he would share his troubles, or not. After a moment, he chose not. “No, I’m good. Didn’t sleep as well as I could’ve.”

Krista nodded in sympathy. She hated those nights. Well, actually, she loved those nights because they were usually drunken bouts of fun. It was the mornings she hated something fierce.

He nodded once and was off.

As Krista looked around her office, one thing was immediately clear: working for Sean had its perks. So far, it was definitely worth the sexual frustration. Especially with their new deal. Hopefully it stayed that way.

As promised, there was an email from Sean in her inbox.

Dear Krista,

Please see attached. Start working on the material requested ASAP. If you have any questions, please come to me or Ray immediately. I will be contacting you in the future to arrange a meeting with your findings. Until that time, please assume that you are to continue gathering information. More is better than less.

Welcome to the team.

Regards,

Sean McAdams

Okay.