Seductive Scientist Daddy by Scott Wylder
CHAPTER TWO
Evan
Okay, I admit it: I'm a coward.
I was hiding from my new intern.
Instead of working in the office, I took my beat-up laptop outside to do some grant applications, out in the greenhouse. Ellen would be back later to call me out on my bullshit, but this was truly the best option. I was too attracted to her.
Lily was adorable. Her dirty blonde hair had been pulled back into a messy bun and she had been biting her lip when I first came in, hard at work. She had jumped like a baby deer when she saw me, and she had been a blushing mess ever since. Everything about her set off my Daddy instincts.
But, she was my intern – and at least ten years younger than I was. It was wrong for me even to think this way. I tried to focus on the grant research, but my mind kept thinking back to Lily. Eventually, I heard the door to the greenhouse open. Ellen stood in front of me, her arms crossed.
"Please tell me you're not hiding from Lily."
"I just wanted some fresh air while I worked. Is that so hard to believe?"
"Yes. It's over ninety degrees outside." She rolled her eyes. "We've had at least a dozen interns before her, and you didn't have a problem with them."
"Trust me, it's better than I'm outside."
Her eyes widened with realization. "No. No way. She's at least ten years younger than you are."
"I know!" I snapped. "And she's my intern. Why do you think I'm out here?"
Ellen sat down next to me. "Maybe we can arrange for her to work from home," she said.
I shook my head. "No. Getting experience in an office setting is one of the main benefits of the internship. I'm not going to rob her of that just because I'm a little attracted to her." I winced.
"Have you thought about getting laid?" Ellen said. "Might help you focus better."
I grimaced. I never was a one-night stand kind of guy. I needed the connection between Daddy and Little – I craved it. Even with people in the lifestyle, it was impossible to force that connection for just one night. It left me feeling unsatisfied and miserable the next day. But, I couldn't exactly explain that to Ellen.
"I got the permit to clean Crystal Lake," I said. "That means for at least a couple weeks, the two of us will be up in the forest and Lily will be manning the office in our stead. I can keep my distance until then."
Ellen nodded reluctantly. I had worked with her for years. She knew me better than most people. We had started the non-profit together, after all; so, she knew I wasn't that confident in my declaration about everything being okay. But, it had to be.
"We'll have to give Lily a bonus or something," she said. "I know it's an unpaid internship but she'll be taking care of the office by herself. Unfortunately, Crystal Lake is too dangerous to go there alone."
"We can shut down the store to minimize her responsibilities. She would just have to maintain the oysters and the plants." I winced. We would have to cancel a couple of presentations and lose some donation revenue, but I didn't want to put off the Crystal Lake trip any more than I had to. That lake had been polluted long enough. Delaying the trip would only damage the environment further.
"I'll go let her know," Ellen said. She looked me up and down and her brow furrowed in concern. "Maybe go home early today. You look like shit."
I snorted. "There's too much work to go home early."
"Nothing we haven't handled before."
She left to go back inside the air-conditioned office. I sighed. I could handle the work. My intern, though? I wasn't so sure about that one.