Free Blindsided by Tes Hilaire

her.
    “I can’t hear anything,” he whined through the intercom.
    “I can,” she retorted, receiving a curled lip from the man behind the glass. “Do the take again, but check all the lines and filters first.”
    She slipped the earphones off, setting them on the counter, then swiveled the chair around to her desk. The large window behind her tinted to black as she looked straight at the door, and thus him, but somewhere in the vicinity of his chest, not his face. Too bad, she had beautiful eyes and the smoky purple pantsuit really set them off.
    “Mr. Evans. What brings you here?” She turned her head slightly toward the woman seated in one of the guest chairs who’d been scribbling hurriedly on her tablet since he’d entered. “And why did security let him in?”
    The pen hovered above the touch-screen surface, the woman’s bun tipped back as she blinked owlishly at Aria.
    “I can be very persuasive.” Teigan threw Aria a charming smile, not that she could see the friendly gesture, but it couldn’t hurt to try and soften up the secretary and the scowling man in the corner of the room. The secretary looked over her shoulder at him and blushed, quickly averting her gaze. He glanced at the chauffer—well, one out of two wasn’t bad.  
    “Hmm.” Aria tapped the desk. “Becky. Find out who let Mr. Evans in and tell them if something like this happens again, they’ll be fired on the spot.”
    “Yes, Miss Idyllis.” Becky jumped up, and with another glance and blush, left the room.  
    “Now, Mr. Evans, why are you here?” Aria asked, her tone brisk, dismissive even.  
    Teigan strived to keep a straight face. Aria Idyllis might be blind, but she was no pushover. She also hadn’t done anything over the last thirty-six hours to give them any idea as to her real purpose for visiting Garret’s house. After seeing the information John uncovered, they’d put her under surveillance. So far she’d done nothing alarming. She’d been at home when they’d picked her up and had only left to go to work, back to home, and now to work again. Was her life really that predictable? Or was she trying to appear innocent?  
    “Can we speak alone?” he countered and glanced at her driver once more. The man looked about as pleased to see him now as he had the other day, which equated to: Not happy at all.  
    “So now you want to speak alone?” Aria snorted out a laugh, throwing her head back as if she found this highly funny. After a moment, she composed herself, her features smoothing back into a professional look of mild interest. “Well. I must assume since you’re still here that the person lurking in the background at your house was a friend. It doesn’t change the fact that there was someone there. Nor that you lied about it. I do not like liars, Mr. Evans. Willis,” she nodded toward the corner of the room where her driver discretely stood, “is in my confidence. Whether he is present or not won’t change the fact that he will be fully briefed on this conversation. However, if you would be more comfortable speaking without him, I will ask him to step outside the door.”
    “Please.” Teigan decided she looked cute when she got all haughty like this. He imagined she’d not be amused by the thought though. She hesitated, as if unsure of her offer now that he’d accepted, but then inclined her head. Willis opened his mouth as if to object, but then seemed to think better of it. He walked to the door, eyes fixed on Teigan, suspicion boiling out of the hard depths as he passed.
    “Please, sit.” Aria waved a delicate hand toward the two comfortably stuffed chairs on Teigan’s side of the desk when the door clicked behind her driver. Not the type of cushy chair you’d get lost in, but still, a nice plush imitation leather that would envelop you in their cool embrace…or was it real leather? Given the desk—a real antique mahogany if he had to guess—probably.
    “I’ll stand, thank you.”  
    As