Sebastian couldn’t remember the last time a woman got under his skin like this Amelia had. High school maybe? Since before the days when he wanted relationships without the emotion. It had been a long time. And he didn’t think he much liked it. But she was on his mind, the images of her wet with rain, her dress clinging to her, her grateful eyes full of tears, thanking him, her desperation to get to an interview that she thought might change her life.

When he got to the office in the morning, he called down to accounting. “Jacob. How’d it go yesterday with Miss Foley?”

“She started this morning.”

“She’s qualified enough?”

“I’d say. I would have hired her even if you hadn’t recommended her.”

Sebastian ignored the jolt of excitement he felt at this news. Of course, if he wanted her to be hired, she would have been, but he’d been sure to tell Jacob only to hire her if she was qualified. He wasn’t going to create a situation for his employees where they were stuck with a sub-par employee for his own desires. If she wasn’t good enough, he could have her other ways, if he still wanted to. But she was good enough to make the cut. And that made it even better.

“Perfect. Thank you.”

“Though, there is one small thing,” Jacob said.

“What’s that?”

“She gave a fake address and phone number.”

Sebastian leaned back in his chair, not sure what to make of this. “Send me her file, please.”

“Right away, sir.”

Jacob was fast, and it wasn’t long until Amelia’s file appeared in Sebastian’s inbox. He glanced over it, but nothing jumped out at him as odd.

He called his assistant next. “I need you to look into someone for me.”

“Sure thing. Name?” Craig asked.

Sebastian sent him her file and mentioned the fake address and phone number. He also gave him her car’s license plate number, which he’d taken note of the day before.

“I’m on it.”

Sebastian went on with his day, making calls, answering emails, attending meetings. He tried not to think too much about Amelia, but now she was something of a mystery to him on top of everything else. Why the fake information? What did it mean?

His best guess was that she was hiding something. Maybe she lived with someone he knew. Maybe she had something to hide at her home. Drugs? Criminal activity? But that didn’t seem like her. Everything he came up with seemed much too immoral for the innocent woman he’d met on the side of the road. Every time his phone rang or there was a knock at his door, he hoped it was Craig with news.

It was almost the end of his day by the time Craig came in to see him.

“It’s a little… strange,” Craig said, setting the folder down on Sebastian’s desk.

“How so?”

“It seems that she doesn’t have phone service. When I tracked down her phone information, I found that the number she gave was correct, but the service had been terminated on it months ago due to non-payment. And the address…”

He looked down at the floor and shifted his weight. This was the part that had Sebastian most concerned all day. Why a fake address?

“Did you find where she really lives?” he asked.

“Yes. Well, where’s she’s staying.”

“Where?”

“The women’s shelter in the city.”

Sebastian took a second to process this. “The homeless shelter.”

“Yes. The address she wrote down was fake, but it was next to the shelter. Her car is registered to an address in the next state, her mother’s address. I followed her when she left work and saw her park and go inside the shelter. I pulled some information on the shelter and found her name in the roster. She’s been staying there about a month.”

Sebastian put his hand to his mouth and turned to look out the window. This was much worse than anything he could have imagined. He turned back to Craig. “She’s there now, then?”

“She was there an hour ago. I would presume she’s there for the night.”

“Thank you.”

When Craig left, Sebastian got up and paced his office. He had two real options when it came down to it. He could do nothing. She was his employee and that meant she’d be paid well, would have a decent benefits package, and could soon afford to move on from the shelter.

Or, he could get involved. Everything about him said not to. To leave her alone, let her do her own thing without trying to get in the way. But when he pictured her again at the side of the road, the way she was so grateful to him for helping her, his heart tightened. He could save her again. He could get her out of that place and take care of her.

Of course, doing that was dangerous. He already thought about her too much and having her so close would be difficult. He might be tempted to take advantage of that situation. And being an employee, he could do nothing that might taken in an unethical way. He also didn’t want to become any more emotionally invested in her than he already was. He didn’t have the time or energy for that sort of thing. He had work to do, and that was his focus.

This was why he always choose women in his class to spend time with. They understood that emotions couldn’t always be allowed to become part of the equation. And he made it clear with each of them that there would be no longterm future. Most were fine with it and happy to have him for a time, to be able to say they were his once, and then to move on to the next billionaire. But Amelia wasn’t like that. She wasn’t raised in money, and she certainly didn’t have it now. She wouldn’t understand, so he would have to proceed very carefully.

But the more he thought about his options, the more he knew he’d never be able to sleep tonight if he left her there. He got in his car and drove over to the shelter.