Derek had hit a stride somewhere after the initial, unforgettable introduction. He prided himself in being professional and friendly, but something with the new girl and her pretty accent had thrown him off a little. It was an intimate thing, to help her around and let her start to recognize the different places by their telling textures. He'd been a bit silent around the women's bathroom, but had talked to Sophie when she came. Sophie used to be close to Avery, and it seemed like she still wanted it that way, but the two weren't working that much together, these days. Still, Sophie would come when Avery called.<br/><br/>Avery thought the two looked endearing, coming in with laughter around them. He let them soak in the merry before he stood up to come over. "Thank you." he said to Derek and something in the boss's last step made the company man back away from the new girl. "Always so eager. Haughty work spirit." he commented when Skye beckoned him for tasks. A look excused Derek. The shorter man noticed how easily Avery stole her deeper into the office with a touch on the low of her spine. He wished briefly he could have had that confidence with her, too.<br/><br/>"He's enthusiastic, isn't he?" Avery asked when the door was closed behind them. His voice was not as silver, and it seemed it was even more commanding here, in his own space. "He'll trip over himself, helping others." Some sympathy in his tone, then, like that kind of kindness was a hindrance to a person. "Now, you want me to put you to work?" Sterner, almost skeptical. "Let me have a look at your first. Lanning." He spun her by her hips, and then held on to them to lift her. It would be an incredibly compromising thing for her, since she'd not know where he sat her down. The landing wasn't far, he simply put her on his desk.<br/><br/>With the momentum that his presence commanded, he lifted both her hands by their wrists and turned them so he palms faced the ceiling. He held them up for himself to scrutinize. She could feel his breath where her pulse ran while he examined her. "They didn't work you very hard at your farm, did they?" he reminded. No callouses, no real wear. He carefully gave her hands back to her lap as he slid away, so she wouldn't really know where he was until she could locate his voice.<br/><br/>"I want to give you an honest chance here, but it'd be such a shame to come all the way to the city and just be stuck by a desk all day, wouldn't it?" he said to himself as his steps let her know he was pacing the half circle in front of the desk. Serious vibrato to his words, like she was being judged. It was important that she learn to crave his approval. "Though I was getting a broken in worker." In truth, he was having the time of his life, weighing and testing his new girl. "But there's no freckles on you." he reminded, close again, by her ear after he'd brushed hair behind it. "Can I really trust you to work closely to me? I'm demanding. I need you devotion, Skye." His leg brushed her knee then, on the inside, and suggested with it's pressure she should open, a little. He needed her focus, he needed her bewildered, so he could make her do things she wouldn't usually.<br/><br/>"Are you going to be a good girl for me, Skye?" he pressed and helped himself to a look down her blouse, at this proximity. His voice suggested he wouldn't believe her if she said yes. Despair breeds devotion. He'd like to see such expressions on her honest face. Unseeing eyes are perfect scenes for emotions. "Without any freckles to show me?" Would she know about all the marks on her own body? Would she think to argue they were there, or show him? It was a small trick, but perhaps country girls didn't need much incentive to prove themselves.