Chapter 22 CHAPTER 022
"Why would I say no?" Linc asks, cocking his head at me, a slight amused curve of his lips tell me he is considering what I might be thinking. Well, fuck him. He is not the mind reader he thinks he is.
"I don't know. Titan's Construct has a reputation of not taking interns." I say, feeling my irritation climbing with that annoying calmness on his face. I can't believe I will be saying this but I kind of miss when he used to look at me with ferocious lust.
"And yet, here you are. Why? Because Titan's Construct does what I want it to do." Linc's steely voice takes me by surprise, I look at his face and he still has that calm façade on.
Is that pride I detect in his voice? Annoyance? The nerve of this man. I shouldn't have fucking come to ask him. I should have just told Ashley some lie or something. But I couldn't live with the damn guilt. I have to remember that life doesn't end here in New York.
I will still have to go back to my life in Boston. In fact, I can't fucking wait. I have not even spent up to a month here and look at this mess I have gotten myself stirred in.
"Well, good for you." I snap. Losing my patience. I can't stop the memories of our night together from flashing through my damn head as I watch him. It is clouding my thoughts, my head is filled with snapshots of how I felt with his thick cock filling me up.
His thrusts. The sounds he made. My moaning. How it felt between us. It didn't feel wrong at all. We felt perfect in that moment.
Why and how would he just shove all that aside and turn me away because he thinks my guilt about the situation would be a problem?
Linc smirks and I just bristle more where I stand. He drives me insane.
"Oh, Ames darling."
"Quit fucking call me that!" I yell even as my belly turns to jelly.
"That temper." Linc makes a sound with his mouth as he gets up. I am trembling, either with rage or anticipation as he stalks towards me, that familiar fire heating up behind his dark eyes, I don't know.
"Stay away from me." I say weakly as he stands too close to me. He just takes another step closer. I bite down on my lip. Hating how easily I give in.
"Why?" Linc leans in and whispers in my ear, a shiver runs down my spine. Warmth unfurls in the pit of my stomach.
"You know why." I say, stepping back away from him, my rage flaring up to save my weak ass, "you can't just fucking do as you wish with me. What do you think I am? Today, you want me. Tomorrow, you are asking me to move out and stay away from you."
I am shaking with my rage and he just watches me with an odd look on his face. I refuse to think about how handsome he is. His golden tan complexion that complements his dark eyes and hair. I hate that I am attracted to him even in this moment where I want to shove him hard.
Where I want to scream and bawl my eyes out like a fucking kid. Asking why he doesn't want me the way I want him. Even though I was the one with reservations about us. Even though I still feel guilty. Even though I still dread being caught.
"Amelia." Linc takes a step towards me and I instinctively take a step back, mirroring his motion in the opposite direction. His face falls. My knees are weak but I pull myself through. I can't keep being weak when it comes to him. I have to have some sense of self preservation.
"Just give me a reply about my friend's application." I say, taking multiple steps back. The more distance I put between us, the more in control I feel.
With the way he is watching me, I can tell he knows I am just putting on a bold front. My body is literally trembling with the need for him to grab onto me and not let go even if I ask him to.
"She can come down and start whenever she wants." Linc says. I can't read his face, it is closed off and he just stands where I was standing only a second ago, with no intent to move.
"Okay. Thanks." I whisper and I bolt out of his office like it was on fire.
♠︎♠︎♠︎♠︎♠︎
Linc Dmitri POV:
"Okay. Sounds like a plan. Marcus, pull your people together and run your final reports to me before it goes to design." The conference room is quiet around me and every face is directed at mine except one fair one with seething pale blue eyes.
If anyone asks me why I keep showing up to these weekly meetings when I don't have to, I wouldn't have an answer. But thankfully, nobody would dare. Perks of being the boss.
It has been a week since that morning in my office when Amelia walked away from me. I let her go because she surprised me with her resolve. Though she was wrong about insinuating I take her for granted. Quite the opposite actually. I am too aware of her. She is easy to read.
Putting an end to whatever we had started was my way of protecting her conscience. There was no way she would ever feel okay about an us. Though her relationship with her mother was nothing to write home about. Kathryn was still her mother. Amelia might act tough but she cares too much about what people would say.
She is too young for me to intrude upon her life like that. I want her. I want her terribly. I want her completely. I want everything. But I can't just take it. She has to offer it to me without guilt. Without pity.
The dark haired girl beside her is smiling up at me. I deduced that is the friend. Ashley. She is Amelia's opposite. She has a sunshine personality. She hasn't been here up to a week and she has already made herself known across the firm.
Sometimes Amelia tags along with her and I like that, but mostly, it is just her socialising around.
Tyler is seated with them too and I make it a point to ignore him. The kid just rubs me off the wrong way, and I can't tell if it is just my infantile jealousy or something more intuitive.