Chapter 9 CHAPTER 009
"What is there to talk about?" I say, avoiding the intensity of those dark swirling pools of his onyx eyes.
"A lot, Amelia. A lot and I know you know exactly what I am talking about," he says, then he takes a couple of steps towards me and I brace against the wall of the elevator, my heart jumping wildly in my rib cage, he looks especially stunning in the charcoal black three-piece suit he has on this morning, "except you need me to jolt your memory?" He is suddenly too close to me.
His minty breath caresses my face, and I bite back the moan that threatens to escape my lips. My treacherous body. It responds to him too easily. I give in without even being aware of it.
"Yes...wait, no. What the hell? No." My brain is scrambled as I find the right answer. I push the button behind me, and the door falls open, Linc doesn't move away from me even though we are now exposed to the whole floor.
He is insane. His lips curl up in a smirk that almost stops my heart as I back away. I want to give him the middle finger, but I can't because I am sure there are people in the hallways that would see me. So I keep my face expressionless and turn around.
The first face I see makes my jaw drop open.
"Tyler?"
"Amelia?" The blond young man gapes at me, genuine surprise etched on his face.
"What are you doing here?" My heart is racing. Tyler is my classmate at BSU. He is the class president and he is startlingly brilliant. But it is his handsomeness that really pulls the popularity card for him. I used to have a thing for him but the feeling kind of died out when I returned from my mother's funeral.
His presence here can only be explained by one answer.
"My internship application got accepted here!" He says, smiling wide. His handsome face pops open, and strong white teeth flash at me.
"Oh. Wow. Ug... Congratulationss!" I simply can't find the right words. My head is ringing. Though a part of me is genuinely happy for him. It is a great opportunity to be accepted here.
"How about you?" Tyler asks as we walk towards the conference room because there is a meeting to be held there first thing on Monday mornings.
"Uh, I intern here too. I..uh, got accepted last week." I stutter as he opens the door for me. I walk into a sparsely populated conference room. The meeting is slated for nin. Itt is currently a quarter to. Engineers are notoriously never time conscious.
"Wow. That is fast. I heard they rarely accept interns, but I have been on their necks before the semester even ended." Tyler chuckles as he drops into the chair beside mine. The ease with which he relates to me is surprisingly new. I don't think we have had any kind of conversation back in school and yet here he is, chatting with me here of all places like it was normal.
"Right. Yeah." I am not crazy, I can't tell him about my connection with Linc and how easy it was for me to secure a spot here. But I suspect he will find out pretty soon. I know the staff gossips behind my back.
Charlotte, the woman who walked in on us that first day just happens to be the official office gossip. She is Linc's secretary upstairs but that doesn't stop her from going around different departments to gossip.
I cringe, thinking about the version of that afternoon going around. But no one has acted weirdly towards me yet. That is how much they respect Linc Tanner. He commands the utmost respect without even saying anything.
People thinking I am associated with him in some way is advantageous to me but I don't like it. I see how they relate to me, like walking on eggshells, and I just hate it. Three months is too long a time to spend like this. But I am learning so much already. I can't leave.
"Hi guys, oh, you have met the new guy." Marcus, the head of the department, walks in at five minutes to nine. Marcus is nice to me, and I suspect it also has to do with my connection to Linc, but I don't mind.
"Yeah. Hi Marcus." I say in greeting as he goes to sit in the chair next to the one at the head of the huge center conference table. That is not his usual position. But I don't say anything about it as others file in, in groups of twos and threes.
"Thank you once again, Marcus. I am excited for all I can learn here." Tyler says, smiling brightly at Marcus who waves him away with a modest gesture. I am not sure, but it seems like they also have some sort of connection, and Marcus helped him in. Titan's Construct rarely accepts interns after all.
And yet, here we are. Tyler redirects his excited smile to me, and I manage to smile back at him. It is nice to have someone I know here too. I have not been able to attach myself to any cliques in the office yet because it has been awkward just being here.
The door clicks and Linc walks in, my heart skips a beat at the sight of his tall immaculately lean muscled frame in that spotless charcoal black three-piece suit hugging his frame intimately, he doesn't look my way as he moves to the seat at the head of the table.
He oozes raw power the way his dark eyes span the room.
All the little chatters and murmurings died down immediately when he walked in.
Then, as if he knows I am watching him with my mouth slightly open, he whips his head in my direction, and his onyx eyes catch me, pin me down, freezes me to the spot.