I walked up to the coffee machine. “Do you want something to drink?”
He lifted his mug. “There’s enough left over for you. I made a pot.”
Oh, of course. Idiot. I poured myself a cup and grabbed an apple, but by the time I turned around, Lincoln had walked over to the couch in the living room.
My blood stung like acid at the distance he created between us. It reminded me of the first few weeks we’d spent together. And even back then, before he knew me, he was still open to teaching me.
He’d still teach me now. He still came looking for me when I didn’t arrive. Without me even asking. And I could be professional. I needed to be professional because, if I didn’t get permanent placement at this firm after this internship, what then?
It would mean Douglas had won.
39
LINCOLN
[42 weeks ago]
@pancakesareelite:
Link. I miss you. Come back soon, okay?
@theanswerisno:
Hey, sorry. I know I’ve been quiet… my anxiety’s been getting the best of me
@pancakesareelite:
Do you wanna talk?
@theanswerisno:
I never know how
@pancakesareelite:
Do you want to visit my farm and fight monsters in the mines with me until you forget about it?
@theanswerisno:
Where have you been all my life?
This was going to be impossible. The only way I’d survive would be to keep our conversations as brief as possible and create as much space between us as I could manage while still doing my job and allowing Elizabeth to do hers.
She didn’t make it easy with her soft voice and even softer eyes. The stormy gray was lighter, almost blue. Too easy to get lost in.
I sent all my focus into my bowl of cereal. I didn’t want to ignore Elizabeth. I wanted to lift her up onto the kitchen island and kiss her like I did in my office. I wanted to step between those legs again and stay there, feeling her tug at my hair and tasting her skin.
But she wasn’t just any woman.
She was Lily.
And she was also Elizabeth Gordon-Bettencourt.
And she was my intern.
And I was…I don’t even know.I wasn’t Mr. Carden, nor was I Link.
Work ethics aside, what were the chances someone as amazing as she was would want to be with me? Because if I let myself love Elizabeth, if I fully acknowledged that she was also my Lily, I wouldn’t survive without her.
