“Is it that bad? I heard you sighing.”
The frown I always expected crept between his brows. “It’s not bad. But it’s not done. I don’t think we’ll get to traffic analysis today.”
I resisted the urge to throw myself on the floor and kick my feetlike a toddler. I’d worked so hard on it. How was it still wrong? “Permission to come around, sir.”
He pressed his lips together. “You don’t have to ask for permission.”
I circled the divider and stood beside him, glaring at my design. “Will you walk me through the problem? I promised you we’d be the best manager-intern team, and I can’t let you down.”
He glanced down to my cowboy boots sticking out underneath his long coat but quickly turned his attention back to the design. “Bold,” he said, and nodded. “I like it. Let’s do it, then.” He grabbed his notebook and pen. “I’m going to give you a few pointers and exercises. It’s also a great way to keep you busy tomorrow when I’m not around.”
“You’ll be at that conference?” I asked, and part of me—nay, all of me—wished he’d ask me to join. “Mr. Anders told me about it.”
“Uh-huh.”
My eyes widened. “I can’t believe I’ll have to engineer without you.”
Lopsided smile.
My heart skipped.
Dammit. Traitorous organ. Behave.
“That’s the goal, isn’t it?” he said, still making notes. “I’ll brief Dade, so any questions you have can go to him. He’s not too bad, and if he gives you trouble, let me know and I’ll sort him out.”
That wasn’t meant to be sexy, was it?
I looked away and deflected. “Oh, I’m used to trouble. My current boss has been giving me loads of it since I started.”
He broke his focus and glanced upward. “You know what? I’ll show you how much of a jerk I can be. Shoo. Back to your desk, menace. Get to work.”
He gestured for me to get away, but there was a twitch to hislips and a spark in his gorgeous eyes that confirmed my suspicions that Mr. Carden had a sense of humor, and he seemed to do his best trying to hide it.
“Suuuuure.” I stretched out the word and let a wide smile spread across my face. I fell into my chair. I was facing the divider and could still imagine his every expression.
His head peeked out over the top. “Okay, I’ll be a jerk. Today, you’re getting a grilled cheese instead of a chicken salad.”
“I love a grilled cheese.” I spun around and opened the drawing on my laptop.
The tut of his tongue carried over the divider. “You’re too easy to please.”
I sighed and mumbled underneath my breath. “The guys on Spark disagree.”
An IM popped up.
L. Carden:The guys on Spark suck. Now, get to work.
I stared at his message for at least thirty seconds. Even though we’d been emailing, seeing an IM with such casual language from Mr. Carden took me right back to my conversations with Link.
And I had the sudden, deep urge to text him and ask him to help me sort through my thoughts.
Because there was never anyone else I wanted to share my secrets with.
Not until Lincoln Carden walked into me and into my life.
15
ELIZABETH
