Before he could introduce himself, Mr. Anders spoke again. “Mr. Lincoln Carden. Acting manager of the Roads department.”
Mr. Lincoln Carden’s brown gaze dipped to meet mine for the briefest moment, and it knocked the air out of me. I’d never been perceived with such intensity.
My fingertips tingled with nerves. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Carden.”
“Likewise.” He glanced at Mr. Anders and raised a brow.
“Elizabeth is one of the new interns.”
Mr. Carden rested a hip on his desk and folded his arms across his wide chest. “Another intern? I counted six of them earlier.”
The two men shared a look I’d undoubtedly replay in my head and analyze later.
“Well, lucky number seven and all that.” Mr. Anders waved a hand around and then gestured toward me. “And uh… Elizabeth here is particularly interested in Roads.”
“Okay” was all Mr. Carden said.
Mr. Anders smiled but it came across as more of a grimace. “And with the current renovations, we’re tight on space and…”
“No.”
My mouth went dry at his quick and curt response. But Mr. Anders sighed deeply and shrugged. “You’ll be in charge of her development before the final test.”
The final test at the end of the internship was often referred to but never described in detail. The scraps of information I had were the driving force behind my application.
Mr. Carden frowned, falling back into the seat behind him before rubbing his face.
My stomach dropped. I resisted the urge to apologize for being an obvious inconvenience. I shifted on my feet, letting my gaze wander across his workstation. Nothing hinted at his personality. No photos. No trinkets. Not even a little plant.
“You know how I work.” Mr. Carden dropped his head.
“It’s a few weeks and she’ll have to do work for some of the other managers too. Wait, you have plenty of projects currently in construction, don’t you?”
Lincoln Carden whispered something that was likely a curse even though I couldn’t hear it. His sky-blue shirt stretched across his strong chest as he took a deep breath.
“You should probably take her with you,” Mr. Anders said with an almost impish grin. He seemed to be enjoying this.
Both men took in my outfit without looking at my face. I should not have worn these high-heeled boots, but I would not let these men judge me for wanting to look nice.
I tucked a tendril of copper hair behind my ear. “I can go on-site if that’s required.”
“I assume you don’t have the correct PPE with you today.” Mr. Carden pursed his lips to one side as his gaze dropped from myvery interestingforehead to my shoes. “And I doubt anyone has a spare size six safety boot around here.”
“Six and a half,” I bit out, as if it mattered. But I was tired of being bullied. I was raised by the world’s biggest bully. I didn’t escape him just so I could be belittled elsewhere. “Just because I’m an intern doesn’t mean I’m a waste of time. You were wet behind the ears once.”
He sighed as if this hadn’t occurred to him. As if he’d been born a fully functional senior engineer. He took off his glasses and rubbed his temples.
This seemed to amuse Mr. Anders. “Don’t worry about it,Carden. It’ll be over in no time. That being said, you should probably enjoy your last few hours of peace before this one joins you.” He turned to me, stifling a chuckle. “Come on, I need to get you to the others. HR has a whole presentation setup. There’ll be little sandwiches and things too.”
Mr. Carden slipped his glasses back on and turned to his computer. He didn’t say anything else.
All the other managers had greeted me with smiles. Mr. Carden didn’t even care enough to fake pleasantries.
He also happened to be in charge of the department I hoped to work in. The one who would determine if I was ready for the final test. The unknown factor standing between me and a future at Simucon.
Crap.
3
