I sat so I could face the windows and draw calm from the scene outside. Fog snaked around the base of the mountains and spread out to the city below.
If I closed my eyes, I could smell the earth, taste the moisture in the air. I could feel mist on my cheeks and the rough bark of trees on my fingertips as I passed.
Summer was only a few weeks away, and then I’d be out there every day.
“Daydreaming?” Declan asked.
I whipped my gaze toward the voice, my cheeks flushing again. Fuck. He was so quiet. And how had he gotten dressed so quickly? Now, he wore his jacket and tie, everything buttoned up and perfect. His face was clean and smooth, hair in place, lips still wearing that same smile that was making my throat dry, and he was standing a few short feet from my chair.
“You scared me,” I said, playing the part.
“I thought you heard me.”
I forced my gaze to stay locked on his even though it wanted to wander. Despite my love for the casual, there was little more alluring than a powerful man in a custom suit. The lines of it, the mystery of what was underneath.
I couldn’t ignore that. It was clear Declan was built, clear that he took care of himself and his appearance. Clear that there was strength under that jacket, the expensive tie, and crisp white dress shirt. Muscles that would bunch and flex if I smoothed my hands over them…
God, I was out of control. Who thought about the man who was interviewing them like that?
Oh yeah, a woman who wasn’t really here for an interview.
You aren’t here to get a date either, I reminded myself.
Reconnaissance, that’s what it was. Pure and simple.
“It’s a beautiful view,” I told him, wishing he’d sit. It was intimidating having him stand next to me.
“A reminder that life isn’t all about what’s in here,” he said, surprising me.
I thought he lived for work. There were a rare few people that could balance the beauty of the world with the discipline of work. My father was one of them.
And he would be again once he woke up. I had to keep telling myself that.
With the reminder of my father in my head, it was easier to focus.
“I appreciate this opportunity,” I told Declan, getting down to business, “but I’m not sure if I’m qualified for this position.”
He walked to the seat across from me, movements as smooth and graceful as a tiger, and sat. He set his elbow on the arm of the chair and lifted one hand and to run his finger on his newly shaved cheek.
“You don’t even know what the job is yet,” he said.
I was a biology major, a semester away from graduating, with minimal experience working at a diner near the house I used to live at with my father. So, unless he was going to give me a job doing grunt work down at the laboratory, I didn’t know what I could do for him.
But he wasn’t supposed to know any of that. Xander had created a fake job for me where he worked, that way if they called the “supervisor” at my fake old job, he could answer. He made me an Instagram full of hiking and nature photos just in case anyone bothered to check it and I needed to convincingly talk about my social media.
He also put me up on a job-hunting site online, which he’d texted me on the cab ride here that had already gotten interest and listed my education as the state college instead of the university.
He’d also put me at twenty-four. Only a few years older and easy enough to fake, but I was hoping I wouldn’t have to.
In fact, part of me was hoping Declan would just dismiss me and get back to his day so I could get back to my cyber stalking.
“What’s the job?” I asked instead of telling him what I was—or wasn’t—qualified for.
I swore I saw a flicker of surprise on his face before he went stone serious again.
“An internship. A paid one,” he said before I could interject that I wasn’t looking for busy work.
Real me actually would have loved an internship at the lab (you know, if I didn’t suspect my potential boss of doing something nefarious) but fake me needed the money.
Fake me didn’t have a genius gay roommate that had turned one of my small investments into hundreds of thousands of dollars that was currently sitting in several separate high-yielding accounts that afforded me not only a cozy apartment and money for school but also a healthy amount of Chinese food.
“We normally pick one student from the university each semester and one each summer to learn the ins and outs of the company and get some experience.”
I sat up straighter when he mentioned the university, hoping he had no clue I was a student there. No way. He couldn’t know. As of this morning, he only knew my first name. My fake first name.
“What happened to your summer student?” I asked.
“She had an emergency back home and had to back out.”
My gaze strayed to the window, drawn by the beautiful mountains, by the amazing hiking I was supposed to be doing this summer.
Working in an office all day wasn’t anywhere on my schedule.
“Many of our students are interested in the kinds of research Dark Laboratories does,” Declan said.
My gaze snapped back to his. I was interested. For more reasons than one.
“This type of internship can open up doors in that arena as well,” he said.
Fuck. I was fully prepared to
