The Intern: Enemies To Lovers

The hardness in Dominick’s expression began to fade just a tad. “We’re excited to see what you’re going to bring to your team and watch you grow throughout this program.”

I noticed an exchange between him and Ford before Ford added, “We’ve randomly placed you with a litigator we think will be an excellent fit. Someone you’re going to learn a great deal from. The experience will be much more beneficial than anything you could learn in the classroom.”Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

My family didn’t do anything that was random. If I was going to have an opportunity to work here full-time, then they would make sure I was assigned to the best. That person was Christopher Allen, their top litigator, someone I’d researched extensively. Although I hadn’t met him personally, I’d asked Ford enough questions to know the type of demeanor I would be facing and just how much of a hard-ass Christopher was. With Christopher at the helm of my internship, Ford was right when he’d said this would be better than anything I’d learned in school.

I lifted a pen off the table, holding it between my fingers. “I can’t express how excited I am to start.” I opened the lid of the folder, flipping to the last page of the thick packet. I knew there was no negotiating the terms; I wasn’t in that kind of position yet, nor was there any reason to fear that my family was going to screw me, so I scratched my name across the last page. “I’m ready to start today.”

“Excellent,” my uncle said. “Your mentor is certainly ready for you, and I’m positive an extra set of hands will help him tremendously; he has quite the caseload.”

Every word he said was just adding to this incredible dream.

I closed the folder and pushed it toward my uncle. “Where do I find this mentor?”

“Office number eighteen ten,” Jenner said. “Take a right outside the door, and it’s the last office on the left.”

Eighteen ten, I repeated in my head.

His office was on this floor, the same floor where my cousins, aunt, and uncle worked. That meant they had definitely assigned me to Christopher since he was the head of litigation, and each department head was located on the executive-level floor.

I smiled, the anxiousness erupting in my chest. “I’ll be on my way, then.” I stood from the table and froze. “I can hug you all, right? Handshakes just feel so wrong right now.”

My aunt opened her arms, holding them in the air. “Get over here, my girl.”

She wrapped them around me, and my uncle and cousins did the same as I made my way around the table. Once I thanked everyone, I walked to the door and carefully closed it behind me.

I needed just a second, so I leaned my back against the wood and closed my eyes, taking a giant breath.

I didn’t care that it was only an internship. I’d still signed a contract; I would receive a paycheck.

Therefore, in my eyes, I was an employee of The Dalton Group.

Oh God.

This is really happening.

Everything I’ve ever wanted is finally coming true.

I didn’t have time to waste or celebrate or even shoot a quick text to Oaklyn to tell her the news. If my mentor was expecting me, then his office was where I needed to be.

I walked down the hallway, following Jenner’s instructions, watching the numbers increase as I passed each doorway. Most were closed, and even though this walkway was a defined space, there was a bank of admins to my right, working in an open area, assisting the executive-level staff. I smiled and nodded as I made eye contact with them, stopping when I reached the closed door to office eighteen ten.

There were name plaques outside all the other offices.

But not this one.

I wondered why. Considering Christopher had worked at the firm for the last eight years, it seemed odd that his was missing.

I took another deep breath and knocked on the door.

“Come in,” I heard from the other side.

I didn’t know why I was racked with nerves or why my body felt so weak, my limbs numb. This was just an internship; it wasn’t like I was about to step into court for the very first time. Hopefully, I’d feel better once I got a sense of Christopher and his work style and what this process was actually going to look like.

Knowing I was already taking too long, I turned the knob and slowly opened the door. I was fully expecting there to be a tall, almost-lanky, blond-haired, light-blue-eyed man behind the desk-details I’d captured during my research of him.

But Christopher’s eyes weren’t the ones staring back at me.

These were green.

Magnetic.

And they pulled so many memories from my mind, ones that had started during the mock trial, ones that continued at the bar, ones that had locked with mine before he led me to the alley.

Declan Shaw?

Is here?

No.

He couldn’t be.

He wasn’t employed by The Dalton Group.

He worked at Smith & Klein.

Doesn’t he?

I blinked.

Again.

And again.

Every time my eyes refocused, Declan was still there. His strong, broad shoulders taking up the whole width of the chair. His square jaw, a literal work of art, was taunting me, as were his perfectly thick lips. The dusting of scruff on his face had now thickened into a fuller beard.

When I realized my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me, my mouth parted, and instead of saying something to greet him, I gasped.

Oh shit.

That sound hadn’t just happened in my head; it was audible.

But it turned out, I wasn’t the only one surprised; the same look was registering on his face.

“Hannah …”

The shock didn’t last long, and what replaced that expression was hunger. His lips opened, and his tongue licked across them, his eyes becoming feral.

After the disappointment and hurt that I’d felt from that photo, I would have thought my body would have zero reaction to him.

But my body wasn’t on the same wavelength as my mind.

Almost instantly, there was a wetness between my legs, my body aching for his fingers. I caught a glimpse of his hands, remembering the way they had tugged my nipples, twisted, and instant memories from that night in the alley were suddenly making me breathless.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

My fingers fell from the doorknob, my feet frozen in place.