Gossip trickled down as it usually did until I heard fourth-hand that my aunt’s health had taken a turn for the worse.
I didn’t ask Uncle Phil because I didn’t really want him to confirm the bad news.
Now, on top of everything else, I feel bad for not asking. For wallowing in my own unhappiness when he must be dealing with a worrying situation.
But still…
It’s been all so overwhelming.
Philadelphia is too loud. Too busy. Tooeverything.
People stare.
Men make lewd remarks to me about my face and body.
When I arrived, the woman in HR spoke too fast, as if she needed to get the words out before they dried up, and I didn’t hear half of what she said.
Then, that first time I went to the washroom, I’d returned to find she and my group of fellow interns had left without me.
I was terrified they would fire me on the spot when I approached that man’s office to ask for their whereabouts.
That man…
I press my hand against my chest when my heart starts racing once more.Mon dieu, he was beyond beautiful.
Manly.Incroyable.And intense.
That intensity was… terrifying. But oddly that danger had been compelling. The look in his eyes tugged at invisible strings inside me, pulling me to him. As if by magic he alone commanded.
I’ve never felt anything like it.
And when he stood up… So tall. So imposing. Sosexy.
I squirm as a sound leaps from my throat. A cross between a yelp and a moan. He made strange things move inside my body.
The blood rushed in my ears like that one time I’d ridden on a rollercoaster when Dad took me to Disneyland Paris when I was nine.
But no… that wasn’t quite the feeling.
This wasmore.
All those years ago, I’d laughed when I stepped off the roller coaster.
Not this time. This time, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to fling myself at the man or run away from him. Because he looked intense. Andhungry.
His eyes threatened to eat me alive.
And he most definitely didn’t like it when Mr. Harris shook my hand.
He’d looked even more terrifying then.
I was lucky the kind woman, Maggie, had been with me.
Especially when the terrifying man had introduced himself as Ethan Villiers, almost snatching my hand from Mr. Harris’s, and abruptly announced that I would be interning for him.
Maggie had looked surprised, maybe a little alarmed. Then she’d sent me a sympathetic look before she smiled.
While I took consolation in that, I’m still terrified.