The Intern: Enemies To Lovers

“I need a brownie.” Somehow, I pushed myself up and went into the kitchen.

“When the hell did you find time to bake?” Camden asked.

“She gets wicked insomnia when she’s stressed and bakes at, like, three in the morning,” Oaklyn answered for me. “Or when she’s watching Everly, they do it together.”

“Jesus, Hannah,” Camden groaned.

I ignored them.

I didn’t require eight hours of sleep like most people. I could function with about five.

The good news was that I’d perfected my brownie recipe over the last week. The caramel ones I’d made were a tiny bit dry, but these were delicious.

I stuck the plate in the microwave for thirty seconds, and once they were done, I returned to the living room with enough napkins for all of us.

“Wait until you try these.” I held the plate out to Camden and Oaklyn and then set it down after grabbing one for myself. “They’re Nutella, and they might just be my best invention yet.”

“Better than your cupcakes?” Camden asked.

I moaned as I took a bite. “Mmhmm.”

“I don’t know; your cupcakes are pretty serious, but-” Oaklyn licked the Nutella off her lip. “Hannah, what the heck are these?” She looked at the brownie in her hand as though it were an alien. “My God, girl. Damn.”

“I know.” I took another bite, eyeing my next victim-a middle piece in the center of the plate that was gooey on all four sides. “Everything about them is everything I need at this moment.” I took a drink of my wine.

“If you weren’t such a good attorney, I’d be telling you to open a bakery,” my brother said, going in for his second brownie.

“Calm down with the attorney title. Neither of us can use that quite yet.” I licked the chocolate off my fingers as I finished. “Besides, I might not even pass the bar-ever. So, there’s a chance I might never get that title.” I picked up the brownie I’d been eyeing and took a bite. “If all else fails, you can loan me the money to open the bakery. With you billing out at least four hundred an hour, you’ll definitely be rich enough.”

He laughed.

But the noise was interrupted by the sound of a fire alarm.

Not one that came from our building.

This was the ringtone I’d designated for Declan.

Because if I didn’t answer, he’d have my ass, and that sound was impossible to miss.

“Ugh,” I cried. “It’s him … the dickhead.”

“Are you going to answer it?” Camden asked.

“I don’t want to, but I have no other choice.”

Camden wiped his mouth with the napkin. “Does he usually call you this late?”

I checked the time. It was past nine.

“If he needs something, there is no timetable. He calls at any hour.” I reached for my cell and held it up to my face. “Hi, Decl-”

“I need you to come to the office right now.”

I glanced down at what I was wearing and the almost-empty glass of wine in my hand. “Right now, now?”

“Did I not speak clearly enough? That means you get your ass in a vehicle within the next ten seconds, drive to the office, take the elevator up to the eighteenth floor, and march your ass into my office.”

“Okay, but-”

“I’ll see you in twenty minutes. Not a second later.”

The phone went dead.

I’d just wanted to give him a heads-up that I’d been drinking.

He hadn’t given me that chance.

“Shit,” I said, glancing at my brother and then my best friend. “Have I mentioned how much I hate him? Because I do. With a passion that I can’t even describe.”

“He’s making you come in?” Oaklyn asked.

As I pushed myself off the couch, I guzzled the rest of the wine, leaving the empty glass on the table, and ran into my bedroom. “Of course he is,” I yelled from my closet. “He wants me there in twenty.”

I heard the two of them mumble something as I threw a zipped sweatshirt on over my tank top and slipped my bare feet into socks and sneakers. The messy knot I had on top of my head was too wild, so I pulled out the elastic and braided my hair before sticking on a baseball hat. Once my bag was hanging over my shoulder, I went back into the living room, where Oaklyn met me.

“Take this.” She placed a small soft-sided cooler in my hands. “You know, in case you get hungry since something tells me you might be there all night.”

“What’s in it?”

“Brownies. Fruit. The leftover pizza we had for dinner.”

I dropped the cooler into my bag and threw my arms around her. “I love you.”

“Go kick his ass. Or better yet, show him why you’re an ass-kicker.”

“I like your plan.” I released her and hurried over to my brother. “If you want to stay and hang instead of going back to Mom and Dad’s, just crash in my bed. If I’m lucky enough to come home before morning, I’ll climb in with Oaklyn.” I hugged him, and when I pulled away, I added, “I don’t know if I’ll see you before you leave, and I hate that. Hard.”

He placed his hand on top of my hat, lifting the brim a little to look at me. “Hang in there. You’re going to get through this.”

“See you at spring break?”

“I might go to Mexico with some friends.”

My brother had completed his internship at the end of his fall semester, so now, he only had to focus on his last semester of school and prepping for the bar.

While he was drinking mojitos in Cancun, I’d be in Declan hell.

God, I envied him.

I sighed. “You mean, you might come home and hang with your sister because she’s your fave.”

He smiled.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

I didn’t have time to negotiate, but that didn’t mean I was dropping this topic.

“See you guys later,” I said.

As I headed out the door, I ordered a ride-share, and by the time I got outside, fortunately, the car was already parked along the curb. It was a short trip, and I walked into Declan’s office close to the twenty-minute mark.

“What took you so long?”

He was too focused on his computer to even look at me.

“How can I help you, Declan?”

He finally glanced up from his screen, his gaze starting at my feet, slowly rising to my hat. “I see you got dressed up for the occasion.” He laughed like he wasn’t impressed. “You could have at least worn clothes instead of pajamas.”

“It’s almost ten o’clock at night. I had a massive glass of wine. I was in the middle of something.” I paused. “I did the best I could.”

His eyes narrowed. “In the middle of what?”

Did he have the right to even ask that?

And did he deserve an answer?