Chapter 6

6

Without my jacket, it's surprisingly chilly outside, but given that I told the others I was popping to the loo, I could hardly bring it with me. I wrap my arms around myself, shifting from foot to foot, too hurt and angry to form a single coherent thought, until finally, Lloyd joins me.

I must give him a pretty fierce glare, because he immediately holds his hands up and approaches slowly.

"So, obviously I didn't handle this very well, but hear me out. I panicked when I saw you on Monday. It was a snap decision. It's…not a good idea for me to get romantically involved with the interns when it's my dad's company."

"That's not my fault!" I exclaim. "You could have told me before you kissed me—instead of just ignoring me for the entire week, acting like it never happened."

"I didn't know your job was at Arrowmile! You never said. There must be dozens of corporate summer internships. How was I supposed to know? If anything, you should've known who I was."

The laugh that tears out of my mouth is bitter. I thought, seeing him around the office this week, that he must be pretty full of himself—but this really takes the cake.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I mean, all the research you would've had to do on the company to get the job…There's a ton of pictures of me with my dad at company events and stuff. I've grown up with Arrowmile. My dad's mentioned me in a bunch of profiles people have written about him. I'm used to people—especially the interns—recognizing me."

"I don't remember you being this bigheaded last week, youknow."

Lloyd huffs, but looks more embarrassed—admonished—than annoyed. " Anyway. I thought I was doing us both a favor, pretending we hadn't already met. We'd have had to explain to everyone how we knew each other…and then if people knew we had some kind of…"

"Connection?" I suggest, when he trails off, although I'm not sure what to call it either. "Fling" doesn't do it justice, but "history" feels too expansive for only a single night.

"Right," he says quickly. "If they knew that, then there'd probably be rumors that we slept together—and, let's face it, you don't want to end up with a reputation that you're sleeping with me to get ahead, do you?"

I flinch, speechless.

Because, oh God, he's right. As hurtful as his words are, he's right. If people knew we'd kissed…I don't want to be associated that closely with Lloyd, not now that I know he's the boss's son. Otherwise it won't matter how hard I work this summer or what I achieve; nobody will believe I've earned it, not if they can say he was around to help me out. If they know we met before the internship started, they might even think he helped me get here in the first place. One kiss could undermine my entire internship, derail my whole future, just like that.

Lloyd doesn't say it like any kind of threat, though—more like he really, honestly believes he was doing me a favor by pretending he didn't know me. (Which, in hindsight, I suppose he was.)

"And," he continues, "I don't want to just be the guy who fools around with the interns, you know?"

A cold sense of dread creeps up my spine.

"Not just the guy who fools around with the interns," I repeat slowly. "Has it happened before?"

Lloyd starts to say something, then cuts himself off and tears his gaze away from mine, and frowns at the floor. A muscle jumps in his jaw, and his silence tells me everything I need to know.

But I must be a glutton for punishment, because I find myself snapping at him, "Do you do this every year, see how many interns you can hook up with before the summer's over? Is it all some kind of sick joke for you? A game?"

A dark look passes over his face, his green eyes dangerous, his gaze so heavy that this time, it's me who has to look away. My arms wrap a little tighter around myself and I shuffle backward.

He is not the guy I met on Friday night. Not in the slightest. This guy is callous, pompous, full of himself and his own sense of importance.

My spine pulls taut as I straighten up. There's a lump in my throat and I swallow it; I think it's pride.

"So let me get this straight," I say. "It's my fault I didn't recognize you, and you pretended not to know me rather than just talking to me about any of this because, really, you're just worried about your own reputation. Did I get that right?"

Lloyd's shoulders sag. And all he has to say for himself is: "Can you not tell anybody that stuff I told you about not wanting to go back to college and not liking my course? And I won't tell anyone you lied about your age on your application, obviously. I mean, I wouldn't tell them anyway, but—"

"Wow. Thank you, Lloyd Fletcher, for being so thoughtful. There's that oh-so-charming display of chivalry you were so keen to show off last week."

"I just meant—"

"I know exactly what you meant. You know what? You were right, pretending like we've never met before. You are the last guy on earth I want to be associated with—boss's son or not."

"Annalise—"

No, I think, gritting my teeth, he doesn't get to have this. However well-intentioned he's convinced himself that he's being, I'm not stomaching this. He must be so used to people fawning over him, having everything go his way….

Not this time, buddy.

I step up to him, arms falling to my sides. I hope he can't see the way my hands shake or that I ball them into fists to try to hide it.

"Here's the deal, Fletcher. We both pretend last Friday night never happened and that we don't know each other. You don't tell anybody I lied about my age on my application, and I won't tell anybody you're thinking about dropping out of your degree. If I see you around the office, I will be nice to you. We will be civil. We will be polite. And don't think you're doing me any favors. You're not. Got it?"

I can hear my pulse thrumming in my ears after my little tirade and I'm itching to storm off, but I force myself to wait for his response. I need him to acknowledge what I've said, to know that he heard me.

Lloyd searches my face for a moment, and there's something so familiar about it that it cuts right through me, setting me on the back foot. Then he swallows, his Adam's apple bobbing agitatedly, and nods.

"Got it."

We go inside separately, an unspoken agreement so the rest of the group don't notice we were together. I hate to admit it, but he's right—the last thing I want are rumors going around that I've been sneaking off for any kind of alone time with the boss's son. I got this internship on my own merits, and I won't let anything, not even the boy with the quicksilver smile, take that away fromme.

It's only later, home in my bed, that I realize why the look he gave me at the end of our chat got to me so badly.

It's because he was searching my face, looking for the girl he met last week, and clearly he couldn't find her anywhere either.