The Intern (The Dalton Family #4)(83)

“And then you became his intern, which, I assume, came as quite a surprise.”

I nodded. “But it gets worse.” I lifted my hair as the back of my neck began to sweat. “As I looked into the eyes of my new boss, I didn’t feel comfortable telling him my feelings about the mishap or even my side of what had happened.” I took a deep breath. “So, I lied to him, Dominick. I told him I was too drunk to remember anything from that night. And, as you can imagine, the guilt started piling up inside him.”

As he leaned forward, his cuff links hit the top of his desk, and his stare hardened. “Does Declan know the truth now?”

“Yes. It came to a head last night.” I dropped my hair and clutched my stomach. “I’m telling you this because there was a reason why he didn’t want me as his intern, and that’s my fault. He spent the last semester thinking …” My voice trailed off. I swallowed. I pushed the emotion away. “He thought he had hooked up with a woman who didn’t remember any of it, and that led to some really heavy and really shitty thoughts.”

“Jesus, Hannah.”

I whispered, “I know.” I raised my hand. “But I had my reasoning—a reasoning that I made very clear to him last night. He’s not innocent either, Dominick. We’re both in the wrong.”

He remained silent, staring at me, his gaze telling me he was processing.

“I know you warned him, which I love you for, but that warning came a little late.” I uncrossed my legs and moved to the end of the chair. “He tried, Dominick. I can’t say I did because after that night we were together, many months ago, my feelings for him have only deepened. But he put in a solid effort to keep things professional between us.”

“And now?”

The knot from last night returned. With each breath, it moved higher in my throat. “I love him.”

The sound of his exhale was loud enough for me to hear. “Do you know why I warned him?”

“No.”

“Declan might be the best litigator in California, and no one in this state dares to fuck with him, but I have an unfair advantage. I’m one of his best friends, and I can see right through him, and what I saw was that he already had feelings for you. The more he tried to hide those feelings, the more obvious they were.”

He moved a pile of paperwork, like he needed more space for whatever he was about to say. “My warning wasn’t to keep him away from you. My warning was to make sure he knew that I was keeping an eye on him. And what that means in guy language is, if he hurt even a hair on your head, I would destroy him. Limb by fucking limb.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “And I love you for that too.” I got quiet as Dominick took a drink of his coffee. “I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen between us. What things will look like once everything calms down. But before this internship ends, I wanted you to hear this from me. I don’t want you blaming Declan for anything he said about me or his desire to transfer me. I take full responsibility for all of that.”

Of course, Declan had played a big part in this, and I hadn’t been afraid to tell him that last night. I’d take fault where the fault was due, but Declan wasn’t a saint in this situation.

“I’m curious what side of the story I’m going to hear when Declan comes in”—he looked at his watch—“in about three minutes.”

Shit.

“In that case, I’d better go.” I grabbed my untouched coffee and stood from the chair. “I’ll see you this weekend at the graduation party?”

“Kendall and I wouldn’t miss it.”

I gave him a smile and walked to his door.

“Hannah?”

I turned around. “Yeah?”

“Things get a little tricky when you work for family, and having conversations like the one we just had isn’t easy. Nor is it a simple feat to admit when you’re wrong. Thank you for being honest with me.”

I nodded and opened his door, closing it behind me, immediately seeing Declan walking down the narrow hallway.

Directly at me.

God, timing hated me.

He looked so handsome this morning in his dark gray suit and black striped tie, his scruff a bit thicker than yesterday, his hair perfectly gelled—unlike the way it had looked when he left my apartment last night.

What he couldn’t hide were the bags under his eyes, showing he’d gotten the same amount of sleep as me.

As he got closer, I expected hardness in his expression.

Anger in his stare.

A fight in his posture.

Remnants of all three were present.

But there was something else too. Something I couldn’t pinpoint.

He came to a stop a few feet from me, the movement sending me a delicious wave of his cologne. That spicy aroma—oh God, I’d missed smelling it while I was getting ready for work this morning.

“Hi,” I whispered.

He towered over me in this tight space, making me feel tiny and wanted.

“Hannah …” His gaze moved across my face, taking me in. “What were you doing in Dominick’s office?”

My lungs felt so tight as I took a breath, this nervous energy fluttering through my whole body.

I just wanted to wrap my arms around him.

I just wanted to press my lips against his.