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My back stiffens when I realize how close my mother is. Looking over my shoulder, I find her directly behind me. And next to her ... Piper. Who doesn't seem as surprised to see me as I am to see her. Her eyes meet mine, and something inside me feels like it's about to snap.
Pretty girl.
I feel my lips move, mouthing the words, but thankfully don't say them aloud.
"Don't be rude. Come say hello to your new intern." Standing to my full height, my eyes never leaving Piper’s, I wait for my mother to make the unnecessary introduction. "Julian, this is Piper. Piper, this is my son, Julian. He's going to be helping you with your thesis this semester." She pauses, waiting for one of us to speak. When neither of us makes a sound, she excuses herself, her eyes darting between the two of us before disappearing.
"You're my intern?" I mean for it to sound like a statement. I mean, she's obviously here for one reason and one reason only, and it's not to visit.
"I guess so."
She sounds confident and unaffected by seeing me, but her eyes give her away. She's looking anywhere but directly at me, her focus darting left and right, surveying her surroundings.
Watching her take it all in, it's like she's seeing a kitchen for the first time.
That's when it hits me.
She might, in fact, be seeing an industrial kitchen for the first time. Which means she has no experience in this industry. And I'm going to have to teach her more than she's aware. Spend more time with her than I was hoping I'd have to spend with my new intern.
But the fact that it's Piper makes the task seem less tedious. Less of a burden. Less aggravating.
Because it also means I get to stay close to her. To see her smile. To hopefully hear her laugh.
Screwed. I'm so screwed.
Leading the way to my office, Piper and I spend the next hour discussing her thesis, going over the recipes, and working on her schedule. Three days a week, she'll be working with me side-by-side for the foreseeable future.
I'm not sure whether to feel excited or unnerved. I feel off my game when she's around.
We've never been alone together before. Since meeting Piper, I've only ever seen her at parties, the frat house, in a group setting. It's never been just us, one-on-one. Even in class, it didn't feel like we were alone, because there were two hundred other people in the room.
"Can I take these with me?" Piper asks, waving the stack of recipes in the air.
"I thought the point was to work on them together."
"It is, but I figured if I could get a head start, you wouldn't have to dedicate so much time to my project. I know you're busy. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you taking the time to help me, but I can do a good portion of this on my own time so you can do what you need to do."
My chest constricts, a pang of guilt reminding me of the insanely good person underneath her gorgeous exterior.
A tension-filled silence falls between us as I consider what to say next. Do I take the easy way out and let her do this on her own, only providing her guidance when she asks? Or should I insist she lets me help her? That we stick to the plan we just laid out where I'm guaranteed to see her five days a week?
Mondays and Wednesdays in class. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays here at the restaurant.
"What if..." I start, but I have no idea what I want to say.
What if what?
Life is full of what ifs.
Right now, so is my mind.
What if I leaned across this desk and kissed her? Would she kiss me back? Would she push me away? Would it make things awkward between us? Or bring us closer?
Does she feel the same? Is she as attracted to me as I am to her? Does she feel the tension swirling between us right now? The magnetic pull?
Or is it all my imagination?
"Did you want to finish that thought?" she jokes, her mouth lifting at the corner as she tries to fight back a smile.
