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“Hello, Mr. Brandt. And please, call me Carina.”

Her hand didn’t linger as she batted her eyes at him. Watching her, I realized that this was a true badass boss lady. She wore sky-high stilettos like she wasn’t walking on needles. Her suit was stylish and sexy, but she wore it like it was for her alone—not to impress anyone. This was a businesswoman I wanted to study and take notes on. My heart skipped at the thought of being anything like her. Even imagining the kind of authority she walked in with gave me a high none of the drugs Leah took could reach.

I swallowed down the giggle rising up as I realized I was in lust at first sight with a woman.

“Of course. We can ditch all formalities and you can call me Erik. This here is my assistant, Laura, and a new intern, Alexandra.”

“Nice to meet you,” Carina said, taking a step forward to shake both our hands.

As soon as she stepped back, I dipped my head to subtly check for any drooling.

“If you would like to follow me, we can get started in my office.” Erik held his hand out, gesturing toward his open door.

Just as they were about to cross the threshold, Laura winked at me before speaking. “Don’t you think talking about your new office plans would be a good opportunity for Miss Hughes to learn in her internship?”

Erik turned, looking over his shoulder at me with a glare, his jaw tight, like I had put Laura up to it. My pursed lips, trying to hold back a smile, probably didn’t help my case.

“I’d be completely fine with that,” Carina said.

He was officially cornered into a decision.

In case he was thinking of coming up with an excuse, I decided to lock in the pressure and cocked my brow, challenging him to say no.

“Sure,” he ground through his clenched jaw before it relaxed into a devious smirk. “But make sure you grab some waters for us. Unless you’d like a coffee,” he offered Carina.

“Water is fine, thank you.”

“Waters then, Alexandra.”

He turned and shut the door behind him missing my growl of frustration. Laura didn’t though. She laughed and kept typing. “Don’t let him win. Run to get the waters and be back faster than he expects.”

“Thanks, Laura.”

I did as suggested and was rewarded when Erik’s eyes widened before narrowing at my entrance.

“That was fast.”

“What can I say, I’m a good employee.”

Carina thanked me for the water and was finishing setting up when I sat on a chair to the left.

“I’m excited to be working on the next project for Bergamo and Brandt. I know you worked with my father when you originally structured your company.”

“We’re happy to have Wellington and Russo helping out.”

Carina smiled my way. “It’s good to see you taking on a female intern. I’ve done some research on your company and it is a male dominated office with only male interns.”

Erik gave an easy smile. “I assure you, it’s completely unintentional.”

“I was kind of an accidental intern,” I explained. “But I’d like to think I’m the best kind of accident.”

Carina laughed. “We have to take every opportunity we can.” She winked and turned back to Erik. “Okay, let’s get started, shall we?”

“Yes.” Erik sat up and I took that as my cue to remain quiet and absorb as much information as possible. “I’m sorry Mr. Bergamo couldn’t be here, but I’ll be sure to fill him in.”

The meeting moved quickly and I was confused through most of it but took notes so I could look things up later. Sometimes Carina would take a moment to explain a technique or the lingo. Erik didn’t acknowledge that I was there, but I didn’t care. I became a sponge and sucked up as much information as I could. There was no YouTube video that came close to this kind of learning.

Carina began packing up and had just put her sleek leather bag over her shoulder when she gave me her full attention, but talked to Erik. “I’d love to work with Alex whenever possible. I’m always willing to extend as many opportunities to another female in the business as I can.”

I think my jaw hit the floor. Erik’s tightened as he gave me an annoyed look. But he didn’t fight it. He sighed heavily and gave in. “Of course.”

She shook both our hands. “Good. I look forward to our endeavor, Erik.”

Just as she left, Jared came out of his office looking a little frantic. “Erik, we need to have a meeting now.”

Erik gave a curt nod and told Laura to hold his calls before he and Jared disappeared into Erik’s office.

“How’d it go?” Laura asked.

“Amazing.” I fell into my seat with a dreamy sigh. “I may have a lady-crush on Carina.”

“Couldn’t say I blame you. She is a woman to idolize.”