by Lila Kane
“Deal.”
THE INTERN
_______________________
ENEMIES TO LOVERS, BOOK 5
THE INTERN
Leah Parker is stoked about her new job interning for a literary agent. She gets to read smutty romances all day and help people reach their dreams—what could be better? But when she meets the other intern, her dream job turns into a nightmare. Not only is Shane Court the most egotistical ass she’s ever met but he thinks he knows how to do the job better than her, and he’s willing to prove it. Shane might know a little about romance, but he has a lot to learn about women, and trying to seduce her to prove it is going all wrong.
Shane thinks Leah is hot and way too uptight. How is she supposed to help edit fun, steamy romances when she can’t have any fun in her own life? He’s willing to set aside his irritation for her to prove that she can have a little fun, and that he knows a little something about romance. But when a simple bet turns into a steamy encounter, there’s more at stake than a little wager.
Chapter 1
________________
Leah
She knew it was casual Friday, but come on. He looked like he was going to the beach, not working. And those shoes? Leah sniffed and turned away to look at her computer. She swore he worked at Old Navy on the weekends. Or the mall. Or—
“Early as usual,” Shane said, tweaking her bun.
She slapped at his hand. “Being on time isn’t early. It’s called—”
“Punctual? On the dot?” He grinned. “Prompt?”
“It’s not—prompt isn’t a synonym for on time.”
He sat at the desk across from her, tossing his messenger bag on the ground and crossing one leg over the other. “Wanna bet? We could look it up. Use your Googler thing.”
“It’s—my what? Google? God, I swear you didn’t even graduate high school.”
Shane flashed a grin. “Valedictorian. Not too bad in college either—for a slacker.”
Her cheeks went red. She had called him a slacker. Yesterday, in the break room. But he was a slacker. He waited until the last minute to get his work done and acted like he wasn’t required to put any effort into it at all.
Some people were here for the experience. It seemed like he was just here for the—what? The contacts? The girls? Because there were a few ladies who worked in publicity that he flirted with all the time.
But she was here because books were her passion.
Their boss peeked her head out of her office and beckoned. “Morning report.”
She brought her laptop and a notebook, plus the printed manuscript and carried it inside. Shane sat in the chair next to her, his printed manuscript on his lap. And what were those? Sticky notes? For real?
He flipped the manuscript over and gave her a mock glare. “No copying.”
Her mouth snapped open to argue, but their boss sat down as well and started the meeting. Kara Mason was one of the most well-known literary agents in New York. Getting an internship with her was a dream come true. Leah could only assume she’d hired Shane for the comedic relief.
“What were your thoughts on the book?” Kara asked both of them.
Leah looked at her notes, all typed up and bulleted and color-coordinated. “I think we could have a stronger character arc. And the scene where the hero and heroine fight about the dog. I think it needs something…more.” She struggled to put it into words. It needed more angst, more feeling.
“And more sex,” Shane said.
To her surprise, Kara grinned. “Yeah?”
Shane nodded, not even glancing at his notes. “Sexual tension. It would really help in that dog scene. And then they can make up—maybe in the shower, because the scene in bed feels a little vanilla.”
Leah’s cheeks burned for the second time that day—all because of Shane Court. It was ten times worse when he glanced at her with a wink. A wink! What was that? Did he think she was a little kid? Or was he seriously playing at flirting. Because Leah and Shane Court were as different as cats and—well, dogs.
“I agree,” Kara said. “And a few of the existing scenes are feeling a little…stale. Put down some suggestions before we send this back to the author.”
She made a note and listened as Kara continued, talking about other books she wanted to pitch to editors, and the pile of growing submissions they had from unpublished authors that Shane and her still needed to finish.
And of course, she took notes the entire time while Shane just sat there and let her do all the work. He was a slacker! A huge one.
When the meeting was over, Leah went straight for her desk and spread the manuscript out. She glanced up at Shane when he sat down. “What do you want to work on first?”
He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. “I’ll take the manuscript.”
“But—” She frowned. She wanted to work on the manuscript.
“Problem?”
“We’re both supposed to be making notes on this.”
He kept his eyes closed, but shrugged. “So make notes.”
Her mouth dropped open. They were supposed to be doing this together, weren’t they? Otherwise their opinions might not match and then Kara would have to wade through twice as many notes on the same thing.
“Damn it,” she muttered under her breath.
He was the one who’d come up with the idea for more sex. No, sexier sex. God, he was just one big horn ball. She glanced over and watched him a moment, eyes traveling from his head to his toes.
So, he was attractive. In a laidback, carefree kind of way. He made it look easy. Life. Looks. Everything.
“See anything you like?” Shane asked.
She jerked her gaze away. “I was just—just waiting. To—to see if you were going to help or not.”
“Uh-huh.”
Fuck. She pressed her hand to her cheek, trying to cool it down. Why the hell couldn’t Kara have hired another female intern? Or an old man even? Someone she wasn’t constantly embarrassed by. It was like Shane’s personal mission to make her as uncomfortable as possible. And he was doing a good job.
“Relax,” Shane said, laughter in his voice. “It’ll get done.”
“Sure.”
“What? You don’t believe me?”
“I don’t believe you know how to work,” she mumbled.
She jumped in her seat when she heard his voice right behind her. She spun in her chair and found him standing at the edge of her cubicle. “And I don’t believe you know how to have fun.”
“I’m at work—fun isn’t a priority.”
“So you do know how to fun? Or was that just an excuse?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Not an excuse. I do know how to have fun, okay?”’
“Wanna bet?”
“What?”
He folded his arms. “Do you want to bet?” He lowered his voice with a smirk. “Or are you afraid?”
Chapter 2
________________
Shane
He was pretty sure Leah didn’t know the definition of fun—or definitely not how to have it while being responsible at the same time. But he was a master at it. Had been since high school. He pulled in a 4.0 and went to every weekend party he knew about. He hung out with girls and women, had fun with them, too, but still managed to make it to work on time and avoid anything too serious.
Shane had no idea why Leah couldn’t manage the same. After all, she had the body for it. And the job. Now was the time to live it up and instead, she was glued to her office chair fretting over submissions and sex scenes.
Once Kara ducked out early for the day, Shane stood and gestured to the elevator. “Come on.”
Leah blinked up at him, eyes wide with confusion. Damn, she had nice eyes. Kind of wide and innocent. The kind of eyes he’d love to see staring up at him while she had her mouth around his cock…
Shit. This was Leah, not one of the women from publicity. She’d probably never even given a blow job before. She was probably as vanilla as they came.
“Let’s go,” he said. He turned back to his desk to grab a notebook and a pen, then decided against it. Leah would probably bring her entire arsenal of office supplies, so he didn’t need to bother. “We’re going next door.”
“Next door as in…the bar?” She stood anyway, looking like she wasn’t sure what would happen if she didn’t follow along.
“Yep.”
“But Kara—”
“Is gone.” He walked to the elevator. “You coming? Grab your notebook.”
She fumbled around her desk and he chuckled when he heard something fall and her quiet curse. Well, at least she wasn’t 100% innocent. She had a mouth on her.
Which reminded him again of her lips wrapped around his cock, and he immediately went hard. Damn Leah—maybe this wasn’t a good idea. But he’d bet her she couldn’t have fun and she’d bet him he didn’t know how to work, and he hated losing a bet. He planned on following through.
She jumped into the elevator with him just as the doors closed, and ran a hand through her hair. “You know, Kara’s probably over at the bar right now. If she sees us—”
“She’ll what? Fire us—from a job we’re not even getting paid for anyway? Besides, it’s a work meeting.” He pointed to her notebook. “Obviously.”
“But—”
“Damn it, Leah. If you were half as good at relaxing as you were at arguing, you already would have won the bet.”
She glared at him as the elevator opened, but followed him through the lobby and out the front doors. The sun shone warm and bright and made him lift his head to the sky. Being an intern had its perks, sure, but he couldn’t wait for the day he could do this full-time. Preferably from a remote location with lots of sandy white beaches and Mai Tai’s. The body wasn’t meant to stay cooped up inside all day.
And it certainly wasn’t meant to stay tame when he had to look at Leah all day. Half the time he had to cover his hard on with his keyboard, when things would be a lot easier if they could just head to the copy room, lock the door, and get out some of their sexual frustrations.
Too bad she hated him. He kind of hated her too—but figured that’d only make it hotter.
He opened the door for her at the bar and watched her ass as she walked in.
Hell, maybe after she got drunk she’d loosen up and he’d see a whole new side of her. He could just scrap the bet altogether and see how loose he could make her. He’d bet Leah couldn’t have any fun, but he knew how to show a girl a good time. He might not have a ton of confidence in her to win this bet, but he had loads of confidence in himself.
He flashed a smile at the hostess and pointed to the booth in the corner. He’d prefer to sit at the bar, but a booth would be more conducive to the plan he had in mind. Despite what Leah thought, he did want to make sure he got these notes done on the story.
The hostess smiled back, all dimples and fluttering lashes. He was a regular, he’d seen those dimples before. From far away and up close. But now, they were friends and that suited him just fine. He motioned to the bar and mimed drinking a shot as they walked to the booth.
“What was that?” Leah asked.
He grabbed her arm and steered her in the right direction. No time to waste. “Shots.”
“Oh, I don’t—”
“Yes, you do. Shots are necessary. You said you could have fun. I said I could work. Are you seriously going to back out on this bet because a little tequila is involved?”
She sat with a grimace. “Tequila?”
“You’d prefer vodka? Or a mixed drink? I could—”
“No, tequila’s fine. It’s fine.”
He laughed. Sure, it was fine. Damn, maybe Leah really didn’t know how to have fun. But he’d never met a girl who couldn’t have fun after a few shots of tequila. Or four. However many it took.
Once the first shot arrived, he lifted his. “Cheers.”
“Uh…” She clinked her glass to his with a frown. “I’m not sure—”
“Drink.”
He tossed his back, watched her do the same…but a lot more slowly. Her face twisted, but he nodded. “Good. Now…sex.”
She choked on the tequila, coughed a few times, and then averted her eyes.
“I meant the book.”
Leah hastily opened her notebook and set the manuscript out to look at as well. “I know.”
Sure, she did. It was actually pretty cute that she was so intimidated by him.
“The author’s great at making the reader care for her characters, but she doesn’t just want the reader to care. She wants the reader to feel. To get turned on. What makes you root for the characters more than wishing you could be them? Feel what they feel?” He winked at her. “Especially in all the right places.”
By the time he’d finished his little speech, her mouth was hanging open. She squirmed a little in her seat, and he knew he had her. If he could actually get her to open up, to have a little fun like she promised she was capable, they could probably make decent progress on the manuscript.
She wet her lips and smiled. “I think maybe…we need another shot.”
“Good idea.” He waved to the waitress and decided on two more each.
Chapter 3
________________
Leah
“I can’t believe I forgot my keys,” she whispered as they walked back into the office.
There wasn’t anyone left—she’d seen a few people at happy hour—but otherwise they’d all gone home. And right now, though she wouldn’t admit it, home was the last place she wanted to be.
She’d actually had fun with Shane tonight. Which meant she not only won her half of the bet, but she felt pretty good about it. And him. Of course, he’d also won his half of the bet because they’d made progress on the manuscript, but what was she going to do? It benefitted everyone.
“I’m pretty impressed with how in touch you can get with your feelings,” Leah told Shane as he followed her to her desk.
He’d insisted on coming back up with her. He perched his shoulder on the partition around her cubicle. “It’s a total lie that guys don’t have feelings.”
“You just pretend you don’t? To make you seem cooler?”
He grinned at her—and she’d never paid attention to his dimples before, but right now, in her more-than-tipsy state, they were actually pretty cute. “There’s already one woman in the relationship—don’t need to have two.”
She snorted. “Relationship.”
“What? You think men can’t have relationships? Isn’t that what all these swoon-worthy books are all about? Women getting their hot animal sex, but with a committed partner. A guy who’s more than happy to woo the girl, give her plenty of orgasms, and then marry her.”
Leah looked away from him, feeling the heat of his words in her pussy. Orgasm. She didn’t need him to say that to her—not when it’d been long enough she was having to take care of business at home.
“That’s fantasy,” she murmured.
“It’s is.” He watched as she shuffled through her bottom drawer and pulled out her laptop and keys. “That’s exactly what it is. It’s everything you want, everything you need and, in these stories you can have it. You just have to know what you want. Then you can be in tune with the character.”
Too bad she had no idea what she wanted. All Leah knew was that she wanted this job. In her fantasy, she had a career she loved and…that was it. She wanted love—and sex—no, needed it—but she was much better at the professional stuff.
Leah could work. Leah could edit. Leah could follow orders. But when it came to romance, even sex, she practically felt like a virgin.
“So…what do you want, Leah?” Shane asked.
She glanced away from him again—from the look in his eyes. He was teasing her, and she knew it. Best thing to do: deflect.
“How are you not, like, completely wasted right now?” she asked.
“I am…buzzed. And totally fucking turned on because we just practically wrote an enti
re shower scene and I didn’t get any of the benefits.”
Her mouth dropped open. Holy shit. “I can’t believe you just said that out loud.”
“Just proving to you that fun and responsibility can go hand in hand.”
She stood quickly, even though it made her head spin. “I think you’ve made your point.”
He stepped closer to her, trapping her in her cubicle. “You sure? Because I bet I could make my point a little clearer.”
Her heartbeat picked up and heat pooled between her legs. “I don’t know how.”
She wasn’t sure why she’d said it—in fact, it had just slipped out—but Shane’s eyes glinted. He’d taken it as a challenge, and Shane never seemed to back down from a challenge.
“You don’t know how clear I can make it,” Shane murmured.
His hands skimmed up her arms, and then back down. When she just stood, shocked, he gripped her hands and brought them to his chest. “It’s not rocket science, Leah.”
She didn’t think he’d ever said her name before. And definitely not with his voice so low, so husky. Almost like…like he wanted her.
“I’m…not good at this,” she said, and heat rushed to her cheeks immediately. Might as well tell him she hadn’t had sex in more than a year. That she’d only ever been with one man—no, a boy, really—and this feeling was practically foreign to her. “I think we should go.”
She pushed around him, trying not to look at his face. He was right—she didn’t know how to have fun. They’d worked well together tonight, she’d broken out of her shell, and now she was practically running from him.
Leah jammed her finger against the button for the elevator. Hurry, hurry!
Shane stepped up beside her, arms crossed. “You might just lose this bet yet.”
The doors opened, and so did her mouth. He looked almost happy.
“I’m not going to lose this bet,” she said, stepping inside.
He followed her and faced her as the doors closed. “Prove it.”
Before she could change her mind, Leah rose on her toes and brushed his lips with hers. He gave a low growl, and then made her gasp when he gripped her arms and pressed her against the elevator wall. Without releasing her, he reached out and pressed the red button on the panel, bringing the elevator to a stop.
