The Intern, Book 1 (Alpha Billionaire Romance Series) (2 page)

“Let me know how you get
on,” she said when she opened the door.

“I will and thanks for
giving me the opportunity.”

The meeting ended as I
walked away and I looked at my watch to see that it was just after
four thirty in the afternoon. The impulse to make the call right
away came over me and I decided just to do it. Walking to the
refectory, I bought myself a coffee then went to sit at an empty
table in the corner of the room. I realized my hands were shaking
when I picked up the cup to take a sip and consciously tried to
calm myself down.

Getting the details
Professor Hamilton gave me out of my bag, I looked through them
first although it was basic information about Reed Commerce that I
mostly knew already. I found the number and checked the name before
taking my phone out to make the call.

“Reed Commerce,” a
pleasant voice said. “How can I help you?”

“I’d like to speak to Mrs.
Samuels please.”

“Who shall I say is
calling?” the receptionist went on.

“It’s Melissa
Braithwaite,” I answered.

“Just hold the line
please.”

There was silence for a
few seconds before I heard another voice.

“Hello.”

“Hi Mrs. Samuels,” I
started. “My name is Melissa Braithwaite. Professor Hamilton at the
local college gave me details of an internship with Reed Commerce
and asked me to call about it.”

“That was quick,” she
replied. “We only discussed her putting forward someone
yesterday.”

“We just had a meeting
about it and I decided to get in touch straight away to find out
what was required.”

“Well, Mr. Reed takes the
internship seriously,” Mrs. Samuels replied. “That means he
interviews the candidates himself.”

“OK,” I replied. “When are
the interviews?”

“He generally asks the
prospective candidates to visit his home to meet with him,” Mrs.
Samuels went on. “I’ll need to speak with him to see when he is
available. Do you have a number I can contact you on?”

“Sure,” I replied and gave
her my number.

“Can you also send me a
copy of your CV and a photo,” Mrs. Samuels went on.

“Umm…, I don’t really have
a CV,” I admitted.

“Just produce something
showing your school grades, what you’re studying at college and any
other experience you think might be relevant,” she told me. “My
email should be on the details you received from Professor
Hamilton, so just send the CV you produce and a photo to
me.”

“OK, I’ll do that,” I
agreed.

“I’ll speak with Mr. Reed
and get in touch with you once something has been arranged with
regard to a meeting.”

Her last comment signaled
the end of the conversation and we said our goodbyes before hanging
up. I finished my coffee and decided to just go ahead and prepare
the details she wanted straight away. The college computer room
wasn’t too busy and I easily managed to get a machine and sat
typing for around thirty minutes to produce what I thought was a
reasonably professional looking CV. I printed it off and gave it a
read through.

There were a couple of
errors that I noted, so I made the changes then opened a browser
page to log in to the website where I stored my photos. I found the
one that I thought showed me in my best light then logged in to my
email account. Five minutes later I’d composed a message and
attached the CV and photo to it. I gave it one last read through
then clicked the button to send. It was all I could do for the
moment, so I put the possibility of the internship out of my head
and went to my dorm room.

There was no sign of
Bella, so I just dropped on the sofa and switched on the
television. I flicked through the channels to find something to
watch and eventually settled on a movie. Forty five minutes after
starting to watch it, I was disturbed by the ringing of my phone
and got it out my pocket. The racing of my pulse began the second I
saw the number was the one I called that afternoon and I was quick
to make the connection.

“Hello.”

“Hi Melissa,” the voice on
the other end of the line said. “It’s Mrs. Samuels from Reed
Commerce. Thanks for getting your details to me so
quickly.”

“No problem,” I
responded.

“I passed them on to Mr.
Reed and called him,” she went on. “Would you be available to meet
him tonight?”

“Tonight?” I let out in a
surprised voice and sprang to my feet.

“Yes,” Mrs. Samuels said.
“He’ll be at home in the evening for the next two nights, but then
is away for a couple of weeks. He was keen to meet you before
leaving.”

“Yeah, sure, I’m free
tonight,” I let out.

“Great, I’ll let him
know,” the older woman went on. “The meeting is at eight
o’clock.”

“What’s the
address?”

“Do you have a pen and
paper handy?” Mrs. Samuels asked.

I was quick to find them
and wrote down the address I was given. My pulse was racing faster
when I hung up and stared at the piece of paper in my hand. Things
were moving a lot quicker than I anticipated and from sitting in
Professor Hamilton’s office only a couple of hours before, I was
now about to get ready to go and meet with one of the most
successful and richest men in the city.

“Shit,” I let out. “What
the hell will I wear?”

A glance at my watch
showed it was now after six and I was quick to go to my wardrobe
and start flicking through the hangers. My usual student outfit of
jeans and t-shirt wasn’t going to cut it for an interview, but
there weren’t many alternatives. I was putting on the one smart,
black dress that I owned when Bella came in the room.

“I thought you were off
men,” she commented straight away.

“Huh?” I queried when I
didn’t understand her.

“You look like you’re
getting dressed up for a date,” Bella went on.

“No!” I exclaimed. “I have
an interview.”

She frowned as she moved
further in the room and dumped her bag on a chair.

“An interview with who?”
she asked.

“Professor Hamilton set me
up with the chance of a four week internship at Reed Commerce,” I
told her. “I’m meeting the man in charge tonight.”

“Is your plan to flash
your legs at him in the hope it will get you the position,” Bella
let out in a teasing tone.

“Shit…, is it really too
short?” I asked. “I don’t have anything else that will work for an
interview.”

“You look smart,” Bella
said. “But you also look kind of sexy to be honest. If I was a guy
I know where I would be looking.”

“Should I
change?”

“I thought you didn’t have
anything else,” Bella commented.

“I don’t,” I let out in a
despairing whine.

“Then just go for it,” she
encouraged me and giggled. “It’s called using your attributes,
isn’t it? The guy interviewing you might be dazzled by those
impressive curves.”

A glance at my watch now
showed that it was after six thirty. If I was going to make it to
Conrad Reed’s home on time there was really no choice but to go
with what I was wearing. I walked inside the bathroom and opened
the cabinet above the sink to grab a brush. The mirror on front of
the cabinet got me a view of my reflection as I ran the brush
through my long dark curls. I considered putting on some makeup,
but eventually decided not to bother and took one last look at my
appearance.

“It’ll do,” I said then
walked out of the bathroom.

I quickly slipped on my
only pair of heeled shoes, grabbed my bag and walked to the
door.

“Good luck,” Bella
said.

“Thanks,” I replied and
turned to smile at her before leaving.

The nearest stop for the
bus I needed was a ten minute walk away and it was around fifteen
before one appeared. There weren’t many passengers on it and I
managed to grab a seat right at the front. The hem of my dress
hitched up my thighs when I sat and made me even more aware of just
how short it was. I squirmed around as I tried to drag it down, but
there was still plenty of bare skin on show.

Chapter 3

The journey lasted around
thirty minutes, which gave me plenty of time to get a street map
out of my bag and check the exact location of Conrad Reed’s home.
It was in a part of the city I wasn’t altogether familiar with and
that was brought home to me when I got off the bus. The surrounding
properties looked like mansions and they only got larger as I
walked in the direction of my destination. I needed to get the
street map out of my bag only once to make sure I was heading the
right way and my eyes opened wide when I got to the correct
address.

“This is something else,”
I let out under my breath when I looked through the massive gates
to the property beyond.

It looked big enough to be
a hotel and the ivy-clad front façade gave the building an
impressive appearance. I moved to the intercom unit on the gate
post and saw that my hand was shaking as I reached out to press the
button.

“Yes,” a tinny-sounding
voice came through.

“Oh…, hi,” I replied. “I’m
here to see Mr. Reed. My name is Melissa Braithwaite.”

“Just one
second.”

I assumed they were
checking that I did in fact have an appointment as the wait
stretched out, but the voice eventually sounded out
again.

“Come on in.”

The sound of a buzzer was
followed by the click of a small pedestrian gate unlocking. I
stepped through and made sure to close it properly before walking
up the gravel drive to the front of the building. There was an
elderly man waiting at the open door for me and I smiled as I
approached.

“If you come inside,” he
said. “I’ll take you to Mr. Reed.”

He waited for me to step
through the door before closing it and moving off. I looked around
as I followed and couldn’t help being impressed by my surroundings.
My heels clicked on the dark marble floor as I walked across it and
I glanced up to see the sky through a large glass domed ceiling.
The elderly gent moved through a door to a wood paneled hallway. I
took in the beautiful paintings we passed and even though I didn’t
know much about art, I assumed that each of them probably cost a
small fortune.

We were almost at the end
of the hallway when a door was opened and I walked in a room
expecting to see Conrad Reed. The place appeared empty, however,
and it was only after a few seconds that I saw there were French
doors leading out to a large stone terrace. It was there that I got
my first look at what I hoped was going to be my boss for a four
week internship and my nerves flared. There was something more to
my reaction though when he stood and turned to greet me.

The flicker of excitement
was unexpected as dark brown eyes met mine and a perfect smile lit
up on Conrad’s face. I’d never really taken much notice of his
appearance when we were discussing him in class, but I certainly
was now. His black hair was swept to a tidy side shade and the
crisp white shirt he was wearing did nothing to conceal what was
obviously a muscular physique. He wasn’t wearing a tie and the top
two buttons were undone to give a tantalizing glimpse of his chest,
but I tried my best not to stare as I walked up to him.

“You found the place,” he
said.

“Yes,” I answered. “You
have a beautiful home.”

The tingle of anticipation
came over me when he held out his hand and there was no stopping
the shivers that raced down my spine as we shook.

“Take a seat,” he said and
kept hold of my hand as he led me to one.

I was conscious again of
the way the hem of my black dress slid up my chubby thighs when I
sat down and tried to pull it lower. It was only when I glanced up
that I realized Conrad was watching me and the flush of red warmth
spread across my face. I found myself slightly intimidated at being
so close to a handsome, confident alpha male when he sat on the
chair right next to me and I couldn’t help noticing his glances
down towards me legs.

“Would you like some
wine?” he asked.

It was the last question I
expected at an interview and I wondered if it was a test. He lifted
the bottle and poured some more in his own glass before glancing at
me.

“Umm…, sure,” I
replied.

He filled a glass then
picked it up to hand it to me. I was aware of our fingers brushing
together as I took it and the red on my face grew
stronger.

“This is what I like to do
at the end of the day when I’m at home,” Conrad went on.

“The grounds of this place
are lovely,” I said as I looked across an expanse of lawn, flowers
and trees.

“It’s a good way to
relax,” he said and picked up his glass.

I did the same to take a
drink and sneaked glances at him while he gazed out across the
grass. Not that I’d been to many interviews, but it was getting off
to a start that surprised me to say the least.