Chapter 8

Connor

"She is something," I mutter as I struggle to understand the scene that played out seconds ago.

Unable to sit still, I stand and pace around my office. I stop in front of a window, shaking my head. "Me, a stubborn flightless bird? If anything, she should be telling herself the same words. Stubborn, obstinate, annoying," I list qualities I think belong to Evelyn Lockhart.

"You do realize that all those words can be used to describe you, right?"

I whirl around to see Ken standing in my office.

"The door?" I say. "Knocking? Has everyone forgotten I'm the CEO?"

"Whoa, did something happen?" he asks.

"No," I snap, returning to my chair.

Ken wags his finger. "I don't believe you. Something happened, and it has to do with Evelyn Lockhart."

"How do you... never mind."

"How do I know?" He finishes my question. "Well, I could tell you the long version or simply say that I saw her leaving your office, and she looked equally annoyed. What did you do?"

My jaw drops. "What did I do? Why do you assume that I did something? You should be asking me what she did. Have you ever seen me this unsettled?"

He strokes his chin. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen you this riled up. At least, not since we graduated, and you started encountering some of the biggest assholes in your years of building this company. What is it about Evelyn Lockhart, our resident cyber-security specialist, that has gotten under your skin?"

"She called me a stubborn, flightless bird," I air my grievances, expecting Ken to be as shocked as I was.

Instead, he bursts out laughing,

"Why is that funny?"

"Oh come on, everything. From the fact that she might be the first person to ever stand up to you to the look on your face. You look stunned, like you can't believe it, instead of annoyed like your voice."

"I don't get your point," I say, defensively.

"I'm saying that you like her. You like Evelyn Lockhart."

"Did something happen to you this morning?" I inquire.

"Like what?"

I stand up from my chair and go to lay my hand on his head, feeling for warmth. At first, he lets me feel all around his face, then he smacks my hand away.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking to see if you have a fever," I respond, reaching for his head again. "Did you hit your head?"

Ken stands up to put space between him and me. "I didn't hit my head. Why would you think I have a concussion?"

I glare at him.

"Why wouldn't I, when you are talking nonsense?"

"What?" It hits him five seconds later. "Oh. Oh." He breaks into a loud laugh. "You think I have a concussion because I said you like Evelyn Lockhart?"

"Why else would you say something like that?" I question, returning to my seat. "I can barely tolerate being in the same room with her, and she just called me a stubborn, flightless bird. What does that even mean? And this morning, she purposefully let her two-hundred-pound dog run me down."

Everyone outside the office can hear Ken's laughter by now, and I am tempted to throw him out of my office, but I know he's going to poke fun at me for being so hot-wired and I refused to hear the truth.

"I think this is a classic case of enemies to lovers."

What is he saying?

"There is no way that woman," I point to the door, "and I would ever become lovers. We are barely working with each other as it is. Once her job is done here, I don't want to see her again. I'm considering moving out of my penthouse, too."

"You're going to have to give me a minute to digest all this information," Ken says. "I can't have you throwing me curveballs each time I think I might have cracked the code."

I fold my arms, my mouth downturned. "There is no code."

Ken pulls his chair close to me. "Of course, there is a code. From everything you've just told me, I have deduced that, one, she lives in your building, and I'm guessing it's the apartment below yours that was vacant three weeks ago."

"Two, she's the same person I sourced to handle cybersecurity for our very secretive project, but the thing is, you two can't stand each other."

"Three, you ran into her this morning when you went on a run, and she let her dog loose so it could chase you. From the look on your face, I'm thinking you were frightened, and you let it show."

I throw my hands in the air, exasperated. "It was a big dog! Big Furry Dog, and I could see it foaming at the mouth. You see a dog like that running towards you, and you get scared. I tried to act like I was fine and resumed my jogging pace, but it kept barking at me."

Ken has a huge smile on his face. "I don't know what to say."

"I never asked you to say anything," I remind him. "You were the one with the outrageous conclusion. Evelyn Lockhart is not my type, and this is a business arrangement—two major reasons why it is impossible for me to feel anything for her."

My best friend gives me the side eye.

"Never say never, my friend. There is a thin line between love and hate. You don't know it because your mind tells you what you can see on the surface, but your heart might have fallen already."

If looks could kill, he would be dead on the floor of my office.

He shoots up his hands in surrender.

"Okay. All right. I'll stop with the assumptions. You need to find a way to behave. She's the best in her field, and we can't bring someone else in on this project, now."

"Why do I have to be the one to behave? Why don't you tell her to behave?"

Ken shrugs. "Maybe I will."

I'm taken aback by how easily he accepts it. "You're going to speak to her?"

"Didn't you just ask me too," he points out.

"You said it like you two have become buddies or something," I explain.

Ken's silence tells me everything I need to know—his deception and betrayal. I point to the door.

"You still know your way out, don't you?"

"You want me to leave because we are acquaintances?"

"Did I stutter?" I say. "My own best friend chooses to side with the...the..."

I cannot quite call her the enemy, or I wouldn't have agreed to work with her. Blowing out steam and running my fingers through my hair, I stand up. Ken does the same.

"You can stay," I say. "I'm leaving."

"Where are you going?"

"I'll be back," I say before leaving the office.

I need some air to clear my thoughts of Evelyn Lockhart. Ken might have been far off when he said I had feelings for her, but he's not wrong about one thing—in all the years, nobody has gotten under my skin so much that it left me disoriented.

There's something about her I just can't put her finger on.