Intern Affair

Cade McMann smelled trouble all around him. At the moment, trouble smelled like honeysuckle, or at least what he imagined honeysuckle would smell like if he had the opportunity to sniff some. Sort of sweet and fresh and...inviting. And, truthfully, the scent was not all around, but definitely wafting from behind, if he wasn't mistaken. And Cade made it a point to avoid mistakes at all costs. Trouble cleared her throat. "Did you want to see me, Cade?" He spun his chair around from his view of Park Avenue seventeen stories below and looked across his desk at the young woman whose expectant expression was only partially covered by the hideous horn-rimmed glasses with lavender-tinted lenses. She hadn't worn those in her interview six months ago, of that he was certain. But since the first day of her internship atCharismamagazine, Jessie Clayton had hidden behind the glasses and kept her waist-length auburn hair pulled tightly back in a braid or a bun. Although, by the end of the day, some silky strands usually slipped out of their prison and caressed the creamy complexion of her cheeks.Caressed? Oh, boy. Serious trouble. He forced himself to focus on the business situation, not his suddenly poetic imagination. "I did need to see you, Jessie." He indicated one of the empty guest chairs. "Have a seat." She clutched a cheap vinyl-covered day planner to her chest, her gaze still on him as she sat. "Everything cool, Cade?" No. As a matter of fact, nothing was cool when this vivacious twenty-something was in the room. A situation that a man who ran a predominately female staff and boasted of having four younger sisters didn't relish. "Totally cool, Jessie." He let his mouth kick up in a smile as he spoke, and was rewarded with a quick and easy laugh that had become as common a sound in the cubicles ofCharismamagazine as a ringing phone. "Careful, Cade. You're starting to sound less like the boss and more like one ofCharisma'sloyal readers." She brushed one of those careless strands away. Of course, it was past four o'clock. The braid would start to give way soon. "I'm only thirty, Jessie. I can saycool.Plus," he reminded her, "I'm not the boss. I'm just her right-hand man." But, of course, he was the executive editor, and way up the publishing food chain in this intern's eyes. "And speaking of our illustrious editor-in-chief, I have some very exciting news for you." He could have sworn some color drained from those creamy cheeks, leaving behind a dusting of freckles as natural as the darker streaks in her cinnamon-colored hair. "Really?" She made a show of opening her day planner and getting out a pen, to take notes. "You don't need to write this down. I know you won't forget." She looked up at him, hesitancy in her smile. "I won't?" "You've been selected as Finola Elliott's shadow intern." The smile froze as she stared at him, pen poised. Then it faded, replaced by a little crease in her forehead. She swallowed, dry-throated enough for Cade to see that she had to struggle with the action. "Shadow intern? It sounds...mysterious." "It's not. Every year we pick one intern who gets to shadow the editor-in-chief for one month. Fin goes to a meeting, you go to a meeting. Fin previews the next month's issue at the printer, you preview the next month's issue at the printer. Fin gets wined and dined by an advertiser, you get--" She held up her hand. "I get the idea." He waited, and watched her try to swallow again. The reaction validated the very suspicions that motivated him to pick her as the shadow intern. Sure, she had all the professional qualifications--she was smart and hardworking and well-liked--but something wasoffabout Jessie Clayton. And, he reminded himself as he forced his gaze to stay on the colored lenses, he'd better start paying attention to her bizarre behavior instead of the concave diSt. Claire, Roxanne is the author of 'Intern Affair ', published 2006 under ISBN 9780373767472 and ISBN 0373767471.