Chapter Ten

To say that Ian felt like an asshole would be an understatement. He felt worse than that. He felt like a monster. Throughout the entire week he ignored Skylar, only speaking to her when he had to give her an assignment. He knew that he was being a jerk. She didn't deserve to be given the cold shoulder by him. But he just couldn't bring himself to go back to the way they used to be.

After being informed about Jason, how she had basically hooked up with him, he had been very angry. The thought of her being in the arms of another man made him a very unpleasant person to be around.

It had also made him realize that he couldn't keep on holding in his true feelings.

It was that that made him push her away. Not her being kissed by Jason, because that wasn't her fault.

He knew that if he let himself get too close he would end up slipping up. Ian didn't want that because he knew Skylar wouldn't take that too well. She would probably quit the internship and cut all ties with him. He didn't want that.

It was Friday, and her classes ended early. So when Skylar was going to go get lunch and relax, she encountered a familiar pink-haired girl waiting for her outside the building.

"Cindy," Skylar said, surprised to see the girl.

"Hi!" Cindy mused. "You wanna go get coffee with me?"

"Sure," Skylar agreed.

And so they ended up in the same café where they had first met. They sat across from each other. Cindy didn't say anything at first, instead she just looked at her as if in deep thought, nodding her head from time to time. Skylar was very confused.

But finally she spoke.

"So Jason told me what happened between you two," she confessed. "Don't be mad at him. I pried it out of him because I noticed he seemed pretty down."

Oh.

"I'm not mad," Skylar said. "You two are friends. I get it."

"I get it that you don't like him back the same way," Cindy said. "He mentioned that you like someone, and I just want to know why you're not with him."

That was a question that had many answers to. Because he was older than her. Because he was her boss. Because he didn't like her back. Because she didn't wan to ruin their friendship. If they even had one seeing as how he had been treating her lately.

She just said, "It's complicated."

Cindy raised an eyebrow. "And why is that, hun?"

"I really don't want to get into it," she explained.

Cindy sighed. "I get that you and I haven't known each other for long. But you need to open to someone. Someone that you trust. Whomever that may be. Keeping sorrows to yourself usually doesn't end well. Trust me, I know."

When she arrived at her apartment, Skylar decided to call Kyle on Skype seeing as how she still had a few more hours until she had to start heading over to her internship. Cindy was right, she did need to talk to someone. And that person was her best friend.

A wide-grinned Kyle answered the call and waved dramatically. "Sky!"

She laughed. "Hey, Kyle!" she mused.

"What is the purpose of this call?" he asked. "You haven't communicated with me in over a week, I was starting to get worried."

"I know," she said. "I'm sorry. I've just been really busy."

Kyle, being her best friend, quickly caught on to her mood. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I didn't want to say anything to you," she started. And she had good reason to, since it was about his cousin and all. "I'm just very confused right now."

"Is this about a guy?" Kyle asked. "'Cause I'll beat the living crap out of any guy that hurts you, you know that, Sky."

She couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah. It's about a guy. And he didn't do anything wrong. He doesn't even know about my feelings for him."

Kyle's face softened. "Oh, Sky. Who is this guy?"

She really wished she had called him on his phone instead of video chatting with him, that way he wouldn't be able to see her face. Oh well.

"Um...It's Ian."

Kyle seemed taken by surprise but quickly composed himself. "Ian as in my cousin Ian?"

She nodded.

"Oh, s.hit," he muttered. "And, um, when did you start...feeling...this way?"

So she told him about the night he saved her from killing herself. How he was so kind to her and made her see that there was more in life. Since then, she had grown a soft sport for him in her heart.

"I didn't feel this way about him until after a few weeks of classes starting," she added. "I didn't realize it at first. And then he took me out for lunch, I got to know him more. He got me an internship at his law firm. He got me an apartment and bought me a car! He did that so that my life here would be easier and that was so sweet of him."

"And what's going on now?"

"I told him about this guy that  kissed me," she confessed. "After he told me about Christina calling him the other day. After I told him about Jason he just ignored me and gave me the cold shoulder. I don't know what I did wrong to be honest."

"Well, Ian has never really been the type to open up emotionally," Kyle said. "Maybe  you scared him with your girl problems." He laughed finding his teasing her amusing.

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe. I don't know. But I think I'm gonna talk to him about it, see what I did wrong, because it's just awkward the way it is right now."

"You want me to talk to him for you?" Kyle offered.

"Nah. It's better if I do it myself."

"And what are you going to do about your feelings for him?"

"I don't know," she said. "But I'll figure it out eventually."

She arrived to the firm at the same time Micah did. He looked her up and down and smirked. What was up with that?

"Can I help you?" she snapped.

"No," he said, the stupid smirk not leaving his face. "Nice car."

"Thanks," she said rolling her eyes.

"Did Ian buy that for you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

He shrugged. "I don't know. His favoritism towards you is obvious. I see the way he looks at you. You're very friendly with him. Do you provide him with extra services in order to be his intern?"

That infuriated her. So she slapped him. Hard. And yes, it might have hurt her hand a little bit, but she was sure it hurt him more.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on?" asked a man, rushing over to them.

Micah glared at her. "Why are you mad over the truth?" he spat.

"You don't know what you're talking about," she said.

"Alright. Micah, go get started on your work," the man said. "I don't know what this is about, but we do not tolerate this type of behavior at this firm."

"Yes, Peter," Micah said.

Skylar was about to explain that he was basically calling her a slut, but another voice stopped her.

"What's going on here?" Ian asked, glancing at Skylar.

"I don't know," Peter said. "But Micah here must have said something really bad because Ms. Grant slapped him pretty hard." He almost seemed amused by the situation.

Ian's eyes widened and he looked at Skylar. "Alright, Peter. You deal with Micah. I'll talk to Skylar."

Skylar happily followed Ian into his office, glad to get away from Micah. The asshole!

She sat down in a chair and awaited the questioning. Well, at least he couldn't ignore her now.

"What happened?"

"Micah said that you show favoritism towards me, and basically hinted at me sleeping with you to get this internship," she said looking at him directly in the eyes to show she wasn't kidding.

"Did he really say that?" Ian asked, his fists clenching.

"Well, he said, that I was providing you with other services to be your intern," she said. "I'm sorry that I slapped him but I was pretty mad."

Ian shook his head. "You were right to slap him, Skylar. In fact, I want to give him more than just a slap for that. But I'll settle for dismissing him."

"Ian, don't do that," she pleaded. "He's an asshole, but he's a smart asshole. You know that."

He exhaled deeply. "You're too good, you know that, right?"

After talking to Skylar, Ian had a little meeting with Micah. A meeting in which he clearly expressed how much he disliked Micah. He wasn't going to fire him, but he made sure to make Micah understand that he was not allowed to go near Skylar. If another incident like that was repeated, Micah would no longer intern at his firm, and Ian would make well damn sure that no other firm took him.

He ended up staying late at the firm, past closing hours when all other employees had already left. That was except for Skylar. She didn't seem to mind staying late, and he didn't mind having her around. But alas, he had Emily waiting for him back home.

So they both got on the elevator, making their way down to the main floor.

Maybe it was the fact that it had been a stressful day. Or maybe it was just the fact that they were both so tired of holding it in that when the opportunity opened up, they had to take it. Because they had to stop being stupid.

So when Ian grabbed her, she didn't fight it.

"Ian," Skylar breathed out as he trapped her in between him and the elevator wall. "We can't..."

No matter how much she scolded herself, she couldn't bring herself to push him away. She liked having him so close, his body pressed against her. Hell, she'd been fantasizing this moment for five years!

Just a taste, she promised herself. Just a taste of Ian Rinaldi, that was all she wanted.

His lips brushed against her earlobe, making her let out a small moan. Jesus, what was this man doing to her?

"I want to take you," he whispered. "Taste you, feel you..."

Her mouth opened into a little "o" at his words. Here? In an elevator?

What was she even thinking? She did not care where he took her, she just wanted him so much at this moment. She wanted him to take her. Probably ever since that night so long ago. Oh, yes, Ian Rinaldi could do whatever he pleased to her.

"Yes," she pleaded. "Yes, Ian, take me."

Ian loved the words that came out of her pretty little mouth. He hadn't been expecting them though. Ian had expected her to push him away, say that she didn't want anything to do with him. Boy was he surprised.

When his green eyes met hers, the passion and lust was evident. God, he wanted her, and boy did she want him! She'd wanted him for such a long time. Since she was 16, but of course she'd never thought her fantasies would turn into a reality.

"You are mine, Skylar," Ian said huskily before crashing his lips to hers.

And he kissed her. Hard. They kissed each other as if their lives depended on it. His hands roamed her hips, squeezing them. Her fingers happily tangled themselves up in his hair, gripping him tightly. It was amazing.

But the elevator doors dinged open and the spell was broken.

Ian drove home in a daze. After that kiss, they both had hurriedly made their way to their cars, both equally stunned. It had been amazing, yet unexpected. Did that mean Skylar felt the same way about him or had it just been a spur of the moment type of thing?

So he called Kyle. "I need your help," he said. "It's about Skylar."

Kyle sighed through the line and said, "You f.ucker."