She raised her eyebrows. ‘I guess that’s your way of saying you don’t want to talk about it.’
He didn’t like the way her voice sounded. As though he’d wounded her again. ‘I can’t,’ he told her. ‘Not right now.’
‘I suppose I should go, then. I have classes this afternoon.’
He found himself tightening his grasp on her hand, as though to stop her. ‘We need to talk about that internship,’ he told her, finally catching her eye.
‘Oh, I thought that was just an excuse to talk,’ she said, frowning. ‘Honestly, you don’t need to help me. You don’t owe me anything.’
He wanted to laugh at her innocence. She thought he owed her nothing? Jesus, he owed her everything. He’d been a shell of a man when she met him, it was thanks to her that somehow he was coming back to life.
‘I saw your showreel,’ he told her. ‘Your supervisor sent me a copy. It’s damned good. You have talent, you know that, right?’
Her breath caught in her throat. All that time she’d been watching those YouTube videos, he’d been watching her work, too. She wondered if he’d been as obsessive as she was, if he’d watched it over and over again.
‘You really liked it?’
He nodded. ‘I did.’ His voice was soft. ‘It was unique, I could tell you were the one who made it.’
She licked her lips. They were suddenly dry, in spite of the coffee. ‘Well thank you. That means a lot.’
‘It means you deserve to get an internship. Let me help you.’
‘You can’t. Every time I have an interview I freeze. I might look good on celluloid, but in person I mess it up.’
His smile was sympathetic. ‘Then let your work speak for itself. Let me help you. There’s this project I know about, you’d be perfect for it.’
She shook her head. ‘I couldn’t work for you, it wouldn’t feel right.’
He tried not to show how much of a kick in the gut that was. ‘You wouldn’t be working with me. I wouldn’t ask that of you.’
‘Then who?’
‘Are you free tomorrow morning?’ he asked. ‘I’ll bring you over to meet him. He’s got a project ready to go. You’d be perfect for it.’
‘Are you sure it’s not you?’ She looked suspicious.
‘Would it be so terrible if it was?’
It was her turn to look down at their hands. When she looked back up at him she seemed confused. Her eyes were full of questions. ‘I can’t work for somebody who doesn’t trust me.’
Was she only talking about work? Adam wasn’t sure. ‘I trust you.’ His voice was resolute. ‘I don’t think there’s a single person in the world I trust more than you.’
She blinked, as though the light was blinding her eyes. ‘You do?’ She bit her bottom lip.
‘Yes, I do. So will you do me a favour and meet me tomorrow?’ Reluctantly, he released her hand and grabbed a card from his pocket, scribbling an address on there. ‘I’ll be here at eleven o’clock.’ He looked up at her. ‘I hope you will too.’
He slid the card across to her, and she scooped it up, lifting it to her eyes. She frowned again, reading his words. ‘But this is —’
‘I know.’ He stood up. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, I hope.’
And if she didn’t turn up, what then?
His heart ached as he watched her retreating back. He’d let her walk away from him once before. He wasn’t planning on making that same mistake twice.
34
Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?