Monday morning came around and I was a nervous wreck. It was the first day of my internship, and as I walked toward the main entrance, as I’d been instructed, I tugged at the tie Tor had knotted at my throat this morning. I’d never been very good at tying them, and I’d been too keyed up, too jittery, so having his calm and efficient hands putting me together had been a smart decision. With a brand-new pair of black slacks, matching Oxfords, and a sea-blue button-down Tor had picked out to match my eyes, at least I didn’t look out of place, even if I felt it.

I didn’t yet have a keycard to go through the employee entrance around the back, so I made my way to the guest services desk and gave the name of my new boss. As I waited, I shoved my hands in my pockets so I wouldn’t fidget, and took the opportunity to fully absorb the fact that I was actually here. After so many visits, I knew the museum like the back of my hand, but it hadn’t really hit me yet that I’d be working under someone I looked up to.

My gaze traveled up, up, until I could see the jaws of the five-story Barosaurus that greeted spectators as they entered. Nicknamed Barry, he was the tallest freestanding dinosaur display in the world, and the big attraction at the museum. Even now, I couldn’t get over the sheer size of him, and I wondered what it would be like to be a part of such a discovery. Maybe one day I’d find out.

“Jesse Clark?”

I spun around to see a man, about five foot seven and with a helmet of untamed brown curls, looking at me expectantly and with a friendly smile. Edmund Marks was the curator of the paleontology division and had served on an expedition team of scientists who, only a decade ago, had unearthed a hundred-and-ten-million-year-old dinosaur species that was previously undiscovered. He was a huge part of the reason I’d been so eager to take up residence here in Westport, and I struggled to find my tongue as I stepped toward him.

“Dr. Marks, it’s an honor, sir,” I said, taking his proffered hand. “I’ve followed your work for years, and I’m such a fan.”

Dr. Marks gave an appreciative chuckle. “Thank you, young man. I assume you’re familiar with the exhibits here as well?”

“I am.”

“Good, then we’ll skip the front end of the tour and take you back to where the fun stuff happens.”

FOUR AND A half hours later, and I was on my way to the dining hall, having worked up an appetite. After a detailed behind-the-scenes look at each department, Dr. Marks had given me an overview of what my job would entail—and then he’d sent me on errands that had me running back and forth across the museum so many times that I thought it might be less painful to cut off my feet.

That’s what I get for not breaking in new damn shoes, I thought, as I scanned the food options and then picked a line at random. It had been an interesting morning, and though my enthusiasm hadn’t really diminished, I was a little disappointed at becoming nothing more than an errand boy.

What did you think would happen? That you’d get to help brainstorm a new exhibit? Go cry about it, Clark.

The line crept forward and I glanced at my watch. I only had a thirty-minute break, and at this rate, I’d be scarfing down my food while running back to clock in. When I cursed under my breath, there was a chuckle behind me, and when I glanced over my shoulder, I did a double take.

Even though it’d been low-lit in the den that night, I would recognize King anywhere. With his hair spiked high and that seemingly permanent pompous leer on his face, he was an unwelcome sight.

King’s eyes flickered down from my face in a slow perusal that had me cringing, and then he fingered the employee badge I wore around my neck. “Mmm. Jesse Clark,” he said, looking up at me and tapping my badge. “What a lovely, unexpected surprise seeing you here.”

Ugh, why didn’t I shove it in my pocket on my break? Lesson learned.

I pulled my badge away from his fingers and casually flipped it over. “Hello,” I said, not bothering with any other niceties. I’d been hiding from the man the last time I’d seen him, for God’s sake, so the last thing I wanted was to give him an “in” with me. Wait, he didn’t work here, did he? Shit.

“I thought it was you when you lined up over here, but I wasn’t sure until I got closer. I didn’t think my luck was that good to run into you again so soon.”

So soon? Wait…did he work here? What was he talking about? Because if that was the case, my day was about to take a drastic nosedive from one of the best to one of the worst.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, and then turned around, edging my way forward, wishing the person in front of me would hurry up so I could escape the man behind me. No such luck, though, because no sooner had I taken a step forward than I felt a hand on my elbow. I looked down to see King had taken hold of my arm, and before I could tell him to let me go, he was striding forward, pulling me with him around the other people in the line.

We passed several other employees, then King stepped in front of the man about to walk up to the cashier and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Paul, buddy, you don’t mind if we cut in, do you? Thanks,” he said, without waiting for an answer, propelling me toward the register.

I lowered my eyes, wishing the ground would open up and devour me, because shit, this was not the kind of impression I wanted to make on my first day.

“Make your order, Jesse,” King said, and it sounded so much like something Tor would say that I flinched, because while Tor ordering me around made me hot, King had the complete opposite effect—I felt as though ice was running through my veins.

I glared at King’s profile, wishing I could will him to vanish—no such luck.

“Can I help you?” the woman behind the counter asked, and when I finally met her eyes, I could tell she was unimpressed by what had just happened, and I wanted to disappear myself.

“Sorry, yes. Could I please have the burger and fries?”

“Really?” King said. “That’s not a very healthy choice.”

“I don’t really give a sh—”

“One burger and fries it is,” the lady said, and this time when my eyes found hers, she winked at me, seeing I was just as irritated by King as everyone else.

“Extra fries, please,” I added, and then aimed a fake smile at King. She rang up my order, and when I went to pay, King handed her a credit card.

“I’ll take care of that.”

I was about to argue, but then I thought if I did that I’d have to put up with him longer, so I merely took the number she gave me and then marched off toward the dining area. With my eyes on the ground, I could still feel all the other employees staring at me…or were they staring at the jackass following tightly on my heels? Why won’t he just get lost? He was giving me the creeps.

I moved toward a table in the far back corner, and when I got there, I went to pull a chair out, only to feel King’s hand brushing over the top of mine. I snatched mine back, and as I did, he chuckled and pulled the chair out for me. I looked down at it and then decided there was no way I was going to take that seat like he was here with me as a…date. So I walked around to the other side of the table and slumped down into the seat, crossing my arms.

King took the seat he’d pulled out, and once he was settled, he rested his arms on the table, clasping his hands in front of himself.

“You don’t like me very much, do you?” King asked as he stared at me, and I narrowed my eyes on his smug face, wondering what his angle was, because surely the answer to that question was obvious.

“I don’t know you to form an opinion either way.”

“Well, at least that wasn’t a yes.”

“It wasn’t a no, either,” I said, and when he chuckled again, my skin crawled.

“You’re not like I thought you would be, Jesse Clark,” he said, and my name falling from his tongue made me want to find him a bar of soap and demand he wash it off. But then his words began to compute, and I frowned.

“What do you mean? We’ve only seen each other once before, and that was hardly long enough for you to form any more of an opinion of me than I did of you.”

King shifted in his seat, leaning forward over the table closer to me, and it took everything in me not to push my chair back.

“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve seen you, Jesse.”

I racked my brain, trying to work out how, or even where, and then I remembered that night at the Wolfe’s Den after Tor had me kicked out and I’d walked home.

I’d felt someone watching me that night. Someone following me the entire way home. Then several days after that on my way home from work…then at the market.

Oh my God, had King been following me?

I opened my mouth, about to demand an answer from him, but he said, “The night of the gala, here at the museum, I saw you. With Wolfe.”

My mouth clamped shut at that, and when he smirked, I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. He was seriously starting to freak me out. He’d been watching me? Had seen me? And with Tor? Who knew what he’d seen that night, and I wasn’t about to ask if he meant he saw us drinking champagne or that he’d seen us when Tor had given me the hottest handjob of my life.

“You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden.”

“I have nothing to say to you.” And honestly, I was hoping the lady would call my number soon, or I was going to just get up and leave without eating, because starving suddenly seemed like a better alternative than sitting there with him.

“Really? And here I thought I’d be right up your alley. That night at the den, I thought you were this shy little thing I needed to approach carefully. But then,” King said, shaking his finger at me, “then, when you showed up here with the Wolfe, and I found out you’d be working with my sister’s husband, who happens to be the director of this museum, I knew I was in luck. Because then I had an in, a way to track you down again, because clearly the problem that first night wasn’t lack of interest, but that I wasn’t forceful…enough.”

“You’re delusional,” I said, and shot to my feet, not willing to sit there with him anymore, and certainly not willing to listen to his sick imaginings. “I don’t know who you think you are or what angle you’re playing, but I’m not interested.”

“Is that part of the thrill for you, Jesse? Playing hard to get?” King said as he got to his feet, and I backed up. “Because I can chase you, if that’s what you want.”

I shook my head, determined to stand my ground. This was my workplace and, from what he’d said, not his. “You need to leave, or I’m going to report you.”

“To your boss? Or to Wolfe? I wonder, are you this mouthy with him, because from what I’ve heard, he doesn’t particularly like his playthings to talk back, if you get my drift.”

I wasn’t naive enough to believe Tor hadn’t been with others, but hearing it from King’s mouth made me want to scratch the guy’s eyes out. So this was how my first day was going to go. My feet were killing me. My fellow employees now hated me. My boss’s brother-in-law was a stalker. And now I was going to starve for the rest of the day. Great. This was just fucking great.

“Stay away from me,” I said with as much force as I could, and then I turned on my heel and booked it out of the dining room, away from the man who apparently had been watching, and was still watching, my every move.