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Chapter One

Today

The elevator doors slide open I take a deep breath, cultivating every ounce of badass I can et this internship, or I slink back to Stanford for dull classes and three thousandI love

Here goes nothing

The wo behind the reception desk is pure New York City cool Slick straight black bob Sleek red dress Perfect makeup

"You er" She shakes rip

"Lizzy"

Jaso by last

names here It's a lot more formal than the Bay"

She leads h the modern office It's sleeker than a typical San Francisco startup Modern art hangs next to huge s The rooht

We stop in a corner office

Jasmine oing to leave you with this progra to come in and ask you a few questions"

My stomach twists Phoenix Marlowe is the coenius How am I supposed to impress him?

"He's excited toabout your AI projects" She points to thetest "Good luck"

She nods a goodbye on her way out the door

The second it clicks shut, my attention shifts to the computer screen

I get lost in the hard but doable questions

Until I hear his voice

That saht in San Francisco

"I hope I haven't surprised you," he says

That's him It can't be possible, but that's him I spin in my chair so we're eye to eye

What the hell is Nick doing here?

"No," I say "It's fine"

He closes and locks the door His gaze drifts to the résunize ht stands all the ti to him

My head fills with the feeling of his body sinking into ne

He's wearing the sane today

His eyes flash with soer, I think He's hard to read

It's so bad

He does recognize me He must

His voice is rough "Who is Marie?"

I take a deep breath "My middle name And Nick?"

"Phoenix My friends call me Nick"

"I didn't realize" I press ainst the slick surface of the desk "I' has happened before"

His eyes narrow "No"

"But you're very—"

"I don't go around fucking college students" He places my résumé on the desk and takes a seat behind it

"I don't go around fucking billionaire prograer fillsto him, I need this opportunity It's the only way I can stay near Kat And Kat's the only person I trust I clear my throat "Can we start over?"

Frustration spreads across his face "This projectto me"

"Your assistant, Ms Lee—"

"She's not my assistant"

"Whatever she is, she told ame bots Is that true?"

"Yes" He stares atme to back down

I don't

"Your progra skills are not up to the standards of Odyssey Industries Your code is sloppy and inefficient"

"You didn't even look attest"

He taps the monitor

"You can see the test on your computer, can't you?"

Nick nods His eyes meet mine, and his expression shifts It's softer "You're stubborn and overconfident"

"I a

"I'd like to hire you, Ms Wilder You're the only candidate with any grasp of artificial intelligence" Nick stares back at me "But there are other issues to consider"

"I fucked the boss, so I'm shit out of luck?"

His expression is impossible to read

"Are you even going to deny it?" I will ood opportunity Not worth wasting over a romantic connection, not when there are three million men in Manhattan

It doesn't help