"How long have you been doing this project?" he asked in his low and deep voice as he stood behind her.

Jess who was in full concentration took a deep sigh. This guy is pissing her off big time. The other members of the team know her pet peeve so they all go around on tiptoe whenever she is working.

Everyone knows that she hated being talk to whenever she is working. But this Noah guy since he came in this morning to be part of their team won't stop following her like an annoying puppy. She likes puppies, but this man acting like one is not something she likes.

"Listen, Mr. Tiefenbacher if you have questions about our project, I would really appreciate it if you could ask them during the discussion. Also, I think Alice already talked to you about the group forum that we have. Take time to read you'll find all of the answers to your question there. We update it every day." she answered him, making sure that he understood that she wanted to be left alone.

Apparently, this guy isn't just a jerk but totally shameless too. She was expecting him to back off and leave her alone, but then she heard him asked another question that made her blood boils.

"Are you getting back to me for being rude at you last week?" his tone was clearly teasing.

Jess momentarily closed her eyes as she heaved another deep breath. This asshole must be testing her patience. It's about time he knows that self-restraint is not her strong point when it comes to people.

"I don't like you breathing behind my back." she squinted her eyes on him, trying her best not to wipe off with a punch, the smug smile on his handsome face. 'Why does this bastard have to be this handsome?' she inwardly questioned the universe.

"Well then, let me buy you lunch so we could sit down facing each other if you're uncomfortable with us talking, with me standing behind you."

Noah knows that Jess is losing her temper over his nonsensical inquiries. But like a naughty kid, he couldn't keep himself from asking stupid questions just to disturb her.

He likes how cute her nose twitches in annoyance because she tends to heave a deep breath trying her best not to lose her temper.

Just like what she said, the other girl of the team named Alice gave her an orientation this morning about how things in the lab were being done. She clearly pointed out to him that he should avoid making Jess angry at all costs.

He has no plan to play with her but with what the other members of the team were saying about her, his curiosity was piqued. Along with the fact that he had a sneaking suspicion that he had met her before.

She looked up at Noah as she slowly put the test tubes to its tray. 'This guy is the representative of ANAT and Pharma Co, you want to get the internship to their company,' she repeated the words at the back of her head as a reminder to herself why she shouldn't kill him. She gave him a forced smile.

When she was done putting all the test tubes back in their places. She scrawls some notes on her notebook, without taking her eyes off his face. When she was done, she slammed the pen on top of her notebook, then clumsily pushed her chair back.

The screeching of metal on the tiled floor of the quiet laboratory startled the other members of the team who were all busy with their own task.

"Outside. Now!"

Noah grinned inwardly as he saw the visibly angry look on Jess' face towards him. He followed her quietly out of the room. The other students gave him a look of sympathy. He almost burst out laughing at how they are all silently giving him a look basically saying that they gave him a warning but he didn't listen.

Meanwhile, Jess stormed out of the room before she totally lost her temper towards the audacity of the jerk! How could he act like an innocent bastard, she wondered, as she paced around the first landing of the fire exit, waiting for the jerk.

She keeps on exhaling deep breaths, stomping her foot then walk around in a circle, all the while biting her thumb. "Where is that bastard, is he going to make me wait," she mumbled by herself.

Noah was about to follow Jess to the fire exit when Alice, the girl who gave him an orientation this morning stopped him at the door. The other girl hurriedly followed suit. He knitted his eyebrows thinking these two girls keep on themselves and does not include Jess in their little group.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance when he realized that the two took a good ten minutes of his time for some useless rumors.

They were telling him that Jess got into the research they are handling because she was referred by her boyfriend who is one of the students that is working as research assistants under professor Boa.

It irked him that he had to listen to them trash-talking fellow students. Professor Boa gave him all the necessary information about the status of the project and the background of all the students working on the research. The professor has nothing but high praises for her. He spoke highly of Miss Zimmerman.

But the endorsement of other people is not enough for him. The reason he was here was, he wanted to make sure that they are going to get the best intern for the company since his father has an old-school idea that greenhorn has no place in the laboratory of his company.

Since he was going to be the new CEO of the company, he wanted to make a few changes. And one of the changes he wanted to implement was bringing in brilliant young blood to the company.

However, his father is not convinced by his idea. He cannot afford to choose a candidate that will cause trouble in the company that may prove his father's point.

When he pushed the door of the fire exit he was welcomed by silence. Jess was nowhere in sight.