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“You gotta face your fears, like you did last night,” he said matter-of-factly. “How did you come out of that bathroom last night and tell all those men with decades of business experience what to do? How?”
Taylor bit her lip, trying to dig back to that moment, “I just realized I need to hike up my big girl pants and do it. I realized a lot of people are depending on the success of Preston Corp.”
“Big girl pants?” Derrick asked, eyebrows high.
The laughter in his tone was about to break her. “Oh, Derrick move on,” Taylor snapped. “You either want to help me or give me a comedy routine.”
Clearing his throat, Derrick masked his smile, “Well, do it again.”
“Do what again?”
“Hike up your, um, big girl pants.” he replied smugly.
Panic filled her. “It’s not that easy, you know. I just … I don’t know, I just did it, and it just was coming easily, and …”
“Taylor,” Derrick silenced her, putting his hands on her arms, “you can do this. You just need to think like that, or don’t think—just do. When you think about it too much, you talk yourself down, you think ‘I can’t do this,’ you get things all messed up and you worry too much. Just do what needs to be done. You are a born leader. Thinking about it fucks things up because you don’t trust yourself. But when you use your heart, it all makes sense, you know?” he asked, looking into her eyes and nodding his head to try and drive the message home.
She heard him, but she also heard her grandfather. “What you need is heart,” he had told her. She had never told anyone that. She felt like he was there with her, trying to tell her she could do it by having Derrick say those words. Taking a deep breath, she leaned back into the couch and covered her face with her hands. God, where did she go from here? She tried to reach for a good thought, but then she thought about what Derrick said—she thought and then rethought and then she tore herself down. She needed to stop listening to herself.
“I’m going to need your help,” she finally said, acknowledging what he had been saying and opening her eyes to look at Derrick. “I don’t know shit about business. I don’t know anything about stocks other than they go up and down, and what I know from looking at them in the newspaper with Poppy. And profit margins and portfolios, God,” she said, cutting herself off and looking at her phone, shaking her head, “I don’t even know how to work a phone. How the hell can I do this?”
“I will help you, Taylor,” he answered quickly. “My dad helped me, and we both can help you. If I can learn it all, you can learn it all,” Derrick assured her, nodding. Slowly Derrick looked away and took a deep breath. He no longer looked confident and assured, he looked nervous. “Look, I have something else for you.”
Oh God, what now?Taylor thought. “What?”
He looked at her sheepishly, like he wasn’t sure it was good. It was a rare look for Derrick. He was not shy or timid or fearful.
“Oh crap. It’s bad, isn’t it?” Taylor asked.
Derrick shrugged. “Well, I guess you can tell me. Close your eyes. I’ll be right back.”
Oh god, it’s like a long lost cousin with three heads she has to bring out into public on top of everything else, Taylor thought. “Derrick, I—”
“Just humor me, Preston. Please,” he said impatiently.
Taylor blew out a breath and closed her eyes, letting her head loll back against the couch. She heard Derrick get up and open a drawer or cabinet or something. And then there was music. The smooth sound of Adele filled the room. Her voice was like magic, tension-relieving magic, and Taylor smiled in spite of her mood. Then she heard Derrick back in front of her. But nothing happened; he didn’t talk or sit down. There was just music and the feeling of Derrick’s presence.
“Weeeellllll?” Taylor asked, raising her brows but not opening her eyes. “Can I open my eyes now?”
Derrick took a deep breath and said, “Keep them closed for just another second,” and she felt him pulling her forward, then up to standing.
Oh, what the hell?Taylor thought, her patience snapping like dead branches in the wind. “What the hell is going on, Derrick?” she asked, the edgy anxiety she feels lacing her tone.
“Okay, open.”
Taylor opened her eyes. No three headed anything. But Derrick was on his knees in front of her. Her eyes bulged, her heart raced, her knees buckled, but Derrick braced them so she remained standing.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
“Taylor, I know that this is all crazy and not what you ever envisioned in your life, but you deserve to have a proper proposal,” Derrick said, his voice wavering a bit, his eyes warm but nervous.
“I’d rather have a three headed cousin,” Taylor whispered low.
Derrick’s brows shot up, “What?”
Taylor shook her head, “This is insane. Derrick, you don’t have to …”
Then he pulled out a small black velvet box and opened the top. It creaked as it opened to reveal a huge diamond, set high on an antique band with lots of intriguing details.