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As Derrick exited the elevator, he was aware of people looking at him, and he used his lifelong expertise to ignore them. He saw two huge guys outside of the boardroom and headed that way.
“This will work,” he heard Taylor say. “We will start with the factories. The whole staff area needs to be redone, and then we can start on the materials. All the reviews point to poor craftsmanship, and that is starting with our people. Make them happy.”
Derrick smiled and strolled into the room. The man Taylor was talking to was writing furiously and noticed nothing, and Taylor was too engrossed in pictures and charts to notice his presence. So he cleared his throat.
Taylor looked up and smiled hugely at him. “Hi!” she said, and her eyes were alive with excitement. She was the Taylor who got the two of them in trouble. She was enjoying herself, and she was in her element.
Derrick walked over to her, smiling back, and looped his arm around her waist, pulling her in for a quick kiss, which she took with eyes closed.
“I’m here to take my girl to lunch,” he said. “Because I am certain you haven’t eaten all day.”
“You’re right. I am totally starved!” she said, sounding surprised, pressing a hand to her stomach as she realized she was hungry. “Well, Steve was the last meeting I had today, and I think we have made great progress. Right, Steve?”
“Yes, Ms. Preston, I think we will see vast improvement with these changes alone, and I am excited to move forward,” he said, gathering together his folders. “And, by the way, Ms. Preston,” he said, pushing one folder toward Taylor, “I won’t need twenty-four hours—you can have this back. I am happy to be part of a team that will obviously be accomplishing such great things.”
Taylor smiled genuinely. The severance package presentation had been her idea, and Derrick’s father wasn’t a huge fan. But she had stood strong on her idea; Derrick was glad it was working out. “Thank you, Steve, I am happy to work with you,” Taylor said, shaking his hand.
“And congratulations to you two also,” he said as he left the room.
Taylor looked at Derrick, confused, and Derrick pulled up her hand and tapped the diamond ring. “Marty,” was all he said, and Taylor laughed, sounding very carefree.
“Come on, I will take you to lunch,” Derrick said, and Henry immediately followed her, coming out from a corner in the room Derrick hadn’t even seen him hiding in.
“I will have the limo brought around in the garage,” he said.
Derrick turned to argue but then recalled all the paparazzi he’d had to fight through to get in and realized that taking Taylor out would not be as easy as he had hoped. “Fine,” he said shortly.
The whispers among the office floor were crazy as Derrick and Taylor made their way out, but Taylor seemed not to notice at all. Once inside the limo, Derrick was pleased that Henry let them be alone.
He slid in beside Taylor and turned to her. “So how was—”
Derrick did not get to finish asking Taylor anything before she went wild.
“Oh my God, Derrick, it was awesome! I was totally in the zone, and I got so much accomplished, and I wasn’t scared or afraid or anything.”
By this point Taylor had ditched her shoes onto the floor, and she was on her knees on the limo seat, bouncing up and down with her hands clasped together in excitement.
“I told you that you could do it, Taylor. I didn’t doubt for a second.”
They pulled up to the front of a restaurant, and Taylor looked very surprised. “We are here already? We could have just walked.”
Derrick didn’t want to burst her bubble, and so he refrained from reminding her that the paparazzi was in way deep to get a picture of her. And he was glad there weren’t photographers in front of the restaurant when they got there. Before the limo was even at a complete stop, Henry was out and ushering them quickly inside, and Derrick had made arrangements so the hostess wasted no time getting them straight to a table in a private room.
When Derrick sat after having pulled out Taylor’s chair, he was happy to see the smile she had at the office was still plastered on her face.
“So tell me all about it,” Derrick said, leaning himself forward to catch every word.
And Taylor was eager to spill every detail. She went straight from the moment she walked in and all through every meeting. She was so engrossed in the day’s events that Derrick took advantage and slid his hand across the table, lacing his fingers with Taylor’s.
She continued on, and she would move her hand while talking but never dislodged her fingers from his.Maybe we have hit a crossroads, Derrick thought and hoped. He had never wanted someone to want to be with him so much in his life. It would figure that when he finally found the one he needed she wanted no part of it. Sort of ironic, he thought.
The waitress came, and Derrick just asked for the house special because he didn’t want to interrupt Taylor or let her go. But when their meals came, Taylor moved her hand and looked in surprise to see Derrick’s hand attached to it. Well, so much for a crossroads.
Taylor took a bite of her salad. “Oh God, this is good,” she said around the food. Once she had cleared the bite, she asked, “How about your day? I didn’t ask you about your day. I have been talking nonstop.”
“My day was more of the same—meetings, reports, boring people. But you,” he said, pointing his fork at Taylor, “you have been the highlight of my day.”
Taylor blushed and looked down.