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“It’s Derrick. I am being followed, and I need to get Ms. Preston in. I have to use the main gate, and I need it cleared.”
A few seconds of silence and clicking, and then, “Okay, sir, we have you on the GPS. Your ETA is approximately fifty-three seconds. We will have gates opened and the way cleared. Don’t slow, or use your direction—”
“Right. I got it,” Derrick said and hung up.
“Are we going on a high-speed chase?” Taylor asked, perking up and spinning around in her seat. “Who is following us?”
“Goddamn it, Taylor. Sit back and stay put,” Derrick said, grabbing her arm and spinning her back.
“I told you, you can’t be mad. I love you.”
Oh God, she was so drunk, and he hoped she rememberedallthis. “Yeah I bet. Just sit there,” he instructed and then gunned it. He saw the photographers and media in the distance, clustered in front of the main gates. Suddenly the gates swung open, and ten black-suited linebackers were pushing them back. Derrick spun in, tires squealing, and sped down the driveway to the Fletcher mansion, slowing only when he saw the gates close.
“That was fun! This night has been so much fun!” Taylor squealed in her seat, clapping and bouncing as much as the seat belt would allow.
In spite of himself, Derrick smiled. She was having fun, and she was with him.God, he thought,be careful what you wish for. Derrick looked over and saw she was frowning at the mansion. She turned to him. “We goin’ inside?” she asked somberly.
“Oh, yes. You are done for tonight.”
Taylor nodded and continued to it in the mansion, then angled her gaze to him. “Going to bed with me?”
Derrick gritted his teeth. That was an offer he would love to take her up on, especially after sleeping without her for a week. “I think I better go back to my place tonight, Taylor.” Her inhibitions were way too low, and he was not that strong.
Taylor furrowed her brow and frowned at him. “Come in with me?”
Derrick took a deep breath. “Taylor, we need to talk, but not tonight. I am really mad, and you are really drunk—”
“Please, Derrick. Pleeeeaaaase.”
Derrick’s body melted and stiffened in the appropriate locations at her begging. “Fine.”
“Thank you,” she said, her voice sugary-sweet.
Derrick pulled under the carport to the mansion, got out, and opened the door to Taylor’s side. She promptly tumbled against him. “I can walk,” she announced, probably trying to convince herself more than him, and tried to weave out of his arms, falling into them again, and laughing.
Rotors spinning above indicating a helicopter, which forced Derrick to pick Taylor up and carry her up the steps. The door was open, and Henry, security extraordinaire, was waiting.
“I can take her, sir,” he told Derrick and then flattened himself against a wall as Derrick pinned him back with a look.
“I can carry my fiancé to her room. Thank you, Henry,” he said to the ginormous Irishman. He may have proved himself tonight, but he was dangerously close to overstepping his boundaries now.
“Sir,” Henry acknowledged with a small nod.
“Good night, Hanky! Sorry I yelled at you,” Taylor called as Derrick carried her up the back staircase. She yawned and sighed, leaning her head into Derrick’s chest.
Taylor stayed quiet as they moved. Derrick looked down to see her sleeping.Just plop her in bed and go, Derrick told himself. He was so mad, and not just at her. He was pissed at himself. Her drunk words were most likely her subconscious coming through, and she was still mad, as he had suspected about that night eight years ago. Well, that made sense because he was still mad about it too. He should have stood his ground, known that he could do it; but he had been weak. Only two people had ever given him the confidence to believe he could do anything—one was dead and the other was drunk in his arms.
He was just getting to his old bedroom door when he heard footsteps and turned to find Nan. “Good Lord, is she okay?” Nan asked, wearing a robe and curlers, clutching the robe together in fright rather than modesty.
“Yeah, she’s just drunk,” Derrick said. “She needs to sleep it off. She should never have been this way in the first place. When I get my hands on my sister…”
“You brought our girl home safe yet again, Derrick,” Nan remarked.
Derrick snorted. “Oh, she is safe, but she’ll hate herself in the morning.”
“Everyone is entitled to get snookered at their bachelorette party,” Nan replied.
“What?” Derrick asked, completely taken aback. Bachelorette party?