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“Taylor, the decree …” Charlie started.
Taylor held up her hand to cut Charlie off, and Derrick kept his smile to himself. She was totally taking control, and he was glad. He was ecstatic. But it wasn’t long before his nerves kicked in. What if she trashed the plan?
Shit.Maybe this new Taylor was a little too premature for the whole thing to work.
“Look, I know I have to be married to take over. I get it, old school and all that,” Taylor said, dismissing Charlie, “but I don’t have to be married for the ball to get rolling.”
“And what ball is that?” Simon asked dryly.
Taylor batted her eyes at Simon, feigning innocence, “Why, for you to hold up your end of the bargain and start helping us get out of the financial hole Cedric got us into,” she explained. Then she turned back to the decanter, poured another two fingers, and pounded it back.
“Taylor,” Simon began slowly, sensing the change in Taylor that was obvious to everyone else in the room. He proceeded more hesitantly, “that isn’t the deal.”
Derrick felt like he was watching a tennis match, looking from his dad to Taylor, eager to see the next move from each.
“I know, Simon,” she said, “but you have to admit, this is all a bit much for me to take. You have all seen this coming down the pike for months. I have had,” she evaluated her watch, “barely an hour to deal with all of this.
“So I need time,” she explained, nodding her head to Simon, Charlie, and Todd. “I can’t just jump into this, which would be stupid. And no one here would ever think I’m stupid, right?”
Simon and Charlie were murmuring “No of course not,” and even Todd was shaking his head. She had them hooked.
Boy, she was good.
“So here ismyproposal,” she said, sitting in one of the chairs and gesturing for everyone else to sit, which they did quickly.
Derrick just continued leaning. He didn’t think he could move, he was so mesmerized by her.
“You want good PR, you need to make it happen. Me coming back married to him,andmy uncle dying, that is going to look suspicious and staged.”
She was right. And by the way each man shifted, they all knew it.
“You want the press to sit up and take notice, you gotta hide it from them,” Taylor said. “They have spent four years speculating about me, I am sure, and all because I was inaccessible. If I just show up all lovey-dovey and happy, ready to smile and take over a corporation, they will smell the lies from a mile away. And then they will dig for the truth.”
Damn, she was right. Derrick hadn’t even thought about that. He had just assumed the surprise of her return and their nuptials would be enough. Of course whenhehad thought it through, her uncle hadn’t killed himself.
“Those parasites love to sniff shit out and think they have found the story of the century. So, we need to keep it on the down low, but not buried.”
A bolt shot through Derrick when Taylor turned to him. Those blue eyes. Wow, had those always been so … Oh wait, she had asked him something.
“What?”
“Have you been dating anyone recently?” she repeated slowly, raising her voice, annoyance clear with each word.
“I’ve never really dated anyone,” he returned coolly, but it was the truth. Fooled around with? Yes. Hooked up with? Yup. Dated? Never.
Taylor rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay. Have you been linked to or photographed with anyone in like the last six months?”
“No.”
“No one?”
“I haven’t been in a club, to a party, or anywhere but my office, my home, and business meetings in two years,” Derrick answered. He noticed his father nodding and looking at Taylor. It was weird having his father back him after they had spent so many years bickering, fighting, and butting heads.
Taylor looked doubtful about this information, but she continued, “That’s good. Now we need to plant the happy couple rumor.”
“What about by announcing your engagement?” Simon suggested eagerly.
Taylor paced, mulling over the suggestion. “And then,bam, Cedric is dead?” She shook her head. “No good. It’s too much too soon. We need to be spotted together.”