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DERRICK
What the fuck?
I watched Jessica hurry away from me and couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong. I hadn’t thought she’d need me to offer everything we’d had in the original contract. From what my sister had told me, Jessica loved having her own publishing house and Jami loved working with her. Bristol’s book would be perfect for them to establish themselves, especially after I’d gotten Rand to do their distribution.
Shouldn’t saving Jessica’s parents’ store have been enough, especially since I’d just asked her to date me again, not marry me?
“Looking for a good time?” A short, curvy woman danced up to me, rubbing her body against mine before I even had a chance to answer.
I gave her a disgusted look before I walked away, cutting through the crowd with the sort of purpose that had people moving out of my way. Thankful that I’d driven myself, I went straight to my car and drove back to my office. Work and a bottle of whiskey sounded like the best way to forget the last shitty half hour.
The entire drive, angry thoughts buzzed in my head, mixing with the hurt I felt and the irritation that came from realizing that she’d hurt me. Not embarrassment at the rejection, but actual hurt cutting deep into me.
I didn’t understand Jessica at all. I’d been straightforward with her when I’d presented her with my business proposal. I’d never touched her against her wishes, and I’d always made sure she felt safe and respected when we fucked. I went out of my way to find a personal apology gift when I’d screwed up with the wedding preparations and I’d made sure she knew she could have whatever she wanted for the wedding. And she’d still walked away. Then, she’d gotten pissed at the consequences for breaking our contract but refused when I’d tried to fix it with a new offer.
What the hell else could I do?
Security looked up when I walked into the lobby but as soon as they recognized me, they nodded at me and went back to whatever they’d been doing. While I was on friendly terms with all of the building’s guards, I didn’t feel like having a conversation tonight and was grateful I didn’t need to fake it.
I’d planned to enjoy the peace and quiet of being alone on the floor, but when I stepped off the elevator, I saw that I wasn’t the only person here. The light was on in Drew’s office, surprising me. He worked late on occasion, but generally only if we were on a deadline. Curiosity and a need for distraction managed to get past my other emotions and, instead of going straight to my office, I turned the other way.
Stopping in the doorway, I knocked on the open door and Drew looked up from his desk, evidently as surprised to see me as I was him.
“Derrick, I thought you left for the day.”
“I could say the same to you,” I said as I strolled in, heading right for his bar. “I wasn’t aware there was anything so urgent that it would require you being here this late.”
He shrugged. “I’m trying to get ahead on the Danbridge project. We’re barely hanging on and he’s not happy.”
“You have a team.” I took out a bottle of Drew’s favorite bourbon. “Why are you the only one here?”
“Because it’s not the team’s fault that the person who knew the most about all aspects of the project no longer works for Broker Publishing.”
Drew’s voice was even and without judgment, but I felt reproached all the same. Reproached and rejected all in less than an hour. Perfect.
“You want one?” I asked as I poured myself a glass. Bourbon wasn’t my favorite type of whisky, but it wasn’t bad in a pinch, especially when it was good quality like this.
Drew shook his head and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. “I know why I’m here this late, but why did you come back?”
Drink in hand, I settled on the chair across from him. “I’ve had a shitty night.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?”
I hadn’t intended to talk about it, but as soon as Drew asked the question, I found myself wanting to answer.
“Amelia called me and said that she was at a club with Bristol, Jami…and Jessica.” I had to take a drink after I said her name. “I’d been thinking a lot about her and where things went wrong, so it just seemed fortuitous that Amelia would call just then to tell me where Jessica was.”
“’Fortuitous’?” he echoed my word choice.
“Better than fate or the universe or any of that,” I said. “We both know that’s just romanticized bullshit.”
“So you went to the club?”
Getting back to my story, I said, “When I got there, I saw her dancing with some guy–”
“Please tell me this story doesn’t involve a possible arrest for assault,” Drew interrupted. “Because I can’t give the police a false alibi. I’m too pretty for prison.”
I glared at him. “I just cut in and the guy left. Jess and I started dancing and I decided to make her another offer.”