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“Okay.”
His eyes lit up, a combination of relief, confidence, and something hotter that made my stomach twist.
Me, I was just a bundle of anxiety. My chest felt tight. I needed to get somewhere I could take a deep breath, maybe panic. But not here. Not in this lavish office where he held all the power.
I continued in a stronger voice. “If everything in the contract is exactly what you promised, I’ll sign it.”
He smiled widely and set down his pen. “Excellent. I’ll make sure it'll be ready by Friday, and you can sign it then. We’ll have our first date Friday night.”
I walked out of his office in a daze. I’d always had very specific standards when it came to the romantic relationships in my life and hadn’t dated much because of them. Something like this had never even occurred to me to consider, and now that I’d agreed to it, I could feel doubts wanting to creep in. I wasn’t going to change my mind, not with so much on the line, but it was going to take me a little while to get used to the idea of dating – and eventually marrying – Derrick Thomas.
TEN
DERRICK
My best friendwas on the phone when I walked into his office, and he held up a hand, indicating he’d need a minute, then pointed to a chair. I got myself a cup of coffee and grimaced at the taste. The man couldn’t make coffee for shit, despite the fact that he had the latest in coffeemaker technology. Still, I needed the caffeine, so I took it with me and sat down, stretching my legs out in front of me and waiting for the call to end.
I looked around his office, unable to stop myself from comparing it to mine. He’d had the same budget because I couldn’t have my CFO’s office looking shabby. Not that it did. It was just…different than mine.
He’d gone with a glass and metal, modern style that fit with all of the latest tech that he’d surrounded himself with. Not only did he have a flat-screen television, but it had all the bells and whistles available, and every time something new came out, he added it. I appreciated technology, but Drew loved everything about it. Even the blinds covering the floor-to-ceiling windows worked on a remote with more options than some televisions had.
The moment Drew’s call ended, I smiled at him and said, “She agreed.”
At first, he didn’t seem to realize what I was talking about, but then he shook his head and leaned back in his chair, amazement written on his face. “You already talked to her?”
“Yes. I don’t know why you’re surprised.” Hitching my shoulder, I said, “You had a good idea that I knew would work, so I acted on it.”
“Do you ever doubt yourself, Derrick?” he asked with a wry smile before answering his own rhetorical question. “What was I thinking? You’re Derrick Thomas. You don’t know what doubt is, especially not with women.”
“This is a business arrangement,” I reminded him.
He waved a hand. “Tell me more about this arrangement you made with Ms. Ellis.”
“Three months of dating, then we’ll get married for one year.” I told him about the bookstore, then the other caveats she’d pushed for, my admiration for her spirit coming through loud and clear.
He chuckled. “Well, she knows how to go after what she wants, I’ll give her that.” Speculation in his eyes, he asked, “What about sex?”
“I told her I wouldn’t push for it.”
“So youdon’twant to sleep with her.” He clearly didn’t believe me.
I gave him a flat look that said he knew me better than that.
“Of course you do,” he said with a sigh. “You won’t push for it – you’re too good a man for that – but you’ll do your damnedest to get her to ask for it, which isn’t the same thing.”
“I figure it’ll take a few weeks to coax her into bed with me.” Shrugging, I added, “A little longer to convince her to fall in love with me, and I’ll work around getting her into BDSM when it feels right.”
He gave me a hard look, the glint in his eyes no longer completely friendly. “You plan on getting her to fall in love with you.”
“What’s the point of the experiment if she’s not convinced she loves me?” I didn’t understand this sudden problem he seemed to have. “We want it to be real.”
“But if it’s a business proposal and everybody benefits, nobody gets hurt. That’s what we agreed upon. And it sounds like that’s what you arranged with Jessica. Business.” Drew stood and walked over to the coffee pot. He picked it up, but then just set it back down again. “You do realize some people havefeelings, Derrick. We’re not all made of stone.”
“You’re the one who suggested her in the first place,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, so you could learn something from her,” he retorted, his tone sharper than I’d ever heard it. “Not so you could hurt a nice woman by fucking with her emotions in the name of yourexperiment. I’ll end up partially responsible, and you know what? I don’t like it.”
“Jessica’s getting what she wants out of it,” I said, my own irritation beginning to show. “Her parents get the damn store—rent-controlled—possibly for decades, her friend gets her job back,andJessica gets job security. So what if it comes with a bruised ego for a little while?”