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Fuck.
I went to the mini bar my parents always kept well-stocked and found myself a bottle of scotch that was even better than what they were serving at the party.
This would all make for a good chapter in my book…and it also served as a suitable warning. Iwasjealous. And I didn’t fucking like it. At all.
My control was shit with her, and I hated it. The worst part was, I had no idea what to do about it.
This was why I didn’t do relationships.
Damn it all to hell.
TWENTY-THREE
JESSICA
“Well…this is nice.”I sat on the couch in Derrick’s office and offered a half smile as he served up a plate of sushi from a place we’d visited for lunch a week before. “And to think I was going to make do with ramen and a diet coke.”
“Ramen?” He gave me a pained look. “That soup in a cup of crap?”
“Don’t knock my comfort foods,” I said, ignoring his wince. I was getting used to some of his more elitist bullshit, but it was still annoying. I just ignored some of it, but I wasn’t changing who I was for him—not for any amount of money. “But this isn’t bad.”
“Thanks,” he said, sarcasm heavy in his voice.
But when I looked at him, he was smiling. “You do more to keep a man’s head level than anybody I’ve ever met.”
“Oh?” Using my chopsticks to pick up a tuna roll, I popped it into my mouth. “Well, reality is an interesting place, Mr. Thomas. Welcome to it.”
He laughed, selected a piece of sushi, and then mentioned one of the bigger projects I was helping on. After that, he asked about the social media campaigns I’d helped make part of marketing for new books. Then he surprised me by showing me figures that reflected an increase in sales since using social media more aggressively.
“It was a smart move. Thank you.”
“Just part of my job.” Hitching up a shoulder in a shrug, I said, “I’ve got the proposal for that author I told you I wanted to sign. She sent the book in last week, and it’s strong—very strong. I wanted to know if we could maybe discuss it…?”
He picked up his plate and shrugged, eyes on his food.
Since he hadn’t said no, I pressed on. He nodded a couple of times but made no real response. Feeling deflated, I stared at my meal in front of me, only half-eaten. This was how things always went with him. We’d never talked about what had happened at his sister’s party this past weekend. When he’d come out of the library to join me again, he’d basically acted like nothing had happened. No pissing contest with Drew. No putting the moves on me in the library. Nothing about what I’d said to him.
If he wanted to talk about something, we did. If he didn’t deem it important enough to discuss, he essentially ignored it. Half the time, I didn’t think he even listened to what I said, just nodded or shrugged whenever he thought I needed a response.
“Anamaria has locked in a location for the wedding and reception.”
Where the hell didthatcome from?
I stared at him, but he just took a sip of his ice water and glanced at me before selecting another piece of sushi. “She’s working on the catering menu as well, so if there are any allergies she needs to be made aware of, let her know. She’ll contact you for your fitting in the next couple weeks.”
“My fitting,” I said slowly, dread creeping up my spine. “I assume you mean a fitting for myweddingdress.”
He frowned and asked, “What else would I mean?”
The anger I’d had simmering below the surface since Saturday surged forward.
“You haven’t evenaskedme to marry you yet,” I pointed out. “We’re supposed to date for three months and there’s still more than a month to go. Not to mention there’s typically aproposalbefore you even start planning a wedding. Did I miss it?”
“Why bother?” Derrick didn’t seem to even register the edge to my tone. He picked up his phone. “We already know you’re marrying me. I’ve heard enough bitching about the hassle of wedding planning to know it’s a lot of work. My assistant has been planning events for me for years. She can handle this one just as well.”
Putting my plate down, I stared at the wall instead of him, blood roaring in my ears while frustration and hurt welled inside me.
“Your assistant is planningmywedding.”