“Oh, yes! I’m sure Fallon would love to spend some more time with you before you leave. Right, honey?” I brought my attention to my mother’s and gulped. She had on her you-better-act-like-a-lady-or-else smile, so I happily turned toward Derek and smiled. Before I could say anything, my mother giggled. “Let me get out of your hair. You two have a lot of talking to do, I’m sure! I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Fallon. Don’t forget we have to be at the club at 8 am sharp to start preparing for next week’s fundraising event.”
“Don’t wanna miss that,” I mumbled.
My mother quickly turned away after kissing Derek on the cheek like he was her first born and shuffled out the door. Awkwardness settled into the room as soon as she was gone, and I found myself fidgeting on the bed. Derek, dressed in his navy suit and crisp white shirt, leaned against the wooden door jam. For some reason, he seemed different. Maybe it was the fact that we were actually alone instead of putting on some silly show for his colleagues or future clients. There were no busy waiters shuffling around us, and we weren’t at a stuffy event for the company. It was just us… in my room… alone. His attention was on me and only me.
The other night at dinner, when we were actually alone at the table, he barely glanced at me.
Now, he was staring at me like I was dinner.
“So,” he started, running a few fingers through his gelled, dark hair. “I thought the other night went well.”
I stayed silent because I thought the other night went anything but “well.”
“Did you feel the connection we had?”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed.
“The connection? Derek, you barely looked at me while we were having wine.” I stood up from the bed and crossed my arms over my dress. “It was the first time we were actually alone without the stares from other people, and it felt like an interrogation. I’ve been on a zillion dates—all with men my parents set me up with in their desperate attempt at some magical fairy tale where I fall madly in love with a trust-fund baby so I can finally become the daughter they truly want—and none of them had ever acted so… formal.”
Derek tsked. “It wasn’t an interrogation. I was just wondering how you’d deal with not getting all my attention. I know girls like you, Fallon. You want my full attention all the time, and the second I don’t give it to you, you throw a fit like a spoiled brat.” He cocked a lazy grin at me, and I felt a fiery concoction of anger and resentment filling my body.
“You obviously have no idea who I am, Derek.”
He pushed off the door jam and sauntered over to me. I suddenly felt small and weak standing in front of him. It was like I was truly seeing him for the first time. He was tall—massive even—definitely over six feet. He had a domineering stare and looked ruthless in his suit. I had always known he was attractive, but he usually placed a warm smile on his face whenever I’d watch him from afar. Now, he looked… intimidating. That was the look he gave women when he wanted something from them, no doubt.
“I don’t. You’re right. Unless you count the pointless things we discussed the other night. But I do know that you and I make a good team. We’ve been on what... five, six, maybe seven dates together, and every time, you’ve acted like the perfect companion. You are intelligent when talking to future clients, you place your hand on mine at just the right time, and you’ve allowed me to kiss you without question. The other night was the final test.”
I huffed and threw my hands on my hips. “You were the one who asked all those “pointless” questions. Might as well have asked me what my favorite color is and if I like to use a bar of soap or body wash. And a test? So what, you’ve been testing me this entire time? Asking me to attend galas with you so you could see how I’d act? And to think, I thought you actually wanted to get to know me,” I scoffed.
Derek raised an eyebrow. “I like the wildness I see in you.”
I raised an eyebrow right back. “Is that why you want to marry me? Because I’ve passed all your tests?”
“Your father told me you want to marry me just as much as I want to marry you.”
I turned around and walked over to my dresser. Why, you ask? I had no idea. I just didn’t want to be standing in front of him any longer. “Well, my father is tired of setting me up with men who I apparently make a fool of myself in front of, so when someone like you says they’d like to take him up on his offer, he jumps at it.”
Derek turned his head slowly over to me, still standing in the same spot. He swiveled on his feet and stalked toward me. I stayed still, letting him know that the glint in his eye and the sharp, contoured edges of his face did nothing to affect me. Yes, he was very attractive, but I didn’t let that sweep me off my feet like every other girl. I thought I had an inkling of who he really was, but now I wasn’t so sure.
“Is that why you kept giving me bogus answers and gulped down your wine like you
hadn’t drank anything in weeks? Was that your way of trying to push me away? Were you purposefully acting like a fool so you could escape marrying someone your parents picked out for you?”
I sucked my cheeks in, not giving him an answer.
“You failed. I found you entertaining, and pair that with all the great acting you’ve done over the last few months… I’d be a damn fool not to marry you.”
Damnit, I shouldn’t have given up when I thought he wasn’t paying attention to me. I should have asked if he wanted to have a food fight instead.
“So, what? You find me entertaining and that’s why my mother is already picking out the color scheme of our wedding? Darn it.”
He laughed, throwing his head back. “See, right there. You’re funny, too. I think we make a great pair.”
That was when it hit me.
That was when it hit me that I wasn’t getting out of this one.
I’d gotten out of so many “almost proposals” and “second dates with the potential one” that it never really hit me that Derek wasn’t the type to back down on something. I’d heard talk of him around the dinner table—bits and pieces, of course, because I’d never paid much attention to anything but the food on my plate—but he was a go-getter (my father’s words, not mine). And if I was on his radar… if he for some insane reason wanted to marry me… that was it.