“I don’t even know what that means.”
“Are you still upset about your brother?”
She hesitated then nodded. “Almost always.”
“Listen—” Derrick put his hand over hers “—I’ll talk to him.”
“He’ll kill you.” And for once she didn’t sound excited by the idea.
Still, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t dealt with trouble before. Compared to the financial crew that wanted to dismantle the company when he became CEO over four years ago and all the fellow businessmen who mistook his youth for weakness, Noah was nothing more than a blip. A small nuisance. “Oh, please.”
“I don’t think any part of this charade will be as easy as you think it will.”
He squeezed her hand. “Trust me.”
CHAPTER SIX
The DC Insider: We are concerned, dear readers. It’s been five days without a sighting of, or peep about, the most interesting romance in town. Did it already fizzle? There are some nasty whispers out there about the lady’s last job. Goodness knows playboy Derrick Jameson has had some interesting things printed about him over the years but it’s believed he’s put those drinking and carousing days behind him. Maybe Ellie was too wild for her billionaire?
Derrick sensed Jackson hovering by the door. He’d stepped inside the office but remained quiet. No surprise since Jackson had an uncanny ability to blend in. He overheard more than he should but wasn’t the type to start rumors. His loyalty never wavered, which was only one reason Derrick considered Jackson his best friend.
After less than a minute of silence, Jackson cleared his throat. “Is everything okay?”
“With what?” Derrick didn’t look up. It was the universal sign for “not now” but he knew Jackson would ignore it.
“Only you would answer that way.” Jackson walked into the office. Sat in the chair across from Derrick without waiting for an invitation. “I meant with you…in general.”
“I’m fine.”
“Is that why you have a woman’s shirt in a dry cleaning bag hanging on your office door?”
At the mention of the shirt, Derrick thought about the woman who owned it. Days had passed since they’d talked, and that was no accident. A bit of distance struck him as a smart move. Something about her had him spun around. He wanted her in his home. He’d visited her house for no obvious reason. He never did stuff like that.
“The shirt belongs to Ellie.” Not that Derrick wanted to make a big deal about it.
“Yeah, I was hoping you didn’t have a second fake fiancée wandering around here.”
The comment got Derrick’s attention. He settled in his chair as he looked at Jackson. “She had a fight with her brother and spilled wine.”
Jackson’s eyes narrowed. “Is she okay?”
“In what way?”
Jackson exhaled. “The human way, Derrick.”
Derrick had no idea what that meant, but he did get Ellie. At least a little. She played the role of protector. She was the person who came in to clean up the mess, regardless if that meant she didn’t have energy left to rescue herself.
“She’s overly committed to babysitting her brother. She’s been job hunting and I’ve gotten calls curious about the implications of our relationship. As if I’d get her hired to get the inside scoop on a company. And to top it all off, she’s not that excited about moving in with me.” The part about her brother should have been the most annoying part, but the last really ticked him off.
“I can’t imagine why she doesn’t have her bags packed. You’re charming.”
“It’s a big house.” Derrick wasn’t sure why he needed to keep explaining that.
“Because that was my point.” Jackson shook his head as he shifted in his chair. “Is that why you haven’t been seeing her? Is she being punished for not jumping to obey your command?”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s as if you’re hiding in your office to avoid her…and everything else.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Derrick rubbed his thumb over the leather seam at the edge of the armrest. “I’ve been slammed with work and am still trying to unravel this Noah mess. It’s almost as if he finished his work every day in about an hour and then spent the rest of the time working around our security and protocols and generally searching out every document and email ever sent around here.”
“That’s scary.”
Derrick couldn’t disagree with that assessment. “Understatement.”
Boredom. That could be the explanation for why Noah had turned on him. Derrick originally assumed greed, but the more he learned about Ellie, inadvertently the more he learned about Noah. From what Derrick could tell, Ellie had eased Noah’s way in the world. Maybe too much. It was all something a fake fiancé shouldn’t worry about, yet he did. He told himself it was because Noah had stolen from him and he had to fix this, not because he cared.