“Ellie is his sister.” That much Derrick could tell. Maybe Spence would have some ideas on how to shut down Noah without ticking off Ellie, because Derrick hadn’t come up with one yet.
“Now you’ve lost me.”
“The guy who worked for me, the one who stole, but insists I fired him out of spite and that I’m completely incompetent. His name is Noah and he’s Ellie’s little brother.”
Spence whistled. “You do like to make your life as shitty as possible, don’t you?”
“He’s how I met Ellie.”
“And now you’re going to be living together.”
“Yes.” Unless she killed him first, which Derrick thought was a strong possibility.
“You, who has only ever introduced me to the women you dated after you stopped dating them and once they’ve moved into friend mode.”
“I’m a complex guy.”
Spence shook his head. “I’m not sure that’s the word I’d use.”
“Ellie is…” Man, Derrick didn’t even know what to say next. Hot, special. Annoying yet energizing. He didn’t get her at all or understand her hold on him. All he knew was that she’d flipped his life upside down and had him scrambling, and that a part of him enjoyed the chaos. “Different.”
Derrick thought he found a nice, safe description until Spence frowned at him. And stared…then kept staring. “What?”
Spence made a groaning sound. “You should work on that.”
“What?”
“How you describe Ellie and your feelings for her. An orange car is different. Your girlfriend should warrant a better word.” Spence glanced at the very spot where Ellie had been on that counter. “If you plan to make out with her in the kitchen again, that is.”
Oh, that was definitely happening. Derrick didn’t even have to think about that. Forget hands-off and common sense. The next time he’d lock the door and strip her clothes off. “I was doing fine.”
“I think I arrived just in time.”
That’s not how Derrick saw the situation at all. “Two hours from now would have been better.”
Spence stepped away from the counter and headed for the living area off the kitchen. “Well, since neither of us is having sex tonight, you may as well fill me in.”
“On what?”
“Ellie. I want details.” Spence sank into one of the couches set up in front of the massive stone fireplace. “I can get them from you or I can ask her.”
“Subtle.”
“Start talking.”
* * *
Breakfast with Vanessa went great, as usual, until Ellie mentioned Derrick and dating and the whole big lie for good press thing. Amazing how that brought all of the other conversations to a standstill. Even now, twenty minutes later as they walked to Ellie’s apartment, Vanessa barely said anything.
Ellie was about to make a joke about how her timing of the news messed up any chance at getting more coffee when Vanessa finally piped up. “A fake engagement.”
They turned the corner at the end of Ellie’s block and headed toward her building. “I know it sounds ridiculous.”
“You mean like we’ve stepped into some weird novel? Yeah.”
“It’s the best option for Noah.”
Vanessa stopped stared at Ellie. The look on her face hinted at the confusion pinging around inside her.
“What about what’s best for Ellie?” Vanessa asked.
That wasn’t the reaction Ellie expected. Yelling, yes. Even a few well-placed “Are you out of your mind?” comments. But that? No. “What does that mean?”
“We need to talk about your propensity to look out for everyone but yourself.” Vanessa sounded furious at the idea.
Cars whizzed by and Ellie could see the stoplight in the distance. She wanted to focus on all of that and drown out the voice inside her head that told her she was getting in deep with Derrick. That she would never be able to keep sex and her attraction separate from her growing feelings for him. That, most troubling of all, she was starting to like him and was desperate to spend time with him.
She focused on the practical instead. “I need a job, security and some relief from the ongoing Noah drama. Derrick provides that.”
“At the risk of violating the Bechdel test and talking only about men, isn’t Derrick the reason Noah is spinning right now?”
“I used to think so.”
“And now?”
“As Derrick keeps reminding me, Noah is an adult. He’s had therapy and needs to figure out how to control the frustration when it tries to overtake him. He won’t be able to survive in the work world otherwise.” Ellie hated to admit that.