She hoped her too-tight dress photographed okay. It would suck to stand next to him, looking all Hottest Ticket in Town, and her coming off as someone who snuck her way into the photo.
He put his mostly full glass on the tray held by a passing server. “If that’s what it takes to get you in my bedroom, I will wear the tux all the time at home. Honestly, the going-to-bed-alone thing sucks.”
She thought so, too. She also knew it was over. With him looking at her like that and her willpower gone, it was inevitable.
“Shh. There are ears everywhere.” No one stared at them after his comment. Well, no one other than the ones already staring. Derrick did attract attention. “And cameras.”
“Don’t blame me this time. The charity hired them.”
His hand brushed against hers. She didn’t realize what was happening until his warm fingers slid through hers. Hand holding. It was so innocent and sweet…she almost jumped him right there.
“What about the photographer who followed me home from the coffee place today?” The guy had stepped right in front of her. One second sooner and she would have thrown her coffee at him on instinct. “I had barely brushed my hair.”
He lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of hers. “You look beautiful.”
She was pretty sure she saw a camera bulb flash but she tried to ignore it. “I didn’t then.”
“I bet you did.”
They stood in a room full of people and he made her feel like the only other person in the room. He had that gift. For a man who commanded his way through life, issuing orders, he didn’t seem to get that just being there, looking like that, was enough to get people’s attention.
A sudden case of nerves shot through her. She was out of her comfort zone and out with him, a man she’d started to dream about. People watched. Others whispered. Tomorrow every movement would be analyzed and dissected online.
It overwhelmed her, stole her breath. She rushed to find a non-Derrick thing to talk about. “My father would have loved this.”
“He enjoyed parties?”
They still held hands and when she didn’t answer right away, Derrick gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. That only confused her more. “Do you really not know?”
His smile lit up his face. “This cryptic thing you do is oddly endearing but it does confuse the hell out of me sometimes.”
She refused to be sucked in by that sexy look. Talking about a harsh reality suddenly seemed easier than dealing with her growing and confusing feelings for Derrick. “My dad. He was that guy. The one who always had this big plan to make money. He met a man with a great idea here. He had a lead on something big there.”
“Did anything ever pan out?” Derrick asked.
“No.” She tried to remember a clear success and couldn’t come up with one. “My entire childhood is filled with memories of him spending the last dollar on this dream or using the money for the electric bill to invest in some weird scheme.”
She knew that sounded harsh. Maybe it was too much, but all she had was her perspective and the reality of moving around and never feeling secure.
“What about your mom?”
“She enabled it. I mean, she tried to talk to him. So much time was spent on dad’s needs that I think maybe Noah’s issues got overlooked.” The pieces came together in her head. She’d tried for so long to keep it all separate but it did connect. Because of how her parents lived their lives, Ellie got stuck in a parental role that made her more sarcastic and less trusting. “I would hear her…”
Maybe that was enough of that. Ellie tried to concentrate on the music and the laughter floating through the room. To escape reality for a second.
“What?” he asked.
Derrick’s gentle tone coaxed her on. “Crying.”
“Ellie, I’m sorry.” He slid his arm around her and pulled her closer.
“He always thought there was something better out there, you know. That if he could put the deals together the right way, he’d hit it big.” No one could deliver the line like her dad. He had believed, or he’d sounded like he did. “He never understood that we didn’t care about that. They died going to one last big event.”
For a few seconds Derrick didn’t say anything. He kept that reassuring hand on her lower back and they swayed to the music. People moved around them. A few stopped to say hello but didn’t linger. They must have projected the couple-in-love vibe because most people just seemed to smile at them.
“It’s possible he thought it was his job. You know, to make the family financially secure.” Derrick made the comment without looking at her. He focused on a table of businessmen instead.