“Both of our fathers had issues with money.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“Mine spent money faster than he made it. He was always more impressed with the public version of the family and work than what was happening in private.”
She took a few steps and ended up in front of him. “What does that mean?”
“He asked my mother for a divorce while she was dying in a hospital bed.” Derrick didn’t reach out for Ellie even though he wanted to. The idea of saying those words and touching anyone seemed wrong.
Her mouth twisted in a sour expression. “Who does that?”
“Exactly.” She got it. She understood Dad wasn’t just the handsome face that appeared in the news now and then. “He spent money and pretended he had an endless supply of it. Meanwhile, he failed to reinvest in the company, retain good employees or expand when times changed.”
She reached out first. Her palm flattened against his chest. “But you did. You rebuilt everything.”
Derrick exhaled, liking the feel of her skin against his, even through his shirt. He folded his hand over hers. “Me and the people who work for me.”
The start of a smile kicked up the corner of her mouth. “You’re not going to take credit?”
Not out loud. Not ever. “I’ve spent my entire life trying not to be him, Ellie. I keep my head down and work. I don’t get involved with people.”
“Wait, that’s not true.” Her fingers curled into the material of his shirt as if she were willing him to listen to her. “You and Jackson are close. I sense you’re close to your brothers.”
“True.”
Her second hand slipped to his waist to rest on the top edge of his pants. “You’re a good man.”
Derrick tried not to think about her fingers or how good they felt on him. “Am I? Your brother hates me and I forced you into a fake relationship.”
She threw her hands out to the sides. “Do I look like I don’t want to be here?”
The words slammed into him. He wanted her there. Agreement or no, he wanted her in his house, in his bed. In his life. To hell with the emotional consequences. “Then why are we sleeping in separate beds?”
Those hands slipped up his chest to his tie. It loosened a second later. “That’s over.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
The DC Insider: Dear readers…why are hot millionaire businessmen so hard to read?
Derrick’s hands shook as he lowered the zipper of her dress. Ellie couldn’t think of a more satisfying reaction. Couldn’t believe how right it felt to be in this bedroom with him. His bedroom.
His fingers brushed over her skin and his hot breath blew against her hair. She held on to the front of the gown, trying to catch it before the whole thing whooshed to the floor. If it were hers she wouldn’t care, but it wasn’t and that meant being extra careful.
“You’re not wearing a bra.” Derrick’s voice carried a note of awe as he trailed his palm over her back.
Her breath caught and she fought to hold her voice steady. “The dress held everything in.”
More like sucked it in and made her skin roll in places she preferred not to have rolls. None of that took away from the specialness of it all. She’d never dreamed about being a princess. She’d let her father do the unrealistic dreaming in the family.
Even with her practical streak, the memory of standing there on Derrick’s arm, feeling his strong hand in hers as they’d danced under the lights with her dress swirling around her ran through her mind. She wanted to store away every moment and hold on to how freeing every moment had been.
“Any chance Vanessa has ten or fifteen more like this for you to borrow?” With the zipper the whole way down, Derrick’s fingers lingered at the small dip of her lower back. He traced a pattern there.
Her entire body shivered in reaction. Every muscle shook as waves of pleasure ran through her.
She cleared her throat, trying to sound somewhat coherent. “Do we have more fancy events to attend?”
He kissed her bare shoulder. The move relaxed her, lured her in. Then he bit with only the barest of pressure, licked the wound and kissed the spot again. Her pulse took off on a wild race. She could feel it thump in her neck and under his mouth.
That mouth, so perfect, knew just where to nip and how to drive her wild.
He started to trail the kisses up the side of her neck. “I thought you could model them here, in private. With me as your only, but very eager, audience.”
He was about to get so lucky.
“Aren’t you naughty?” She asked the question as she turned in his arms. Seeing his face, running her finger over the stubble on his chin, set off a flurry of activity in her stomach.