She refused to be derailed. “I know you’re angry with him.”
“Forget it.” He pulled the brim of his hat down even further and stood. The legs of the chair screeched against the hard floor.
“Noah.”
He finally gave her full eye contact. “I never thought you’d pick some random guy over me.”
Her heart hurt. “That’s not what this is.”
He shrugged. “Feels like it.”
Then he walked away.
* * *
Ellie was waiting for him when he got home tonight. Not upstairs in the kitchen or sitting on the couch. Not even on her laptop searching for jobs. She was actually standing at the top of the steps.
He knew that was a really bad sign.
He barely reached the second floor when she launched into her question. “Who is Abby?”
She didn’t move when he got to her. No, she stood there, arms crossed, wearing what looked like a day-long-practiced frown.
He should work from home while they were in this relationship. That would stop ambushes like this from happening. “You talked with your brother.”
“I tried to get through to him again.”
When she didn’t move, he put a hand on her arm and gently guided her into the kitchen with him. “I thought we agreed I’d handle it.”
They didn’t even get to the counter before she turned and faced him again. Stopped them both in their tracks. “By putting our names in the paper all the time? That’s defusing his impact, but it’s not stopping him for good.”
The Insider again. The gossip column proved useful. Everyone seemed more interested in his love life than in a dispute with a former employee. No one was taking Noah seriously and he was losing viewers, which meant losing some of his power.
Derrick didn’t know how people could stand to sign on and hear Noah rave about one guy all the time. That thing had to get old. It certainly had for Derrick.
So did fighting with Ellie. Usually the verbal battles invigorated him. Not the ones about Noah. Talking about him seemed to suck the life out of both of them.
He set his briefcase on the counter and brushed his fingers through her soft hair. “Any chance you could trust me?”
“I do.”
It sure as hell didn’t feel like it. “You’re asking about Abby. You’re meeting with Noah without telling me.”
“And you’re sounding more like my boss than…”
“What?”
“The man I’m sleeping with.”
Okay, he liked that answer and since he intended to keep doing just that, he loosened his rule on talking about this subject. The Abby issue went back to his father and their family dysfunction, but there was no way to explain that without blowing his relationship with Spence apart. “Abby has nothing to do with me.”
Ellie frowned at him. “Derrick, that’s not an answer.”
He tried again. “She works for me.”
“Okay.” Ellie’s eyebrow lifted as if she expected more.
But to him that’s exactly what Abby was—a great employee he’d fought not to lose. “That’s it.”
Ellie stepped away from him. She walked around the counter to sit on one of the stools. “You are making this unnecessarily difficult.”
“I’m answering you.”
“Did you sleep with her?” Ellie ticked off the questions on her fingers. “Are the two of you having an affair?”
“When the hell would I have time for that? I’m here with you or at work with Jackson. That’s it. That’s all I do.”
“That answer.” She shook her head. “Good grief, Derrick.”
He had no idea what she wanted from him. This part of a real relationship…he wasn’t a fan. People trusted him. The idea that, after a brief meeting with her brother, she no longer did, made Derrick want to rip down the walls of his house with his bare hands.
“I haven’t been with anyone since I met you. I haven’t even thought of anyone else since I met you.” The idea of touching another woman made everything inside him rebel. “You are it for me.”
The words had slipped out. He didn’t mean to say them, not like that. Certainly not out loud. He was talking about her being it for now…right?
There were many facts stacked against them. He hadn’t told her everything. They had a mess with her brother. He needed to come clean with his brothers. Hell, he wasn’t even sure she liked him all that much. He could ask, but he dreaded the answer.
She was supposed to be temporary. His focus had to stay on the business and meeting his father’s requirements and getting the work part of his life settled. The company meant everything to him. He’d poured so much into it. He couldn’t lose focus or his father would swoop in.