“I was looking for Taylor,” he informed her, rolling his eyes.
“Oh, she was talking to Dad, but now she’s in a meeting with Todd in the downstairs boardroom,” she informed him. “She has business nonsense to do, so I recommend a shower, and then you can find her.”
Derrick looked down and saw his T-shirt was pretty much soaked, but just to confirm he lifted an arm and sniffed. The stench burned his nostril and eyes; he wanted to back away from himself.
“See?” Marty said. “I’m off to class! Shower first!” she yelled in parting.
Sometimes having a little sister was a giant pain in the balls. They nagged and pushed buttons, and even in their twenties they were still snarky and weird. But when Marty was right, she was right, and Derrick went off to the shower.
Once he had his hygiene settled, he picked up some food from the kitchen and sought out Taylor. She and Todd were bent over papers spread over the conference room table when he found them. Todd angled his head as a greeting to Derrick, but Taylor was too wrapped up in whatever they were looking at to know he was there. That or she was totally ignoring him.
“I want to meet with these two,” Taylor said, pointing to two papers she had separated from the pile.
Todd pursed his lips. “You know this girl, she only graduated from college six months ago,” Todd mentioned.
“I know, and she is young and has an impressive resume of internships and mock-ups here that look fun but not tacky like some of these other people who have been doing it longer. And this guy,” she said, pointing the other paper away from the stack, “he is in his thirties and has been working with social media from the start. I actually think the two of them could work well together.”
“Fair enough,” Todd said, plucking the paperwork from the desk. “I will get them in for interviews next week. This week you have a lot to do.”
Taylor nodded. “Yeah. Oh, and one more thing, I want a copy of the decree,” Taylor said as she picked up a tablet off the table.
Todd’s eyes flicked to Derrick’s. “Why?”
Taylor slid her eyes to Todd. “Because I have apparently been sentenced to marriage, and I want to see the paperwork that says so,” she said bluntly.
“You got it,” Todd replied. “Charlie will be in later with updates,” he turned to the door. “Afternoon, Derrick,” he said on his way out, and Taylor spun around, finally seeing Derrick at the door.
Her hair was bundled up on top of her head in a haphazard bun with blond wisps flying around her face. “I didn’t see you there.”
“I brought you food,” Derrick said. “I was starving, and—” Taylor’s stomach let out a whine, and Derrick smiled, “and I figured you might be too.”
He set down the tray he had gathered from the kitchen and handed Taylor a plate covered with awesome homemade dishes courtesy of Nan.
Taylor watched as Derrick sat down and then followed his lead, the two of them eating in silence for several minutes.
“I don’t want you to feel trapped with me, Taylor,” Derrick finally said between bites. Okay well maybe he wasn’t totally free of food in his mouth, but it was mostly gone before he spoke.
More classy than he, Taylor chewed, swallowed, took a drink, and wiped her face before she answered him. “I think we are both sort of trapped, Derrick.”
Derrick drew back in surprise. “How so?”
“I have to get married to run my family business, and you have to get married to look responsible enough to run your family business.”
“Yes, but I am not disgusted by marrying you.”
“I’m not disgusted by it,” Taylor huffed. “I just don’t want to marry you. I want to meet people and fall in love and know that it’s forever.”
“Oh, gee, thanks for letting me down easy,” Derrick replied, aggressively stabbing the chicken on his plate.
“What do you want, Derrick? Huh? I have had literally three days to put all this shit together, and you want me to be picking out a wedding dress too?”
“Well, not without me you won’t,” Marty announced as she plowed into the room and plopped a large stack of magazines next to Taylor.
“What are those?” Derrick asked, continuing to stab at his food. He hoped Marty hadn’t heard the conversation, but knowing her, she wouldn’t have kept quiet about it, so he figured they were safe.
“Bridal magazines!” she announced with a huge grin.
Derrick watched as Taylor’s light and happy face flooded with panic and her breathing became heavy. “Not now, Marty,” he said to his sister tight-lipped. Taylor’s eyes bounced around from him to the magazines to the ring and to Marty.
Marty flung her hand at her brother, brushing him off. “I saw this dress in this one,” she said, pulling open the top magazine and flipping through the pages. “You would look amazing in it!”
“I, uh, I don’t think—”
Derrick pushed his chair back noisily, causing both women to turn and look at him. He made his way over to Marty. “Come on, Marty,” he said, grabbing her arm, “we have things to do.” He scooped up the magazines and took them and Marty out of the room.
“Derrick!” Marty whined as he dragged her from the room. “What is your problem?” she hissed at him as he deposited her in the library on a couch. “I just wanted—”
“It’s too much, Marty! She is burned out, okay?” he shouted at his sister.
“What do you mean?”
An annoyed groan escaped Derrick. “Her uncle died, forcing her into running a company, and now she is the center of attention everywhere she turns. Do you recall Taylor ever wanting to be the center of attention?”
“No,” Marty answered softly, looking remorsefully at the floor and avoiding Derrick’s eyes.
“And now on top of all that you want her to plan a wedding?”
Marty lifted her gaze, slowly meeting her brother’s eyes. “I just want to help.”
“Well, stop!” he commanded. He instantly regretted it, especially when he saw Marty look away and her eyes well up. “I’m sorry, Marty,” he said, pulling her into a hug, “but she needs space. I need to make sure she doesn’t get overwhelmed with stuff because she will, and she won’t say no.”
Marty gave her brother a squeeze. “I guess I can come on very strong,” she admitted, and Derrick rolled his eyes at her understatement. “Go check on her. I will go plan your wedding on a secret Pinterest board,” she said, breaking the hug and scooping up her magazines. “I’m glad she has you to love her so much, Derrick,” she said as she left the room.
I wish Taylor was just as glad to have me, he mused as he made his way back to her.
When he found her, she was still at the table and pushing the food around on her plate while she spun her ring on her finger. What Derrick wouldn’t give to be able to get inside that mind of hers.
“Hey,” he said as he walked over to her. “Crisis averted,” he assured her, standing beside her.
“Thanks,” she muttered, not making eye contact with him, “but I’m pretty sure that is just the calm before the storm.”
Derrick shook his head. “Nah, Marty gets it now. She was just caught up—”
“But it’s not just Marty, Derrick. The world is watching to see when we,” she gestured between them, “are going to have this wedding of the century. Not to mention all my business follow-through hangs on the edge of us getting married, or at least me married to someone, so Todd, Charlie, and your dad are chomping at the bit to get this marriage thing done and over with so we can all move forward with their grand ideas. So Marty is just a passing shower, but the tsunami is coming.”
Derrick grabbed Taylor’s chair and spun it until her back was to the table, surprising her and sending her fork flying. Derrick crouched in front of her, “Taylor Preston, whose grand ideas are you talking about? You are in charge,” he reminded her, accentuating every word.
“But everyone—”
“No, Tay. Forget everyone. You make the decisions
. You are Preston Corp. No one else gets to decide that for you.”
“But nothing is legal until—”
“I believe I quote you exactly when you said you didn’t need to be married to get the ball rolling, correct? Sure it means you can’t sign permissions and things, but this company is so far from being ready for any of that. You don’t have to worry about it,” he reminded her.
“But we still have to—”
Derrick put a finger over her lips, “Get the decree and look at it. Maybe in their frenzy everyone missed something you won’t. They want answers on how to get this going. You want answers of a different sort. Maybe a fresh set of eyes will help get this straightened out.”
Taylor wrinkled her brow and searched Derrick’s face. “I thought you wanted to … I mean you kept saying—”
Derrick moved his finger from her lip and cupped her face with his hand, “Taylor, I want to marry you more than anything. I am not making that up. But I don’t want to make you feel trapped.”
Taylor stared at him, as if he were waiting to say “April Fools!” and bring in a priest. “Thank you, Derrick,” she finally said and leaned in to hug him.
Derrick took her into him and kissed her head, smelled her hair, and felt his heart break a little at the thought of her finding an out from having to marry him.
“Ms. Preston? Mr. Fletcher?”
Derrick stiffened at the sound of an Irish brogue coming from the door. He had never really compared himself to another man. He had always been confident in the handsome and outstanding man that he was. But the way Taylor had looked at Henry the first time he had walked through the door still had him pissed.
“Henry, please call me Taylor,” Taylor said as she pulled away from Derrick, giving him one more reason to dislike the man. Derrick got up and pulled Taylor into his lap as he sat down in her chair. It was as close to asserting his dominance as he could get without flexing.
Taylor turned her head and shot him a dirty look, but she didn’t get up. “What’s up, Henry?” she said instead.
Henry looked hesitant. “I think we can make the penthouse work,” he said, and instantly Taylor tensed. “I spoke to the building security there, and I went through the security in place at your penthouse, Mr. Fletcher. They have assured me it won’t be an issue, and I think once I am done updating the system in the building and in the penthouse it really won’t be an issue.”
“You don’t sound very sure,” Taylor said.
“I am definitely not confident in the security in place now, no,” Henry said. “But if I can make changes—”
“Do whatever you need to do in order to make it safe,” Derrick said. “Go above and beyond, and spare no expense.”
Henry nodded quickly, “Will do,” he replied.
“Wait,” Taylor cut in as Henry was turning to leave, stopping the hulk in his tracks. She turned around, trying to face Derrick, “If it isn’t the safest, maybe we should just stay here,” Taylor said, her eyes wide as she tried to convey her hidden meaning to Derrick. She didn’t want to be alone with him; Derrick knew this.
But he really didn’t care.
“We can make it safe, Taylor. Henry just said so,” Derrick said, tilting his head in Henry’s direction. “Then we can have our own space, and no one will harass you.”
“Nobody harasses me—”
“No magazines will be thrown your way, no talk about any dresses,” he said.
Taylor turned away from Derrick, “Do whatever you need Henry,” she confirmed to Henry.
Henry smirked a little and gave another curt nod before he left.
“You play dirty, Fletcher,” Taylor said as she watched the door shut behind Henry.
Derrick leaned forward. “Do you like it dirty, Preston?” he asked whispering into her ear and smiling as he felt her shiver. “I would love to find out.” Taylor attempted to pull herself up again, but her petite size was no match for Derrick’s bulk, and all her attempts had her grinding further and further into his groin. “If you keep wiggling all over me, I’m going to find out right now,” he warned her, and Taylor instantly froze.
“Let me up, Derrick,” she said as she sat up stock-still.
Based on her tone, he was already in trouble, so why not go all the way?
“Taylor, I would love to get you up,” he whispered in her ear, “onto this table and take off all your clothes,” he told her, “and lick every inch of you.” To drive his point home, Derrick tilted his head and kissed the nape of Taylor’s neck. He slid his tongue slowly up to her ear and took her lobe between his teeth. Taylor’s chest rose and fell quicker, and she leaned back into Derrick’s chest, sliding her ass over his lap and already hard cock. “Would you let me do that, Taylor?” he asked, his voice still low, but this time it was because he was straining to keep himself from doing exactly what he was telling Taylor he wanted to do to her.
Taylor didn’t answer him, but she didn’t stop him either. There was no denying the attraction between them, even if Taylor was constantly doing her hardest to deny it. But each time they were in these, uh, interesting situations, Derrick was pretty certain her will cracked a little more. So he kept kissing her neck with soft kisses and a couple of soft nips too and spun the chair they were sitting in so that they faced away from the door.
Once they were turned, Derrick loosened his arms around Taylor and slid one hand under her shirt and slowly up her chest. Time was of the essence because any second Taylor could wake from her happy-to-be-felt-up state and put the brakes on, so he moved quickly, pulling the cup of her bra down and finding her nipple hard and ready for his fingers. Derrick rolled it between his fingers, and Taylor melted into him further, whimpering at the touch, her hands now clawing at his legs.
“Like that?” he asked hoarsely, as he continued pinching softly on her nipple. She didn’t answer him, instead she just continued breathing heavily. He didn’t wait for an answer, though. He moved his mouth against her neck, tasting everything he could. While he continued one hand on her chest, he slid the other one lower between her legs.
Leggings were a blessing from higher powers, Derrick decided right then, because as he slid his fingers over Taylor’s covered folds he could feel how wet she was, and she bowed on his lap and gasped loudly. And then she said something that made Derrick freeze momentarily before resuming all tactics with gusto. “More,” she breathed.
Yes, ma’am.
Derrick moved his fingers with a little more pressure over Taylor’s covered folds, stroking up and down, and Taylor pushed her hips against his hand and moaned. Now he needed more. With his middle finger in place, he slid his thumb up, hooking the waist on her leggings and pulling them down. Once they were low enough, he moved his hands inside, causing Taylor to mewl in objection to the loss of touch.
He slid his hand down to her bare folds—
And his phone rang.
They both froze. The phone was just behind them on the table, and the assigned ringtone signaled to Derrick that it was the office. He glanced at the tall clock in the corner of the room; he had a phone meeting.
Fuck.
Or better yet, no fuck.
The ringing stopped and then started up again.
“Derrick?” Taylor said softly. “I think you have to get that.”
“It can wait,” he assured her breathlessly, and the ringing stopped only to resume again.
“Derrick, answer it,” she told him. She was breathing just as heavy as he was, and she was right.
Derrick reluctantly withdrew his hand from inside her pants and the other one out from under her shirt, spun them around, and grabbed the phone.
“Fletcher!” he barked into the phone, causing Taylor to jump.
“Uh, hi, Mr. Fletcher,” his secretary said on the other end. “Uh, your 4:30 phone meeting is ready for you to be patched in, are you ready?”
Derrick let out a breath. At least his sexual frustration would be good for this meeting—the other people involved co
uld be assholes.
“Yes, Claire, sorry. Thank you. Go ahead and patch me in,” he said.
“Okay, sir, just a minute.”
Taylor went to move, but Derrick kept his arm around her like a vise.
“Let me up so you can do that,” she said to him, pulling at his arm.
“No. I—”
They were interrupted again by a knock at the door. “Ms. Preston, Charles Mickel and Todd Hammel here to see you,” a staff member said.
“See?” Taylor whispered as Derrick heard his phone being patched into the meeting. “It worked out.” She jumped from his lap and righted her clothes, took a deep breath, and walked toward the door.
Before she got too far, Derrick grabbed her hand. “Hold on,” he said into the phone. “Later,” he whispered to Taylor.
Taylor’s eyes went wide, and she pulled her hand away and left.
“Hello, gentlemen,” Derrick said into the phone.
“Nice of you to join us, Fletcher,” someone replied in irritation.
Kaboom!
“I was in the middle of something, and I am not in a good fucking mood that I was interrupted, so why don’t you clip your tone and get to telling me about this fuck up that I now have to sort out, which should never have been a problem in the first place!”
Silence.
“Yes, Mr. Fletcher, let’s get this done.”
Chapter Sixteen
There was no later. The next day and a half were a blur for Taylor of meetings with Todd and Charlie, lessons from Simon, and Marty’s last-minute fashion demands. Taylor stayed up late and woke up early to study faces and review bios, resumes, and credentials. Simon was also on hand to go over the essentials she needed to know and what to look for, and Taylor was surprised that she knew what he was saying before he said it.
Taylor was grateful for the busy hours because she really wasn’t sure what to say to Derrick. The second he had put his tongue on her neck, she had felt cemented in place, and then it had been a battle of wills, well, wills versus libido. Her will was saying “Get up!” but her libido was saying “Why? What is the harm here, really? False hope for him. Who are you kidding, Taylor? You are wearing a big fat ring he gave you. What’s wrong with just letting this happen, blowing off some steam, getting rid of the sexual tension?”
Inevitable Inheritance: The Inevitable Series | Book One Page 18