Cooking in Derek’s kitchen is making me think about the times I used to cook at the inn. It’s Saturday morning and I woke up before Derek so I thought I would cook breakfast since I haven’t had much time to cook because of school. Plus, his kitchen is big and beautiful. It makes me want to cook even more.
Ian hasn’t been in the house much since I started staying here so it’s just Derek and me.
As I cook us omelets and pancakes, I think about last night at the bar. That was just weird. Somehow, it’s hard to believe that Jeremy was hitting on me. Why would he decide to hit on me when he knows that I’m Derek’s girlfriend? Guys really have no boundaries.
Last night when I got home, Derek was already asleep. He had a photoshoot all day so I know he was probably very tired. I’m looking forward to spending some time with him this morning.
I’m cooking the pancakes when I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. I’m smiling before I even feel him stand behind me. He puts his arms around me from behind and places a kiss on the crook of my neck.
“Good morning,” He says.
I smile, keeping my hands and eyes on the stove. “Good morning.”
He rests his chin on my shoulder. “It smells really good, Gin.”
“Thank you.” I turn my head to smile at him. “I hope you like it.”
“I’ll love it,” He says leaning in to plant a kiss on my lips. He tastes like toothpaste.
“The stove is on,” I say against his lips when he deepens the kiss.
He reaches in behind me and turns it off. “Now it’s off.”
I laugh and shake my head as I turn back around to face the stove. I don’t turn it back on because Derek begins to kiss my shoulder. His hands are tight around my waist, resting on my lower stomach. I’m breathless. So far, he’s been the only man who can turn me on in just seconds. All he has to do is kiss me or put his arms around me or both, like he’s doing right now.
He kisses his way across my shoulder and back. I’m wearing my pajamas which are basically just shorts with a spaghetti strap white blouse. I’m not wearing a bra so my nipples quickly harden and as visible through the silk fabric as Derek kisses me. His right hand goes up and he cups my left breast, his thumb caresses my nipple, relieving it of the hardness and making me feel weak at the knees.
Derek kisses the back of my neck and then his lips are on my ear.
“I want to touch you,” He says in a low voice. “Would you like that?”
His right hand drops from my breast to my stomach. It moves down, slowly, making the butterflies in my stomach go wild.
I gulp. What was I doing before he came downstairs? Breakfast, right. That escalated quickly and I don’t mind one bit.
“Maybe,” I say.
“Is that a yes?” I feel his smile on the back of my shoulder.
I smile. “Maybe.”
His hand continues its way down my stomach and then his fingers are inside my shorts, inside my underwear. He presses me closer to him and I feel his hardness on my back.
A small moan escapes from my throat when he finally touches me. His fingers move in between my legs slowly and I shut my eyes and pull my head back in pleasure. He kisses my neck and I grind against him as it intensifies. His fingers know exactly where to touch and how to move.
“Oh, Derek.” I gasp when his fingers go inside of me. My body is tensed up and I feel him grin as his fingers move faster and faster. I can almost see fireworks behind my closed eyes as I begin to reach climax. My legs shake and my knees feel weak. The only reason I don’t collapse to the ground is because Derek is holding me.
His places his hands on my waist and he spins me around and we move to the side so my back is pressed against the counter and not the stove.
“Say my name again,” He says looking at my lips.
My heart is beating hard against my chest. It’s almost embarrassing how aroused I still am right now. I feel so vulnerable as he looks at me. “Der—” He crashes his lips against mine, interrupting me and making me laugh. He squeezes my waist gently as he kisses me.
I feel tingles in my stomach in anticipation as we make out. Are we finally going to do this? I’m more than ready. I want this. I want him.
We’re making out in the kitchen when the doorbell rings.
At first, we ignore it and I begin to think that maybe I imagined it but then it rings again.
Derek groans and we pull away. “Why do we always get interrupted?” He asks as he takes out his phone. I try to catch my breath as I watch him unlock his phone and go into an app. “Fuck,” He says when he checks the cameras. “It’s my sister.”
“Your sister?” I ask in disbelief.
“Yes,” He says kissing my lips. “I need a quick shower.”
“You can’t leave me.”
I want to take a shower too. I suddenly feel dirty knowing his sister is outside. If only she knew what we were doing a couple seconds ago. God. She’ll probably be able to tell just by looking at my face.
Derek grins. “She’s not here to see me anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s here to see you, baby,” He says then kisses me again before taking a step back. I suddenly feel naked. I’m not even wearing a bra and I’m about to meet my boyfriend’s sister. Why did she have to come now?
“Me?”
“I’ll be quick,” Derek says as he makes his way up the stairs.
The doorbell rings again and I look around and sigh in relief when I find my robe on the couch. I put it on then wash my hands before I finally head to the door.
“What took you so long—?” Her question trails off when she looks up and sees me. Her eyes widen. “Oh. Hi.”
“Hi,” I say with a shy smile.
Derek resembles her a bit. They have the same cheekbones and smile. She has brown eyes and her hair is long and wavy. She’s wearing jeans with a white blouse, a black cardigan, and boots. She’s beautiful, of course, I wouldn’t expect anything else from Derek’s sister.
We look at each other for a moment and then I realize that she’s carrying plastic bags and I reach out. “Oh, let me help you.” I grab the bags on her right hand.
“Thank you. I was starting to lose circulation.” She jokes and we laugh as we make our way into the house.
“It smells so good,” She says as we place the bags on the counter. “There’s breakfast.” She realizes, sounding surprised.
“Yes,” I say moving to the stove. “Would you like some? Derek and I were just about to eat.”
“Sure. So he is here?” She asks looking around.
“Yeah, he’s taking a shower,” I say as I reach for some plates, feeling relieved to have something to do. I serve some pancakes and my omelets for her. I only made two since I obviously didn’t know we were going to have company. I’m not that hungry anymore anyway. I serve myself some pancakes then serve Derek’s plate for when he comes down.
“Thank you,” She says when I place the plate in front of her at the dining room table. She looks at me. “I’m Hannah, by the way, Derek’s sister.” She offers me her hand and I shake it.
“I’m Savannah.”
She smiles at me. “It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you already.”
“You have?” I ask nervously.
“Of course,” She says reaching for a fork. “People can’t stop talking about my brother’s new girlfriend.”
“Right.” I smile. “I’m going to use the restroom really quick. I'll be right back.”
“Of course,” She says reaching for the syrup.
I go to the bathroom which just down the hall from the kitchen. After I use the toilet, I splash cold water on my face. I feel flushed. I wish I could take a cold shower right now. My body is still in the aftershock of the orgasm Derek gave me before his sister rang the doorbell.
What does she think of me? Here I am wearing a short robe in her brother’s house. She probably thinks I’m sleeping with him…I mean I
am, but we’re not having sex…yet. I don’t know why I’m so caught up on this. I guess I don’t want her to think bad of me. I realize that I want her to like me.
I take a deep breath then head out of the bathroom. As I make my way back to the kitchen, I hear Derek’s voice and I feel relieved. I’m glad he meant it when he said he would take a quick shower.
“…I didn’t know that she was living with you.”
I stop when I hear Hannah’s voice.
“It’s my business who sleeps in my house,” Derek says. He doesn’t sound rude but his tone is firm. He’s obviously annoyed.
“Okay, you don’t have to get all defensive.”
“I’m not. I’m just pointing it out. You guys seem to forget that I’m not seventeen anymore. I’m a grown man.”
“I know you are, Derek,” Hannah says and her voice is almost sad. “I didn’t come here to fight.”
“Good.”
“How have you been?”
“Great.”
She sighs. “How come you didn’t come to Sophia’s birthday party?”
“I’m sorry, I was working. I hope she got my gift?”
“Yes. She loved it.”
“I’m glad.”
“How come—” Hannah stops mid-sentence when she sees me walking back into the kitchen.
Derek looks up and he half smiles. “Hey, Gin, this is the best omelet I’ve ever tasted in my life.”
I laugh, feeling pleased. “Wow, thank you.”
“Gin?” Hannah asks looking from me to Derek.
“It’s just a nickname,” Derek says winking at me.
The doorbell rings for the second time this morning and Derek looks down at his phone. “Shit.” He murmurs then goes to open the door. “Stella! I was just about to head out.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you were.” A woman answers.
“Stella is Derek’s manager,” Hannah says next to me as she eats her pancakes.
Stella appears to be in her early 40’s. She is tall and slim with a pixie cut and dark brown eyes. She looks like she could be fun to hang out with but she also seems serious and uptight. She might be the perfect manager for Derek because of that.
“The meeting was scheduled to be an hour ago, Derek. I set an alarm on your phone.” She scolds.
Derek scratches the back of his head. He has a smile on his face as he shrugs. “I might have hit the snooze button.”
Stella shakes her head then she realizes that they’re not alone. Her face brightens when she sees Hannah. “Hannah, sweetie, how are you?”
Hannah stands up and hugs her. “Hey, I’m good. Just work and kids. You know how it is.”
“Of course.” Stella smiles then her eyes are on me. She takes a step forward. “You’re Savannah Garcia.”
I gulp. Somehow, it feels like I’m meeting Derek’s mother. “Yes, I am.”
“It’s nice to finally meet you. I don’t know how many times I’ve asked Derek to introduce me.” She offers me her hand and we shake hands.
Derek shrugs. “I wanted to keep her to myself.”
Hannah smiles at me and Stella rolls her eyes. “Come on, everyone’s waiting on Skype.”
She makes her way into the house, to Derek’s office. Derek places a kiss on my lips, taking me by surprise considering his sister is right behind him. “I’ll be in my office having a boring meeting.”
I smile. “Okay. Have fun.”
He puts his arm around his sister. “Thanks for stopping by. You can report back to Mom and let her know I’m still breathing.” He kisses the top of her head. “Say hi to Nathan.”
Hannah smiles. “Okay.”
He walks down the hall and shuts the door of his office, leaving me all alone with his sister.
Hannah looks at me. “There’s obviously a ton of drama in this family.”
I smile. “There’s a ton of drama in Derek’s life in general.”
She laughs then nods in agreement. “True.”
I hesitate as I swirl the fork on my plate. “He’s not very close to you guys is he?”
Hannah takes a deep breath. “Derek—hates to be told what to do. We worry about him a lot. So when we do see him, it always ends in us suggesting he needs to slow down with everything going on in his life. We can’t help it.” She shrugs. “He hates that, so he avoids us.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, feeling bad for some reason. It would hurt if my sister avoided me.
“It’s our fault,” Hannah says. “Though he doesn’t help at all either.”
Her phone begins to vibrate and she walks to her purse and searches through it. She glances at the screen and smiles as she texts something back. “I have to go,” She says putting her phone away and grabbing her purse.
I stand up and follow her to the door.
She stops and looks at me. “It was very nice to meet you, Savannah.” She smiles, hesitating, and then she hugs me. “Maybe we can hang out sometime?”
I smile then nod. “Sure. I’d like that,” I say and mean it.
She smiles. “Great.”
We exchange numbers and then she gets in her SUV and drives away. I finish my pancakes then begin to wash the dishes and clean the kitchen. Hannah put away the groceries that she brought for Derek. She must have done it while I was in the bathroom. I’m cleaning the counter when I hear the door of Derek’s office open.
I turn around with a smile but it fades when I see his face. He has a frown on his forehead. He looks angry.
“What the fuck is this?” He demands putting his phone in front of my face.
“What?” I ask as I look at the picture he’s showing me.
It’s a picture of Jeremy and me at the bar. I can tell the picture was caught the moment Jeremy grabbed me to keep me from falling. His arm is around my waist and our faces are close together. That’s not the worst part though. The worst part is that I’m laughing, making it seem like I’m enjoying him and his arm around me which explains Derek’s anger and I bite my lip nervously.
Somehow, I knew Jeremy would cause me trouble when I saw him walk into the bar last night.
This is when I realize that people are wrong.
A picture doesn’t always mean a thousand words and this is proof of that.
29. call me back
“Derek—” I look up at him. “It’s not what it seems.”
He scoffs as he sets his phone on the counter. “Not what it seems.” He repeats with a nod. He runs a hand through his hair and clenches his jaw. “Then what the fuck were you doing with Jeremy and why does he have his arm around you?”
“I tripped and was going to fall,” I say quickly. “He just reached out to grab me.”
Derek chuckles humorlessly. “Oh. So he just happened to be standing next to you to save you like a knight in fucking shining armor?” He looks at me. “What were you doing with him at the bar? You know who he is right?”
“Yes, I know he’s Sadie’s cousin,” I say, starting to get a little angry.
“He’s—fuck, Gin, Jeremy hates my guts.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that.”
“How did you even meet him?”
“I met him the night of Ian’s party,” I say looking at him. “He kept me company after you ditched me to go with your ex-girlfriend.”
I shut my mouth and wish I could take the words back. At the same time, I don’t. I’m glad I told him that. He needs to know how much that hurt me. Plus, he’s accusing me of something I didn’t do. I can see it in his eyes. I’m already guilty in his mind without even giving me a chance to explain.
“So now this is my fault?” He asks angrily.
“You’re accusing me of something I didn’t do.”
“There’s pictures of you and him flirting all over the fucking internet,” He says pointing at his phone. “He’s probably laughing right now because I’m looking like a fool yet again.”
“Derek, I’m sorry. This wasn’t intentional.”
“Yes, it was.” He i
nsists then shakes his head.
“No, it wasn’t,” I say, trying to control my anger. “I didn’t want him there. He just showed up and sat next to me. You have to believe me. Those pictures are out of context.”
DEREK'S MATCH Page 20