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He pulled away and looked me in the eye before he released my arm. “Goodnight, baby.”FourteenDerekI slept hard that night.
Peace had found me, all the stress had left my body, and I felt like I had done the right thing. It was a relief to know she was mine now, that I never had to worry about her going on a date with some guy who didn’t deserve her, that I didn’t have to go to another party just to feel miserable.
I got into the Escalade the next morning, and the first thing I did was look at her beautiful face and see her smile at me. It was different from the other smiles she’d given to me in the past. This one reached her eyes, had a softness that made me want to lean across the center console and kiss her. I shut the door, buckled my safety belt, and didn’t even say hello because it felt unnecessary when we greeted each other with the exact same look.
Ronnie pulled onto the road. “Good morning, Mr. Hamilton.”
I kept my eyes on her, seeing that sexy brown hair that would be wrapped around my hand by this evening, seeing those full, pink lips that would be parted so she could take my tongue. How did I not notice how beautiful she was until a few months ago? And how did I not realize she was the sexiest woman on the planet until like a week ago? “Yes, it is a good morning, Ronnie.”I stood at the workbench when Emerson stepped inside the hangar. She had a folder of paperwork in her arm along with a carrier of coffees. She must have run an errand and picked it up for us on the way back. Now that it was fall, she’d traded her skirts for long-sleeved dresses and tall boots, wearing high-end clothes that must have eaten more than one of her paychecks. Today, she wore a long-sleeved gray sweater dress with a brown belt across her stomach, keeping the fabric tight around her petite waist. High brown boots were on her feet, and her long hair was in curls and down her chest.
I stopped what I was doing and just stared.
Fuuuuuck, she was gorgeous.
She set the coffee carrier down on one of the tables. “Thought you guys might need a pick-me-up.” She opened her folder and looked through the papers as she entered my office, oblivious to the way I stared at her. I wanted to adjust my jeans, but the guys were right there, so I took a breath and tried to focus so the blood would return to my brain.
Pierre grabbed one of the coffees and watched her stand in front of my desk as he drank it. Instead of turning away in a reasonable amount of time, he continued to stand there and stare.
“Pierre, let’s get back to work.” I didn’t like the guys gawking at Emerson, even when I’d had no interest in her. But now that she was my woman, it made me furious on a whole other level.
He grabbed a coffee for me and brought it to me. “Sorry, man. But if there’s a woman who looks like that walking around, I’m gonna stare.”
“Well, don’t.” I snatched the coffee out of his hand.
“Just ask her out already,” Jerome said from the back. “Seriously, what are you waiting for?”
“No, don’t ask her out,” Pierre said. “Because I want to ask her out—”
“I will punch you in the fucking face if you say that shit again.” I knew I’d taken it too far because I’d raised my voice and made the concrete walls shake. Even Emerson turned to look at us because she heard it.
Pierre raised one hand in surrender then slowly backed away. He returned to his table and got back to work.
I took a breath and looked down at my work, feeling like a dick for screaming at Pierre, but I’d already warned him not to talk about Emerson like that, and now that she was mine, it was even more difficult to listen to it.
I dropped my pencil and walked back to him. “Emerson and I are seeing each other.”
He lifted his gaze and looked at me, visibly stunned.
Jerome chuckled from the back. “Knew it…”
I spoke with a calm voice, as an apology for my earlier outburst. “Don’t talk about her like that again.”
All Pierre did was give a nod.
I walked back to my table and got back to work.At the end of the day, the guys were packing up to leave, and Emerson walked up to me. “I talked to Dr. Salazar and got a list of questions he wants to ask you, so we have time to prepare. That way, you know what’s coming.”
I didn’t care about the interview. Just wanted to get it over with. “Alright.”
