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“Sure thing, boss,” I say, and he grins at me again. He really is so handsome when he smiles.
Derek walks past me up to his car and I get into mine, breathing a bit too hard.
Is that it? Is that my reward?
Just one kiss?
I can’t help but be bitterly disappointed. But in the end, I don’t want Derek to give me something as a reward. I don’t want him to want me because I helped him. I want him to want me because I’m me and because he’s in love with me, truth be told.
I’m a mess who’s in love with her employer after two scant months.
I feel dizzy again and shake my head, trying to rid myself of the feeling, before driving back to my parents’ house.
Monday morning, I punch in the code to the gate, which Derek had told me after the fiasco with me going out with Cherie.
Eli and Maggie come running at me like little crazy people as soon as I open the door, and Eli jumps up into my arms, so suddenly I stumble backward.
“Hey there, kiddos,” I hum and Maggie hugs my waist as tightly as she can.
“Don’t go away so long next time, Kenna,” she says.
Eli’s kissing all over my face and I laugh. “I promise; I won’t,” I say easily.
Derek walks into the living room in his suit but without his jacket, sipping coffee, and I can see his eyes crinkle up with a smile.
It’s hard to fight this feeling that I’m right where I belong.
17
DEREK
Ikeep hoping that Kenna will become less attractive to me somehow, but after she’d testified on my behalf, I’m grateful to her on top of being attracted to her, and it’s not getting any easier. I keep looking at her mouth when she comes in the mornings, seeing the curve of her ass when she leaves at night.
It’s a week before we get any alone time together, because the kids are all over her all the time after her week away, and simply because I have too much work.
I find myself cranky, irritable, and Kenna raises an eyebrow at me when I curse and slam my hand on the counter when I can’t get the coffeemaker to work.
“Did the coffeemaker do something to offend you?” she teases.
“Yeah, it won’t fucking work,” I mutter.
“You need to learn to relax, Mr. Ledderman.”
I sigh. She’s been calling me that ever since the court date. She hasn’t called me Derek since, and I don’t know why it bothers me so much, but it does. I suppose her calling me by my first name feels more intimate, and as much as I try to fight it, I do want to be close with Kenna.
“I’ve already taken all my vacation days stressing out over the hearing,” I point out.
She shrugs. “So, just take a weekend.” She points outside. “You have that big pool that you never use, just take the weekend and have nothing but some good music that you like, some cocktails, and relaxation.”
I pause. “You know what? That’s not such a bad idea.” My mother has been on my ass to see the kids, anyway.
“Maybe I’ll take the kids for a pool day today,” Kenna muses, as if mostly to herself. “I got a new bikini.”
I freeze, nearly spilling my coffee.Please don’t be wearing a bikini when I get home, I think but can’t bring myself to say. I’ve already been an ass about who she sees, I can’t also be an ass about what she wears.
Speaking of who she’s seeing, Kenna hasn’t said word one about the guy she’s been spending time with and it’s beginning to irk me. My irritation keeps growing and growing and I don’t know how to stop it. It’s probably also the fact that between the hearing and work, I haven’t taken myself in hand, well...in a long time. It’s been a long while since I've had some relief, so to speak.
Kenna in a bikini would not solve my problems. In fact, would probably create more of them.
