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"Would you have the heart to wake her?" Malcolm challenged him.
Derrick looked at the sleeping Paula and admitted with a sigh, "No. I wouldn't."
Malcolm smiled but now it was just him and Derrick and that made him incredibly nervous. He wanted to invite him to stay but he couldn't get the words out. If Derrick said no...
"I better go," Derrick said.
Malcolm walked him to the door and every second he was so close to asking him not to go. Invitations to do so many random things popped into his head, drink something, watch something,go to his bedroom. But his jumbled up thoughts and emotions got in the way, so instead he simply told Derrick, "Thank you for tonight."
"It was my pleasure." His gaze locked on Malcolm longingly, he lingered in the doorway, not making any kind of a move before he turned away and left.
Maybe Malcolm wasn't the only one holding back, being cautious. With a heavy heart, Malcolm shut the door behind him and slumped against it with a groan. There was no denying it, he yearned for that man hopelessly.
He did feel closer to Derrick these days, but he wasn't sure if this night was just an apology from Derrick, or if it might mean that he wanted to spend time with Malcolm and get closer.
He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and got a text. It was Derrick. He must have been texting from just downstairs. "I had a great time. I hope we can do it again," he said.
Malcolm grinned stupidly at his phone than texted back, "Me too." That didn't seem like enough considering how happy he was. He wanted to tell Derrick to come back up and drag him off to bed. He didn't, but he was dying to be with him again, just the two of them.
Chapter 18
They were having a hectic day at the office. Everything seemed to be happening at once. There was a lot that needed to be done by the end of the day, and because of Paula, Malcolm really didn't wan to stay at work late.
When Derrick came out of his office, Malcolm barely looked up. He just silently wished that he wouldn't be given any more work. But that wasn't why Derrick was there. "Why don't we take a break and go out for some coffee?" Derrick said.
Malcolm looked up at him in surprise. He was about to point out that he had a lot of work to finish, but Derrick looked very serious. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about."
Now Malcolm couldn't refuse. "OK. If the work doesn't get done, we'll know whose fault that will be," he said and got a small smile from Derrick.
As they walked to the coffee shop around the corner, Malcolm noticed that Derrick seemed tense. Tense and extra serious. Whatever he wanted to talk about couldn't be good news.
They got their coffees and sat at a table in the corner by the window. Malcolm warmed his hands on his coffee mug and waited, but Derrick only stared out the window at the busy street on a cloudy day.
Malcolm shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Derrick took a deep breath but then didn't say anything so Malcolm jumped in. "Are you firing me?" he blurted out.
Derrick shook his head and gave him a dismayed look. "No. Why do you keep asking me that?"
Malcolm shrugged. "Just breaking the ice? But one day you probably will fire me so..."
Derrick leaned forward and very earnestly said, "I will never fire you."
Malcolm was kind of shocked at that, especially at that "never". "Umm. OK."
"I don't know what I would do without you," Derrick said.
"That's a relief," he said though it seemed like more than that, like hearing some kind of declaration.
But now Derrick warned him. "Actually, I need to tackle a much thornier subject of asking you out on a date."
Malcolm chuckled nervously. "What's so thorny about it?" he said and he sounded a little breathless, damn it.
"Would you go out with me?" Derrick asked.
"I'd like that," Malcolm said quietly then he smiled at Derrick. "Yeah, I'd really like that."
"Is tomorrow too soon?" Derrick asked.
"I can probably get Mona to watch Paula, but I'll make sure and let you know," Malcolm said instead of pointing out that Derrick was in a rush. He liked that actually. It would probably kill him if he had to wait any longer than that.
