Derrick knew it. He even felt a twinge of guilt over it—one he could easily ignore. “But we know this is about more than a PR job. This is about saving the company and there’s no way I’m letting her know I need her help for something that big. I’m not giving her that power over me.”
“Very romantic.”
“This is business. According to my father’s stipulations, I have to get my brothers in line and in this office, clean up my image and stop Noah Gold’s public hit job, all while single-handedly running a commercial real estate company.”
After a lifetime of aiming his sons at each other, Derrick’s father wanted them to be one big happy family, all working in the office and getting along. And if they didn’t, Derrick would lose the business that meant everything to him. His father already had a buyer outside the family interested. A rich old friend with liquidity and the ability to move fast on the sale.
Just thinking about the requirements of his father’s stupid business proposal touched off a new wave of fury in Derrick’s gut. He literally could forfeit everything because of his father’s stupid whims.
Derrick was about to launch into an angry rant about Eldrick when his office door pushed open. Ellie stepped inside again, looking a little flushed and not a bit worried or afraid of him.
He liked her attitude but the security lapse was a concern. Then he thought about the photographer and wondered if the guy had moved too soon. “How did you get in here?”
“I walked.”
He guessed he should have expected that answer from her. “You shouldn’t be able to wander around the building without an escort.”
She waved the concern away as she approached the desk and held out her hand. “You can worry about your over-the-top paranoid protocol later. Give me the agreement.”
“What?”
She continued to hold out her hand. “If I’m going to consider this—”
“Are you?” That surprised him when almost nothing did.
“—I want to make sure you didn’t add anything weird in here.”
Whatever he planned to say left his head. He suddenly wanted to know what her definition of “weird” might be. “Like what?”
“With you?” She snorted. “Who knows? I don’t trust you.”
Jackson nodded as he grabbed the folder and gave it to her. “A very solid beginning for a relationship.”
Her eyes narrowed as her gaze moved from Jackson to Derrick. “Your guy knows about this nonsense fake dating and engagement offer of yours?”
“Yes, and that document in your hand is nonnegotiable.” Derrick knew from their combined thirty minutes together so far that she’d be whipping out the red pen and revising if he didn’t put a stop to it now.
She shrugged at him as she opened the file and took a peek inside. “Whatever.”
He fought back a sigh. “I’m serious, Ellie.”
Her head shot up and she glared at him. “You’re not going to win every argument.”
“I think I am.” He rarely lost and had no intention of starting now. “I’ll see you at ten tomorrow.”
She turned and headed for the door. “You’ll get my answer when you get it.”
She was gone before Derrick could respond.
Damn, he liked her. The fire and self-assurance were so sexy. She wasn’t yet thirty but she’d grown up fast when she’d lost her parents. He understood what it was like to take on responsibility early. It was one of the reasons he thought they’d be able to handle this arrangement. She would get what she needed and he’d get his obstinate father off his back.
Jackson cleared his throat. “You’re smiling.”
Derrick refused to play this game. “She’s...interesting.”
“This engagement thing is fake, right?”
“Of course.”
“Right.” Jackson exhaled. “That explains the stupid look on your face whenever you see her.”
The DC Insider: Visits to the prestigious Hay-Adams. Visits to his office. It appears Ms. Ellie Gold has not only snagged our Hottest Ticket in Town’s attention but also has him spinning in circles. Well done, Ellie!
He had to be kidding. That thought kept running through Ellie’s mind as she paged through Derrick’s ten—no, fourteen-page agreement while sitting on her couch the next morning.
The thing had tiny print, and rules, and footnotes to new rules and references to yet more rules. The list of restrictions seemed endless. She couldn’t date anyone else. He had final approval over the people she saw on a friendly basis during the “term of their arrangement” and over any work plans she intended to pursue.
She had to act loving, whatever that meant. He hadn’t used the word obey but it was implied in almost every line. And that wasn’t even the most ridiculous part. He thought they’d live together. Actually live together.
She glanced around her small apartment, from one stack of empty boxes to another. She had savings but that would run out if she didn’t find a new job and a cheaper place to live soon. That would be easier if her jackass of an ex-boss hadn’t launched an offensive strike when she filed her internal complaint and fired her first, insisting she came on to him. As if that would ever happen.
The man’s wife had left town to watch over a sick aunt and he’d had his hands all over her by the next day. Kicking him in the crotch had felt great, but being escorted out of the building hadn’t.
His claims were nonsense. He had resources and family money...and a nasty reputation that people spoke about only in whispers and refused to confirm in public. She had documentation of the emails she’d sent after the incident and her complaint. No witnesses to what happened, unfortunately, but she guessed they’d be able to find a pattern of other women once they started digging.
Her lawyer was positive about her chances but cases cost money. She got that but employers weren’t exactly lining up to hire a supposed human resources expert who had been fired for making a play for her boss. She could not let this go. Not when it was likely he would do this to someone else.
Thinking about Joe touched off that familiar spiraling sensation in her stomach. That mix of panic and worry. She liked to eat and have electricity. Which led her to the convoluted mess of an agreement on her lap.
Derrick’s plan struck her as so odd. She had no idea if wealthy people usually did stuff like this, but she didn’t.
She picked up her mug of now-cool tea and prepared to read through the agreement one more time. The doorbell stopped her in the middle of what looked like a never-ending sentence of legalese gobbledygook.
Grumbling, she put down the mug and stood. Slipping her feet into her fluffy pink slippers, she shuffled across the floor. That took about ten seconds since she lived in a studio.
When the doorbell rang again, she skipped her usual check in the mirror by the door. Anyone this impatient deserved to be greeted with the full hair-sliding-out-of-the-ponytail style she had going on.
She peeked through the peephole and froze. Oh, no, no, no.
He was here. Now. At her house.
“Open up, Ellie.” Derrick’s deep voice floated through the door.
She tried not to make a sound.
He sighed loud enough to shake the building. “I can see your shadow under the door.”
“Fine.”