“Yep.” Derek’s face flushed. “Too much?”
“No. I love it.” She meant every word.
Derek pulled up to the front of the house and parked. “I’ll grab the luggage in a second. Do you want a tour of the house? I’m hoping you don’t think it’s too pretentious.”
Pretentious? Everything about it was gorgeous. “Uh, no.”
He opened her door for her. She climbed out of the car and walked with him up to the door. It had a stained-glass inlay, a vine with flowers budding on it. She sucked in her breath as she walked in the foyer and saw the chandelier above them, and the three large black and white photographs on the walls. They looked like they could be Ansel Adams prints. “This is amazing.”
“Really?”
“It’s like you reached into my mind and pulled out my dream home.”
Derek’s smile surprised her. It was full and genuine. “I’m glad you like it.”
“I can’t stop staring.”
He showed her the kitchen, walk-in pantry, and dining room, all of which were modern and open. More framed photographs lined the walls. He had amazing taste. She could totally see herself living in this house for the rest of her life. The thought made her stomach sour. She pushed it away, not wanting to taint the tour of what was quickly becoming her dream home.
Derek pointed to a door. “This is the family room, in the large turret. I hope the massive television won’t make you think I don’t do any work around here.” He opened the door.
Brielle was sprawled out on the couch eating popcorn, a large blanket covering her. She shrieked and jumped up, popcorn spilling on the floor. “Derek! What are you doing here?” she yelled, her hand on her chest. “You scared me to death. You’re supposed to be on your honeymoon.”
“We were.” Derek’s eyebrows pulled together. “Why are you here? Is everything okay?”
“I’m…yes. Everything is fine.”
His gaze fell to the popcorn now littering the floor. “You’re not still really upset about that guy, are you?”
Nara nudged him, trying to get him to shut up.
Brielle’s mouth popped open. “No. I mean, I’m over that. He was a jerk anyway. I’m not here because of him. I was just staying here a little while because my apartment is getting fumigated.”
Derek raised one eyebrow. “A little while?”
“Just a week.” Brielle twisted her arms together and batted her eyes. “Or two.”
“Two weeks? Who fumigates for two weeks?”
Her cheeks turned pink and she bent to pick up the popcorn bowl, her dark hair spilling forward. “I just want to be sure it’s safe in there before going back. I don’t want to breathe in poison. To tell you the truth, the whole thing freaks me out. I can’t stand bugs.” She shuddered.
Derek sighed, his shoulders slumping. “All right.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said as she tossed spilled kernels into the bowl. “I know you just got married and I’m a huge inconvenience staying here in the guest bedroom…”
Nara suddenly realized what that would mean, having Brielle in the guest bedroom, and she chastised herself for feeling happy that she and Derek would have to share a room again. What was wrong with her? She wasn’t in a real marriage. Why did she constantly need to remind herself of this?
“That’s fine,” Derek said. “I know you have nowhere else to go.”
Relief flooded over Brielle’s features. “You’re right. I don’t. Thanks for letting me crash here. Hopefully it won’t put you guys in an awkward position.”
“It’s fine,” Derek ground out, shutting the door. He made a face, then smoothed out his features. “Well, that was the family room.”
“Looked cozy.”
“Yeah,” he said under his breath. “Let’s finish the tour.”
He showed her the home gym and theater room in the basement, then they went upstairs to see the guest bedroom and the office, which had Derek’s lighting and camera equipment in the corner. The master bedroom sat nestled in the upstairs turret. Large windows let in a cascade of light. She loved the way the master bedroom felt special, in the circular room. “This is perfect.”
“I’m sorry Brielle moved in for a week or two. That sort of ruins my plan to make the spare bedroom your sewing room. I can kick her out if you’re uncomfortable in here with me.”
“Oh, no, that’s fine. She can stay.” Nara touched the soft duvet. “I don’t want to kick her out. She’s your sister.”
“Okay. I’m just a little worried about it.”
“Why?” Nara asked.
“She doesn’t know.” Derek gave a lame motion toward the staircase. “You know. The truth.”
“Oh. Well, then this will really be a good trial run. If we can fool Brielle, we can fool anyone.”
“I guess.”
He looked so disheartened, like he was sure they would be found out and disgraced. She walked to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “Hey, it’s fine. All we have to do is practice our PDA in front of her.” Nara winked.
A delightful blush colored his cheeks, and Nara decided this next week was going to be fun.
Chapter 21
Derek rolled over, again, trying to find a comfortable position. It was just impossible with Nara next to him to get any sleep. He’d tried. Hadn’t been able to sleep at all last night, and tonight was looking to be another anxious night full of pent-up energy.
Finally, he sighed and quietly slid out of bed. It wouldn’t do him any good to just lay there. And his tossing was probably disturbing Nara’s sleep. He just needed to think for a while.
He slipped on a pair of slippers from his closet and then snuck down the staircase making sure it didn’t creak. The moonlight filtered in the windows so he didn’t have to turn on any lights. He grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl in the kitchen before opening the back door to the patio. The cool night air felt good against his skin. He sat in one of the deck chairs and took a bite of his apple.
The small copse of trees behind his house held shadows of the night. He stared into them, wondering what creatures were awake back there. An owl hooted, and he smiled. That owl had been living in the tree behind his house since he moved in. For some reason, he loved listening to its haunting sound.
He took another bite of his apple. It was colder than he’d expected. A breeze sent a shiver through him. He probably wouldn’t be out a long time tonight. Too bad. He liked sitting out on his deck when he couldn’t sleep.
Nara was upstairs, sleeping in his bed. That thought should have made him happy, but instead, he couldn’t stop the voice inside his head from ruining everything. The one that said she was not his wife. The one that told him it really was a sham of a marriage, as she had put it.
He’d done what Richard had wanted and gone along with this scheme. But things weren’t going to work the way he’d hoped. And at the end of these two years he would just have more heartache than had he never married Nara to begin with.
The door creaked, and he turned to see Nara wrapped up in the duvet from their bed. She stepped out. “Derek?”
“Yeah?”
“I thought I heard you come downstairs, but I couldn’t find you. Then I saw a shadow on the deck. What are you doing out here? It’s freezing.”
“I just needed some fresh air. I’ll go in soon. You didn’t have to come looking for me.”
Instead of going inside, as he figured she would, she closed the door and plopped down on the chair next to him. “Here,” she said, offering him half the comforter.
He scooted his chair closer to hers and tucked the duvet around him. “Thanks. That’s warmer already.”
“The moon is bright tonight.” Nara pulled her knees up and hugged them to her chest under the blanket.
“Yes.” He looked down at the apple in his hand. He didn’t want to eat it in front of her. “Want a bite?”
As soon as he asked, he regretted it. Who offers an already half-eaten apple to someone? Gross. She was
not going to want to eat off an apple he bit out of. What was he thinking? But instead of making a face and telling him he was disgusting she grabbed the apple and took a bite. “Thanks,” she said, around the food in her mouth.
He was too surprised to say anything. He simply stared at her.
“So, you come out here often?” She laughed, the melodic sound carrying over the night air. “Geesh, that sounded like a pickup line.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, it did.”
She nudged him. “Well, look at that. The Emperor can laugh.”
Her words stung and he sobered. He listened to her crunching on the apple for a few minutes before she stopped. He glanced at her. “You ate the core?”
“Yeah. Well, not the stem or seeds, but you can eat everything else.”
Why didn’t he know that?
She tucked the duvet around her shoulders. “I love the sound of that owl.”
For some reason, that made him like her even more. “Me, too.” Something poked him and he fiddled with the corner of the duvet, working out a feather. He wanted to ask Nara something, but couldn’t quite gather up the courage.
After another moment of silence, he decided he needed to just say it. “Why do you call me Emperor?”
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What?”
He shrugged. “I mean, I guess I understand. You don’t like how serious I am. I’m not always easy to get along with. And I’m not like the guys you usually date. I’m pretty unlikable.”
Nara’s eyes widened and she held up a hand. “Wait a minute. You think I call you that because I don’t like you?”
His insides twisted and he scanned the trees, not sure exactly how to answer that. “Well, yeah, I guess that’s what it boils down to.”
She reached out to him under the blanket placing her hand on his. “That’s not it at all.”
He turned to look at her. “You called me Your Imperial Highness your entire senior year because you said I was too stuffy to be a commoner.”
“I was just joking around.”
“You said I had a stick so far up my—”
“Okay!” Nara closed her eyes. “I get it. I was mean to you.”
Derek swallowed down the lump growing in his throat. “You weren’t mean. You just hated me.”
Nara blinked and he could see moisture gathering in her eyes. “I didn’t hate you. Is that what you thought?”
Acid burned in his stomach. “Yeah,” he said, quietly.
“Geesh, Derek. I’m sorry.” She looked stricken. “I didn’t mean it that way. I guess my instinct is to always be snarky. And yeah, maybe I got mad at you sometimes, but I didn’t hate you.” She leaned closer to him, reaching up to touch his cheek. “I never hated you.”
He didn’t want to be a jerk, but he wanted to know the answer. “So why do you call me that?”
“Because I like you.”
Wait, what? She called him that because she liked him? How did that even make sense. “I don’t get it.”
Before he knew what she was doing, she’d stood and climbed onto his lap, curling up against him. “It started out as a joke. You know, something to bug you with. But now that I know you better, it’s more of a term of endearment.”
She snuggled into him, and he suddenly had trouble thinking of why he ever disliked the term. Maybe it wasn’t so bad, especially if it meant she liked him.
“I never meant to hurt you,” she said. “I’ll stop calling you that if you’d like.”
“No.” His heart rate picked up. “No, it’s okay. You don’t have to stop.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” He kissed the top of her head without thinking, and then froze. Did she feel that? Would she say something about it? But she didn’t seem to react, so he just pressed his cheek to her head and breathed in the scent of her.
“Now I feel bad,” she said, her voice so quiet he could barely hear her.
“Don’t feel bad.”
“But, I do. Here I was, joking around with you, thinking you thought it was as funny as I did.” She looked up at him, her eyes large. “But you thought I was being mean.”
He brushed over her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “You know what I like about you?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“I like how you see the world differently.”
A small smile flitted over her lips. “Do you know what I like about you?”
He was enjoying everything about this game. “No. What?”
“I like how forgiving you are.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yep. Super forgiving. Like, totally.” She pulled near.
He liked the feel of her so close to him. It made his pulse quicken. “Well, do you know what I like about you?”
His owl hooted in the distance. It sounded like it had flown to another tree. Nara’s smile widened. “You’d better tell me before I imagine up all sorts of things.”
He could say all sorts of things. But he wouldn’t. He would behave. “I like your smile.”
Nara’s eyes sparkled in the moonlight. “I like yours, too.” She reached out and gingerly touched his lips, like she had yesterday on the plane.
“Oh, you two are so adorable!”
The sound of Brielle’s voice behind him startled him and he jumped up. Unfortunately, that meant that he deposited Nara on the deck with a thud. “Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry!”
He rushed to pick up Nara, who was now tangled in the duvet, while Brielle laughed behind him. “Oh, that’s classic there, bro. Classic. You’re such a nerd.”
“What are you doing up?” he asked as he finally got Nara upright. Man, he sounded like a parent. He hated when parental things came out of his mouth, but that’s what he’d been to Brielle for the past how many years. It was hard to stop.
Brielle just laughed again and walked out onto the deck. “You guys are hilarious. Don’t let me interrupt you, by all means. I just came out to see what was going on. You didn’t forget I was here, did you?”
“No,” he said, his ears heating up like a toaster. “I didn’t.”
Brielle waved her hand around. “Sit down you two. Geesh. Don’t get all embarrassed.”
Derek sat, suddenly self-conscious of his striped pajamas, and the way Nara had been sitting on his lap. Nara, on the other hand, had a sly smile on her face and didn’t seem to mind at all snuggling up to him like she’d been doing before. She pulled the blanket around them again.
“Now, you just go back to making out. I’ll pretend I don’t see a thing.” Brielle looked out at the trees.
Nara put her arms back around his neck. “Did you hear that? Your sister thinks we should make out.”
“Uh…” What was Nara doing?
“Come on. Kiss me.” Nara closed her eyes and puckered her lips.
Tempting, but he knew she was just joking around with him. “I’m not making out with you while my little sister is out here.”
Brielle snorted. “Okay, fine. I’ll go back inside.”
Wait, what? His brain decided to function again. Nara was being all flirty with him, wanting to kiss him, because Brielle was there. And now she was leaving? “No, don’t leave,” he said quickly.
“I have to, now. The last thing I want to see is my brother making out. Gross.” She stepped across the deck and through the kitchen door. The click told him she was gone.
“Darn,” Nara said, her lower lip jutting out into a pout. “I was hoping to practice our PDA.”
Derek wasn’t sure exactly what had gotten into Nara, but he had the crazy notion to play along with her. “She could be still watching.”
Nara’s eyes widened and she nodded. “Oh, you’re right. She could.”
His heart thumped as he stared into her brown eyes. Was he going to do what he thought he was going to do? For a split second, his brain told him this was a bad idea, but he shoved that aside and pulled Nara closer to him. “We’d better act like we’re really married,” he whis
pered.
Nara nodded. “We’d better.”
He could barely believe he was given permission to kiss her, but he wasn’t about to ask for clarification. He brushed his lips over hers, the same wild sensation as before cascading over him. Her lips were warm, and soft, and he pressed closer, his lips dancing over hers.
Nara’s fingers tangled into his hair and she responded to his kiss with a soft, guttural moan. Fire skittered over his skin, igniting him with heat and longing. Nara was everything he wanted, and he couldn’t believe she’d flirted with him, practically begging him to kiss her.
He didn’t hold back. He kissed her with all the energy he had. All the years of wanting and needing her, but not having her. He kissed her with his whole soul.
As he kissed her, his brain tried to figure out why she’d flirted with him. Why she’d asked to be kissed. A small part of him thought that maybe she was coming around. Maybe she really didn’t hate him, like she’d professed tonight.
Maybe she liked him.
The thought shot through him like a bolt of lightning, and he deepened the kiss. Nara pulled him closer, her response making his heart go crazy in his chest. He was kissing the love of his life. And she was kissing him back.
And then, of course, his brain had to ruin it all by wondering what this meant for them. Was this just a kiss, in the middle of the night, between two lonely people? Or was Nara kissing him because she wanted to be with him?
He pulled back, taking in a large breath. Nara’s gaze held him in place. Her lips were slightly parted, her breath coming out in short bursts of fog. He suddenly couldn’t move. Couldn’t talk. But he had to. He needed to know. He forced the words to come out. “What are we doing, here?”
Chapter 22
Nara stared at Derek, not understanding his words. What were they doing? Wasn’t it obvious? He stopped kissing her to ask her that? It was the most amazing kiss she’d ever had, and he decided to pause to talk about what they were doing? She wanted to smack him upside the head, but instead, she just gave him a shy smile. “Kissing.”
“I know, kissing. But…what exactly are we doing?”
A Marriage of Anything but Convenience Page 12
