The Professor's Heart (Her Perfect Man Contemporary Romance)

by Z. L. Arkadie

  I pace in front of the door, looking at my watch. “Derek, we’re going to be late!”

  Derek walks out wearing a pair of black fitted slacks and a nice black button-front shirt. He looks jaw-droppingly hot, as if he’s straight out of a cologne ad.

  “You’re going to be there five minutes early, babe,” he says and winks. “I promise.”

  I can’t help but trust him when he smiles at me that way.

  “Where did you park?” he asks.

  “Across the street.”

  Derek opens the front door, and we walk out on the porch.

  “You should start parking in the driveway. I don’t want your car to get side-swiped,” he says.

  I watch him lock the door. “I would’ve, but Jason’s truck has been parked there every time I come home from the office.”

  I almost slap my hand over my mouth, catching my Freudian slip. I called Derek’s house my home. We walk to the garage.

  “Okay, I’ll talk to him about making sure you have a place to park in the driveway whenever you come home.” He opens the passenger-side door of his car for me. “At least until he gets this shit out of here.”

  My eyes scan the sheets of glass, plaster, and the residue lying across the second parking space. I click my seat belt. “That might take a while.”

  Derek gets in and starts the engine. “I’ll have him take it out on Monday.” He pulls out of the garage. “I would have him tomorrow, but…”

  “Tomorrow’s the wedding?” I say.

  I watch him with a grin as he backs the car down the driveway and out into the street.

  He smiles. “What?” he asks, turning the steering wheel.

  I’m just so glad that he didn’t make me feel bad about calling his house home. “Nothing. I’m just happy to be here with you.”

  Derek takes my hand as he drives. We arrive at the venue five minutes early, as he promised, but a lot of people got here before we did. I see a mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces. One sticks out—the blond with hair way too thick for it to be naturally that color is at a table, staring at us as if she just saw an alien walk into the room.

  “What’s Barbara doing here?” I say without thinking.

  “Huh?” Derek says until he sees who I’m referring to.

  I frown contemplatively. “She doesn’t know my dad—at least I don’t think she does.”

  Derek puts his arm around my waist and guides me toward the opposite side of the room. “Alice must’ve asked her to be part of the ceremony.”

  “How do they know each other?”

  “She met Alice through Mariah, my late wife,” Derek says.

  Alice claps as she stands in front of the room. My dad is beside her. They give us the instructions for tonight, but I’m distracted by Barbara’s presence. Something about her irks me and creeps me out. The last time I saw her, she forced her lips onto my boyfriend’s mouth, and she intentionally did it for my benefit.

  And then there were the two times when I swear she called Derek while he and I were in bed together. He keeps his phone on the nightstand, and on two separate occasions when it rang, he picked it up, looked at the screen, and sent the calls straight to voicemail. But I caught a glimpse of the caller’s name—Barb. I wanted to ask him about it, but her calls always put an intense frown on his face. Maybe if I had been slightly more secure in our relationship, I would’ve asked him about it. Now, I feel way more confident in our relationship.

  Finally Alice tells us all to stand and follow her. She leads the wedding party down a long hallway to the room where the ceremony will take place. For the first hour, the wedding planner, a peppy, petite woman with a mousy voice, tells us where and how to stand. Then she reads down a list of names, putting the six bridesmaids and groomsmen in line to walk down the aisle.

  “Naomi Sutters and Jared Lemon,” she says.

  I take my position, slightly confused. Why weren’t Derek and I paired up? I smile graciously at Jared, and he does the same.

  “Daughter of the groom?” he whispers.

  “Uh-huh,” I say.

  The wedding coordinator calls, “Barbara Lipton and Derek Valentine.”

  I turn back to watch Barbara cozy up next to Derek. I feel like I’m watching an unpreventable train wreck. Derek stares straight ahead, looking deep in thought.

  I look forward again. I guess there’s nothing I can do about Barbara being so near my boyfriend now. I always knew she had a crush on him, but I’m starting to think what she feels for him goes beyond a crush. The wedding coordinator calls two more names. Suddenly Derek appears next to Jared.

  “Excuse me,” he whispers, “but do you mind if we trade places?”

  Jared appears confused.

  The wedding planner snaps her fingers. “Places, places.”

  Derek puts on his irresistible smile and faces the planner. “Um…”

  “Courtney,” she says.

  “Courtney, I would like to stand next to my girlfriend.”

  “Oh,” Courtney says, shrinking under the power of his charm. “Well…” She checks her list. She’s obviously the kind of lady who hates to divert from the plan. “Um, okay…”

  Derek winks at her. “Thank you, sweetie.”

  She’s blushing. I bet that made her day. If I were her, it would’ve made mine. Jared shrugs and walks back to take his position next to Barbara.

  I face Derek, and he raises his eyebrows twice. I’m so happy he did something about my apparent discomfort over him standing next to Barbara. I kiss him quickly, and when our lips pull apart, we’re both breathing heavily and wanting more. I resist turning around to see what Barbara looks like, but I hear her muttering about how when people make plans for their wedding ceremonies, it’s not up to others to change them.

  Two hours later, we’ve gone through the entire mock ceremony. Now we’re all in a reserved room at the hotel restaurant, having a much-needed, and well-deserved, meal. Derek and I sit next to each other. Barbara is at the table behind us and to the left. I’m not focusing on her, but I can’t help but feel her eyes on us, especially when Derek rubs my back or massages the nape of my neck or leans in for a kiss. He’s a very affectionate man, in public and in the bedroom. That’s one of the endless reasons why I’ve come to love him so much.

  Jerry is standing at his seat, telling his favorite story about Alice. “So those were the last three frogs she kissed. They left me contemplating batting for the other team just to make her happy.”

  Derek and I laugh with the other guests.

  Jerry points at my dad and smiles. “But then she met this man right here, and now I can stay on my team!”

  There’s more laughter.

  Next, I tell the story about how dad took Elena and me on our first fishing trip. He was so excited to take us to the lake and teach me how to bait a hook and reel one in.

  “But Elena and I were impossible!” I smile nostalgically. “Neither one of us wanted to stick the hook through the worm or touch the fish. We kept complaining about being hungry, and every five minutes, one or the other of us had to go pee.”

  My dad laughs as if he’s tickled by the memory.

  “Let me just say, he never asked us to go fishing again. But in the car on the way home, he smiled at us and said, ‘You got through it. Good job, young ladies.’ Boy, that meant the world to Elena and me. Unfortunately, we wore him out so badly that he slept for practically the next twenty-four hours.”

  There’s more laughter, and I smile at the twinkle in his eyes. Gosh, where has that twinkle been since my mom died?

  I raise my glass for a toast. “To my dad and Alice. May the rest of your life be filled with adventure, fun, and lots of love.”

  Dad winks at me as he raises his glass.

  Next Derek talks about how Alice was always his “big” and “older” sister. She’s the one he remembers preparing meals for him and helping him with his homework until eventually, she left for college.

  Derek stands and r
aises his glass for a toast. “To the first and best teacher I ever had.”

  There’s another round of applause. Everyone in the room shares the heartfelt sentiment. When all the well wishes are over, we continue eating dinner.

  Suddenly Barbara plops down beside Derek, and her eyes are ablaze. “You didn’t get my message last night?”

  Derek glances at me and then back at her. “I did, and I’m fine,” he says sternly.

  I’m curious what he means and what her message said.

  If looks could kill, I would be six feet under, but Barbara quickly turns her glare into a thinly veiled smile. “Well, then… congratulations.”

  “For what?” Derek snaps.

  “On your new relationship.” She slaps a hand on her chest. “I didn’t know where I’ve been… oh yes, I’ve been working at the Premium Legal Defense firm.”

  I was going to say thank you even though her tone and smirk make it clear she was being facetious, but Derek beats me to it.

  “Well… thank you,” he says and turns away from her.

  Barbara sits still for moment. Her face has turned bright red. She finally leaps to her feet and stomps off. I’ve always suspected Barbara had a few marbles loose, and tonight I’m convinced she does.

  When the dinner ends, we all leave to prepare for the big day tomorrow. Our drive home starts off silent, but something has been gnawing at me ever since Barbara sat down beside him.

  I shift in my seat. “So… Barbara texted you?”

  Derek stares straight ahead as if he has a lot on his mind. “She’s texted me a number of times.”

  “Do you remember how she kissed you in front of me?”

  “I remember. Shocked the hell out of me.”

  “Do you think she was after you when Mariah was alive?”

  Derek glances at me with furrowed brows. “Well, not really.” His frown intensifies. “But there was this one time.” He looks straight ahead as if he’s trying to recreate the picture in his mind.

  “What happened?” I say.

  “We were on a dinner boat cruise. Everyone in our group had had too much to drink. She took my hand and pulled me into an empty room and said…” His frown intensifies. “‘Haven’t you ever wondered?’”

  I wait for him to say more. “And then what?” I ask.

  “Mariah opened the door and said, ‘There you are!’”

  “And Mariah didn’t suspect anything?”

  “She later mentioned that we had been playing hide-and-seek or something, but apparently I wasn’t in on it.”

  I grunt thoughtfully.

  “What?” he says.

  “It’s just that… that sounds very strange. Maybe Barbara had just found a way to justify sneaking away with her best friend’s husband to make out with him.”

  Derek flinches. After a moment, he grunts thoughtfully. “Then that would’ve made her a very insincere friend.”

  “Indeed it would,” I say.

  We glance at each other. He flexes his eyebrows then stares solemnly at the road ahead. After a few moments of silence, he holds out his hand. I put my hand on top of his and we interlace our fingers.

  25

  We make it home, and Derek makes passionate love to me. In the morning, we have a quick breakfast and get ready to go. We have to be at the Continental three hours before the wedding, and I’m excited for my dad. He’s a different man now, that’s for sure.

  I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what I’ll do after I take the bar. Working at Sutters, Bell, and Ashton probably wouldn’t be so bad. I could let him groom me to take it over one day.

  “Ready, babe?” Derek calls from the living room.

  I can’t believe he’s ready before I am. Maybe I won’t have to train him on my five-minute rule after all.

  “Ready,” I say, and walk from his bedroom to the living room in the ugliest bridesmaid dress in the world.

  He’s standing by the door. As soon as he sees me, he raises his eyebrows. “You look…”

  I stare down at the purple monstrosity I’m wearing. “Like Barney.”

  “I was thinking more like beautiful,” he says.

  I roll my eyes. “You weren’t going to say that, but I’ll take it anyway.”

  We laugh as I walk out the door, and he walks out behind me.

  “Do you have your keys?” Derek says.

  “You want to take my car?”

  “It’s already in the driveway. Why not?”

  “Okay.” I dig my car keys out of my purse and toss them to Derek.

  He catches them and opens the passenger-side door for me. I get in and make sure my dress does too. I can’t believe Alice picked such a hideous dress. It looks nothing like her tasteful decorating. Derek sits in the driver’s seat, starts the car, and we’re on our way.

  The radio station has a lot of static. I can’t remember what I was listening to last, but I turn the dial to find something that will commemorate the day. Eighties music. Classic rock. Soft rock. Crazy talk radio… I seem to find them all, a luxury I don’t normally give myself when I’m sitting behind the driver’s seat. I keep spinning the dial.

  “Um, Naomi…” Derek says.

  I look over at him. “Sorry, I’ll pick one soon. Is there a station you’d prefer?”

  His arms are stiff, and his head is firmly pressed against the headrest.

  “Where’s your brake?” he exclaims while mashing the pedal rapidly to the floor.

  I look over his thigh to see which pedal he’s pushing. He’s pressing the correct pedal! Then I look over the dashboard. If he doesn’t do something soon, we’re going to slam into speeding cross traffic.

  I snap back against my seat and push my palms against the dash. “Derek,” I screech.

  “Hold on!” he yells.

  Derek slams the car into first gear and jerks the wheel hard to the left. The motor winds to an ungodly pitch. My car jerks and bounces violently before we veer off the pavement and slam into the ditch.

  I open my eyes. Everything is a blur.

  Derek nudges my shoulder. “Are you okay? Naomi…?”

  I look over at him, surrounded by dust. Our airbags have discharged. “I think so.”

  He opens his door, gets out of the car, and walks to my side. He kneels in front of me, looking intently into my eyes. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  I look around and brush some of the white residue off my chest. “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Then let me help you out of there.”

  I take his hand, and we stand beside the vehicle.

  Two vehicles pull up behind us.

  “Are you two okay?” a guy hollers, standing outside his car.

  Derek turns. “Yeah, I think we are.” He studies me just to make sure.

  I nod and look at the car. Another second on the road, and we’d have slammed right into the highway traffic.

  “What happened?” I ask.

  Derek looks at me. “The brakes went out.”

  I call Uncle Albert, and he has my car towed to the garage. He meets us there in the suit he’s wearing to the wedding. I think about calling my dad while Uncle Albert slides into some coveralls, but my instincts tell me to keep this accident under wraps for now. Plus, I don’t want to worry them on their big day.

  Soon Uncle Albert gets my car up on the hydraulic lift. We stand near while he, with a flashlight in one hand, bends and contorts while following the brake lines. He looks at us and delivers some interesting news.

  “How sure are you that the gouge is like the one in the photo I showed you?” I ask.

  Uncle Albert wipes his hand with a rag. “Pretty sure.”

  Derek and I look at each other. We both have a sinking feeling we know what happened. Whatever happened to Mariah’s vehicle has also happened to mine.

  “You know what the next step is?”

  I nod. “I do.”

  Uncle Albert lets us use one of his rental cars. We drive back to his house, and I get an
other sinking feeling in my stomach when we pass the crash site. If it weren’t for Derek’s quick thinking, we could’ve died. Whoever cut my brake line meant to do me harm.

  As soon as we get home, we go straight to the neighbors’ house. Derek grabs the large metal knocker. This time, Ryan’s mom answers the door.

  “Hi, Claire. Is Ryan home?” Derek asks.

  Claire takes a deep breath as she looks at Derek then me. Her face contorts as if I’ve got egg or something on mine. “He’s not available. Good-bye.” She shuts the door in our faces.

  “Huh,” I say, surprised as heck.

  Derek looks at me. “What was that about?”

  I grab the door knocker and rap it three more times.

  Claire answers the door again. She looks even more infuriated. “You can’t talk to my son because you’ve already done that and without my permission.” She’s grimacing more at me than Derek.

  “I understand, Claire, but Ryan helped us tremendously and—” Derek says.

  “Apparently you don’t understand.”

  I’m on the verge of taking a crack at her when I see Ryan walk behind her, pointing toward Derek’s house.

  “If we can just speak to him for a second,” Derek says.

  My eyes remain on Ryan, who’s still behind her and pointing.

  “What are you looking at?” Claire asks sharply.

  I quickly focus on her face. “Nothing.”

  She glances over her shoulder, but Ryan’s already sped off.

  “Thank you, ma’am.” I grab Derek by the shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  Derek looks puzzled, but he follows my lead and walks down the steps. Claire slams the door behind us.

  “I’ve never known her to be so hostile. Maybe Detective Molina went over there and got them all riled up,” he says.

  I squint at the front door. “Maybe, but Ryan was behind her, signaling me.”

  Derek flinches. “He was?”

  “Look.” I point at the front door.

  Derek’s eyes follow my finger. An envelope’s tucked between the door and doorjamb. We scurry across the grass between the two houses.