Derek (Hunter PI & Security #1)

by Sharon Cummin

“The fuck you will,” Derek snapped even louder.

  “Derek Hunter,” I snapped louder than both of them. “You might be able to get away with that bossy shit most of the time, but this time is not one of them.”

  “Why?” he asked in a serious tone. “Is it because.”

  “Do not finish that,” I said, as I stepped closer to him. “It has nothing to do with him and everything to do with the fact that I have not counted on anyone since I started college. I pay my own way. I take care of me. If I quit my job, you will be paying for everything. I will be totally relying on you. I can't do that.”

  “Why not?” he asked. “You're going to be my wife.”

  “What if one day you don't want that anymore? I'm not sure I could take that risk,” I said.

  “That will never happen,” he said. “You are mine. You will be mine until my last breath. I will not ever hear those words come out of your mouth again. Do you hear me? I love you, Bridget. It's forever. While I enjoy being flipped off several times a day, I want my woman home.”

  “How could she flip you off?” Gabby asked. “You never come out of that office of yours.”

  “One of the cameras is pointed right at my desk,” I said.

  Gabby burst into laughter.

  “So he was watching you,” she said.

  “I wouldn't be laughing,” I said with a straight face, and Derek's arms tightened around me. “There are cameras everywhere.”

  “That is not funny,” Gabby snapped. “Where are the screens? I want to see them.”

  “In his office,” I said, as I pointed behind me, “but I wouldn't sit on his furniture or put your hands on his desk while you're in there though.”

  “Seriously,” Gabby and Taylor both snapped out before she continued. “Why would you paint that picture for us?”

  “You are so wrong,” Derek whispered into my ear. “Maybe Taylor will keep his ass out of my office now though, so thank you.”

  I looked up to see Jean's cheeks redder than I had before.

  “Shit!” I said, as I covered my mouth. “I'm sorry, Jean. I wasn't thinking.”

  “That's okay,” she said. “Maybe you two aren't so boring after all. Thanks for the heads of up on the furniture.”

  My own cheeks had to have been matching hers.

  “Can we please get this conversation back on track,” Derek said.

  “My woman will be working from home,” Doug said.

  “My woman won't be working at all,” Derek said sternly.

  “What is wrong with you two?” Taylor asked. “Why are you both acting like bullies? What's the big deal? Would it be so bad if they made their own decisions?”

  “My woman will be home with our baby,” both Derek and Doug said at the exact same time.

  My eyes were glued to Gabby's. We both nodded, but neither of us said a word.

  “Hold on a second,” Jean said. “Did you just say our baby? Does that mean what I think it does? Are you two giving me a third grandchild?”

  My eyes went wide, and I turned to Jean. Tears were instantly coming from them. She moved right by the guys and wrapped her arms around me.

  “That guy, as bossy as he is when it comes to you, is my son. If you're marrying him, then you're one of ours too. You actually already were. Jenny and Gabe are my grandchildren. Please tell me he was talking about another baby. I never thought I'd be a grandma again, and that would be the best news ever.”

  “Turns out we weren't so careful at the hospital,” Derek said, and Jean smiled.

  “There too,” Gabby said. “You two are something else.”

  Jean hugged me so tight.

  “Thank you for accepting us,” I said. “You will never know how much that means to me.”

  Gabby grabbed me and turned me to hug her. I could hear Jean telling Derek that everything was going to be okay and that she would be right there for everything we needed.

  “We're both pregnant,” Gabby said. “I'm so excited. You know what would be really cool?”

  “What?” I asked.

  “If one of us had a boy and the other had a girl and they married each other when they grew up,” Gabby said.

  “Seriously,” Derek snapped, as he turned toward us. “Would you please give me a damn break. I already have to think about my precious little girl and Taylor's bossy son over there.”

  The three of us looked over to see TJ, with a smile on his face, dropping rose petals over Jenny's head.

  “I have a question,” Taylor said, and we all turned to him. “Does that mean Sarah will be the one in lobby from now on?”

  “Taylor,” Derek snapped.

  “Not now she won't,” Gabby said. “I'm hiring a man to sit in that seat.”

  “Seriously?” Taylor asked.

  “Yes,” Gabby said. “With Bridget and me at home, none of you men need to be checking out the lobby.”

  I felt Derek pull me back against him and knew there was a huge smile on my face.

  “Doesn't matter to me,” he said, before whispering in my ear. “I don't have a reason to watch the lobby anymore anyway. I only have eyes for you. Will you please quit your job and stay home with our kids?”

  “I will,” I said. “Since you asked nicely.”

  I felt him pinch my ass hard and jumped.

  “Hunter,” I hissed.

  “Yes, baby,” he said, with a smile I knew for sure was there.

  Jenny came running over as all of the arguing settled.

  “Did you say yes?” she asked. “My daddy wants to marry you. Please tell me you said yes.”

  I bent down and picked Jenny up.

  “I did,” I said. “Is that okay with you? Can we all live in this big house?”

  “Yes,” Jenny said. “I can't wait. I love you and Gabe so much. He'll be my brother. I always wanted a brother.”

  “He will be,” Derek said, as he picked Gabe up and came right back to us. “How do you two feel about a baby?”

  “A baby,” Gabe said.

  “Really?” Jenny asked, as she held my cheeks in her hands. “A baby brother or sister.”

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  “I'm the happiest girl in the world. I love you,” she said, as wrapped her arms around my neck. “We're having a baby.”

  “We are,” Derek said.

  I felt her little body squirm to get down.

  “I have to tell TJ,” she said. “He's going to be so excited.”

  I let her down and looked back at Derek with a smile, as he shook his head. Then I felt a pull on my shirt. I looked down to see Jenny with a worried look, the opposite of what she'd just had there. When I leaned down, she grabbed my head and got close to my ear.

  “You'll come home, right?” she asked.

  “What?” I asked, feeling lost by her question.

  “When you have the baby, you'll come back home, right?” she asked. “If you're not going to, then I don't want a baby.”

  I felt a huge pull in my chest the second I got what she meant. I looked back to see Derek swinging Gabe around with a huge smile on his face. There was no way I wanted to ruin his moment or worry him, so I got down on my knee and looked into Jenny's eyes.

  “I'm going to come back home,” I said. “I've already had little Gabe, remember? Everything will be okay, Jenny. There is no reason for you to worry.”

  What else could I have said. There was no way that precious little girl needed to worry. Her dad would be doing enough of that for all of us.

  “I love you, Bridget,” Jenny said, as she hugged me tight. “I'm so glad you're going to be my mommy too.”

  Just like that, her frown was gone and she was bouncing off to tell TJ about her new baby. When Derek came over, I stood up and turned to him.

  “Everything all right?” he asked.

  “Everything is perfect,” I answered.

  He wrapped his arms around me, and we looked around the room at all of the people that were there for us.

  “
We're pretty lucky,” I said. “Some of them are crazy, but they're ours.”

  “Yes they are,” he said. “Are you ready to make this house our home?”

  “More than you'll ever know,” I said.

  “So when's the wedding?” Gabby asked, as she walked over to us.

  “As soon as possible,” Derek said. “I need to make her my wife before she changes her mind.”

  “I don't think it would matter if she did,” Gabby said. “You'd probably just throw her over your shoulder and carry her down the aisle.”

  “You're probably right,” Derek said.

  “Just promise me one thing, Bridget,” Gabby said.

  “What's that?” I asked, having no idea what she was going to say.

  “Promise me that you'll at least brush your hair for your wedding,” she said.

  My hand went to the top of my head and felt the funky bun, ponytail thing I was sporting. Then I looked down at my clothes.

  “Shit!” I said, as embarrassment filled me.

  “You're beautiful,” Derek said, as he held me tight. “I'd be perfectly fine if you walked down the aisle looking exactly like you do right now.”

  “You really are in love,” Gabby said with a laugh.

  “I'm the luckiest man alive,” he said. “I'm more in love than I ever thought I could be. The only thing that would make it better would be her actually doing what I ask her to do.”

  “You wouldn't want that,” I said, as I looked up at him. “Your ass likes the challenge just as much as I do.”

  “You're right about that,” he said with a wink. “Spanking that ass is one of my favorite things.”

  “I'm not saying a word,” Gabby said.

  “You better not,” I said with a smile. “I've heard way more in that house and at the office than you'd want any of them to know. Don't act like your ass hasn't been spanked a time or two.”

  Gabby's eyes widened, and her cheeks turned the darkest red.

  “Now that I'm moving out,” I said, “Doug won't have to tell you to keep it down so much.”

  Watching her freak out in front of Derek was the best sight ever. She was my best friend, and I was so lucky to have her.

  “You're so mean,” he whispered into my ear, “and so damn adorable. I love you, Bridget.”

  “I love you too, Derek,” I said.

  Doug walked over and looked between Gabby and me.

  “What did you do to my wife?” he asked.

  “Not a thing,” I said, with a smile.

  When Derek and I burst into laughter, Gabby laughed right along with us.

  “You two are not nice,” she said.

  “It was all her,” Derek said. “I guess you'll think before you point out her faults again.”

  “She can wear a burlap bag down the aisle for all I care,” Gabby said. “I won't say a word.”

  “Good,” Bridget said with a smile. “Maybe I will.”

  Gabby turned toward Doug and her cheeks went pink. Then she turned back to me.

  “I want the keys when you leave,” she said.

  Doug gave Derek and me a strange look before looking back at Gabby.

  “I love you,” I said, with a smile.

  “I don't know why, but I love you too,” Gabby said.

  She grabbed Doug's arm. When they walked away, I burst into laughter and Derek laughed right along with me.

  “What do you say,” he began. “Should we kick them all out so I can have my way with my fiance?”

  “So you planned ahead then,” I joked.

  “Oh, I did,” he said. “We are going to make every single room in this house ours tonight.”

  Everyone congratulated us on their way out, and we thanked them all for being there for us. When Jean asked Gabe if he wanted to go home with them, my boy was so excited. We got both kids into the car and watched them pull out of the driveway before going back inside.

  The second the door locked behind us, my man had my back against the door and was already working my jeans down my legs. His jeans went next. The weight of his body against mine was something I knew I'd never want to be without again.

  “What if I would have said no?” I asked.

  “Wasn't going to happen,” he said, as he ripped my panties from me.

  “What if it did?” I asked again.

  He gripped my ass hard in his hands and lifted me.

  “It wouldn't,” he said.

  “How can you be sure?” I asked, as I grabbed the back of his head and gripped his hair between my fingers.

  “Your mine,” he said. “You always will be.”

  When he thrust into me hard, I cried out his name.

  “You belong with me,” he said.

  Then he pulled all the way out and thrust into me again. My mouth landed on his, and I was gone.

  Derek did exactly as he'd promised. He'd made me his in every single room of our house before the light began to come through the windows. I opened my eyes and looked into his, as I pushed up onto my elbow on the blanket in our bedroom.

  “I love you, Derek,” I said.

  “I love you too, baby,” he said.

  “Thank you for saving me,” I said.

  “You're the one that saved me,” he said, before rolling me onto my back and showing me yet again just how much he loved me.

  Epilogue

  One Month Later

  Derek

  So much had happened in that month. Bridget had been to the doctor to verify that she was in fact pregnant. I was right there by her side, asking question after question about every little thing I could think of. It was driving her doctor crazy, but he took the time to try and put my mind at ease. Her doctor was a he. I wasn't very happy about that, but she'd convinced me that he was the best. He was the one that delivered Gabe, so that made me feel a bit better. The second I heard the beating of our baby's heart, the sex of our doctor didn't matter anymore. If he could keep my baby and my woman safe, he was okay in my book.

  We'd talked about Jennifer and Gabe and how we planned to handle the special days. With Gabe, we planned to let off balloons as a family, and with Jennifer, we decided we'd go to her grave and have a picnic as a family. All of those occasions would include the five of us, Jean, Joe, Gabby, Doug, and their little one. They were our family, and we wanted them right there with us each time.

  The wedding discussion had been a bit of an argument. She said she'd marry me anywhere, but I knew it wasn't what she wanted. My woman wanted a wedding. She deserved the biggest, most beautiful wedding there was. I loved her, and I was going to make sure our wedding was exactly what she wanted. I only had one request, it had to happen before the baby was born. I didn't care if we said I do while she was pushing, we were going to be man and wife before our baby came into the world. Gabby was right there planning with her. She didn't want to be enormous on her wedding day, so they needed to work fast. She decided we'd have the wedding on the six month anniversary of me telling her that I loved her. That sounded perfect to me.

  Bridget wasn't thrilled that I was still working with our local police, but as long as I gave her a brief description of each case, letting her know it wasn't dangerous, she'd at least accepted it. My newest case kind of hit home for her. I tried to give her as little information as I could, but she kept pushing for more. They were trying to put a guy away, and his woman was their biggest chance at getting him. She had more information than anyone else. There was one problem, he beat the shit out of her on a regular basis. She would have loved to put him away, it was him getting back out that scared her. The more Bridget asked, the more she thought.

  “I've got it,” she said.

  “Got what?” I asked her.

  “The money,” she said. “I know what I'm going to do with it.”

  “The money?” I asked.

  “The money I got from Gabe's life insurance. I'm going to help other women.”

  “Bridget,” I said, but she cut me off.

  “I didn't h
elp her,” she said. “I didn't save her. I should have gone to them, but I didn't. The woman you're talking about is afraid. I was afraid. Can you imagine how many other women are afraid too? I got out, she didn't. How many others didn't get out in time, Derek? I was lucky. She wasn't, and a huge part of that is my fault.”

  “Bridget,” I snapped, but she shook her head.

  “I was young,” she said. “I was afraid. When they went after him and he was out of my life, there was no way I wanted him back in it, not for any reason. I'm going to start a foundation in her name. I'm going to use the money and do as much as I can to make sure nobody else ends up like she did, Derek. I'm going to give them someplace to go where they can be safe. Will you help me?”

  “Of course I will,” I said. “What you're wanting to do is huge, and it's going to take a lot of time and work.”

  “I know,” she said. “It's what I have to do. I want to use the money to help women that don't have someone to be there to help them.”

  Just like that, my woman went to work on it. She knew naming a foundation after the woman her ex had killed was going to open up so many things from her past, but she didn't care. She was on a mission, and I couldn't have been more proud of her.

  I was working my ass off with the guys to get the house ready. Every single one of them had jumped in to help me at night and on the weekends. Bridget, Jean, and Gabby had been right there every single day with us as well. They took care of the kids, including TJ, and made us all food. I wasn't sure who was more excited, Bridget or me. We'd picked out the colors and furniture for the baby's room together. It felt so good seeing her excited about each little thing. She hadn't had that when Gabe was born, and I was so happy to be able to give that to her. Jenny and Gabe couldn't wait for their rooms to be ready. They'd each picked out their colors and furniture. Seeing Jenny and Bridget going through the catalogs and talking about girly stuff made my heart ache and soar at the same time. It was girl talk, and I wasn't allowed. Gabe wanted cars, so together the two of us picked out his race car bed and the coolest carpet and paint colors for his wall.

  Finally, we'd gotten it all done. Everything had been moved in. Our home was ready. They each left, one at a time, until it was only Drake and the four of us left. Jenny and Gabe both wanted him to stay, and he did. The three of them played and watched a cartoon together while Bridget and I finished up a few last minute things. He stayed in the living room while we walked the two kids up to put them to bed in their new rooms for the first time.