“My father?” Maddy choked out. “My father? He’d have a fat chance of getting within twenty feet of my father. Ever since the Gallihar trial, he has had two bodyguards with him at all times.”
Maddy laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes. What a mess this has been, she thought. I want to go home.
“When you call Martin, tell him to book us on the next flight out to New York,” she said.
Derek leaned in and kissed her. “I will,” he said softly, and proceeded to plant kisses on her face before working his way down her neck. He heard a soft moan escape her lips as his kisses brushed her collarbone. Her arm snaked around his neck.
“Why did you hate me?” he asked still kissing her neck.
“Ummm,” she replied through the haze of his kisses that were fogging her mind. “I don’t think I hated you. Disliked you immensely, but hated? No.” She sighed.
“But you said it often enough to me,” he said kissing the soft flesh of the inside of her arm.
“You wouldn’t leave me alone,” she said, dreamily loving the tickle of his mustache. “You caused me to doubt myself, so I thought if you thought I hated you, you would leave me alone. But that only made you harass me more.” She sighed. “Why did you do that to me?”
Derek stopped and considered her question before answering. This would mean putting his heart out there, but it was a risk he was willing to take, regardless of the consequences. He was too far gone to pull it back now.
“I was attracted to you the first time I saw you,” he said, looking at her lips. “And, it scared me just how much. I had spent two years building a wall around my heart to keep out feelings like I had for you. I figured if I kept you at arm’s length my heart would be safe. That worked for several months, then Martin put me on your Cobblefield project. The more we worked together, the more I could feel my wall crumbling. I couldn’t have that, so I made your life miserable to compensate for my desire to possess you.” He paused and looked at Maddy. She was staring up at him. Had he revealed too much? He closed his eyes, waiting for her to laugh.
She reached up and palmed his cheek. He opened his eyes at her touch and found himself falling into dark chocolate pools of desire.
“I thought you hated me. You were always flirting with the other women in the office, but you never flirted with me, you said things that cut my heart and left me doubting myself. But, I wasn’t going to let your comments derail me from doing what I needed to do. I had to prove that I was as good an architect as the rest of you, especially after I found out how I got the job. Besides, I was slowly losing my battle with my emotions toward you as well.” She looked at Derek, a small sideways grin on her lips. “I didn’t want to feel anything for you but disgust.”
His heart grew wings and soared in his chest, beating down what remained of the walls he had erected there. “I love you,” he said placing his hands on either side of her face and drawing her to him.
“I love you, too,” she said, parting her lips in anticipation of his kiss.
Derek placed a passionate kiss on her lips. He felt her immediate response and deepened the kiss.
“Oh, excuse me,” the nurse said, holding the door open. “I’ll come back later.”
Derek and Maddy looked around at the nurse and laughed. “Good idea,” they said together.
The End
The Royals of Monterra Page 8
