humility, treat my parents with respect, be good to me. He was a role model for what she should look for in a man someday, and he had no idea.
I didn’t get to sit next to Derek on the couch because Lizzie took my spot.
I got stuck in the armchair.
We watched a movie together, but Lizzie talked the whole time, asking Derek questions.
I was happy the two of them got along so well, but I was also frustrated that my daughter was basically a cockblock. I wanted to snuggle with Derek on the couch, smell his cologne, do something we’d never done before. My eyes kept glancing to them, a little jealous that they were two peas in a pod.
“My phone has been doing this weird thing.” She held it out to him. “I tried restarting it and everything, and it doesn’t fix the problem. I even took it to the store, and they couldn’t fix it. But Mom says I can’t buy a new one.”
Derek took it from her and played around with it a bit before he figured it out. “You must have accidentally changed your settings. I altered it so you shouldn’t have that problem anymore.”
“Whoa, that’s so cool.” She took her phone back and looked at it like it was brand-new.
Derek watched the TV again, but he seemed to know I was staring at him because his eyes shifted back to me.
I smiled.
He didn’t smile back, but he gave me an affectionate look like he wished I could take Lizzie’s place. He looked back at the TV.
“I’ve been reading your book.”
Derek turned to her. “Yeah?”
“I like it a lot.”
“Really?” he said. “Because you don’t have to say that just to make me feel better.”
“No, I mean it. I’ve never been into sci-fi stuff, but I’m totally into this.” She sat there and questioned him about the characters and the story, ignoring the movie on the TV.
Derek answered most of her questions, but also said he couldn’t give her all the answers because she would have to keep reading to find out for herself. “I get a lot of inspiration from work. I’m building this equipment to do things, but there are machines I wish I could build to do other things, but it’s beyond my skills. So that’s when my imagination comes into play, getting me to places I can’t venture to on my own.”
“That’s really cool.”
They kept talking until the movie was over. Lizzie didn’t watch any of it because she was too absorbed in Derek the entire time.
I turned off the TV. “Time for bed.”
“It’s like eight o’clock,” Lizzie argued.
“No, it’s ten.” I got out of the armchair. “Look at your phone.”
She glanced down at the screen. “Wow. Time flies, huh?” She got off the couch. “Night, Derek.”
“Night, Lizzie.” He watched her go.
She walked past me and down the hallway. She went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready for bed.
I turned off the lights and made sure the front door was locked before Derek grabbed his bag and we walked to my bedroom together, this time not having to be quiet and make sure the floorboards didn’t creak.
We stepped into my bedroom, and he set his bag on my dresser.
I was on him quickly, moving into his chest before he even knew what was happening. I kissed him as my arms locked around his neck, finally getting that hot mouth on mine. I tugged him close and devoured him, wanting to get that jacket and shirt off his body the second he walked inside.
He went still at my initial touch, but he responded quickly, his arms wrapping around my body, hugging me close, gripping my ass, one hand moving into my hair as he kissed me like it’d been forever since he’d last had me.
I couldn’t believe I got to bed this man, and no other woman could. I couldn’t believe he was mine, that he joined us for dinner when he could be out doing a supermodel in a bathroom. I appreciated him every single day and never took him for granted. I felt like the luckiest woman in the world to have him, and I wanted those clothes off as soon as possible so I could enjoy him, love him, sink my nails into his muscular back and leave my mark.
Clothes fell on the floor as we filled the room with the sounds of our heavy breathing and smacking lips, gripping each other tightly and forgetting everything else