More than a week later, Derek sat in his office frustrated as hell. First, with the politicians in charge and secondly with the woman in his life. Neither were doing anything that made any damn sense and he was ready to pop.
“Shit!” he yelled, hitting his desk which had Gina running into his office.
“What?” she asked.
Derek shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’m just highly frustrated right now.”
She closed the door and took a seat. “What’s the matter Baby Boy?”
He looked at her. “Didn’t I tell you not to call me that?”
“Sorry, old habits die hard. I forget you’re the big boss now, not the little brat I remember.” Gina told him. “Really though, what’s wrong? You’ve been on edge since you got back. Dina’s even worried about you.”
Derek was quiet for a long moment before he responded. “I miscalculated,” he admitted.
Gina lifted a brow in surprise before he continued.
“I thought she’d be here by now,” he said quietly. “Or least have plans to come.”
She nodded. “What is she saying?”
He sighed. “She’s in the middle of implementing some new ideas at her Inn.”
“Well, she’s working Derek. She’s busy…”
“Too busy to make plans Gina?” Derek questioned. “To say, ‘Hey baby, I’ll be there next week, next month?’”
“You’ve got a lot on your plate. Don’t take it out on her,” Gina warned.
“I’m not,”
Gina leaned forward. “Give her some more time.”
Derek shook his head. “You don’t understand. The longer she takes, that means that she’s having second thoughts.”
“Well damn, Derek, it has only been about a month since you met her,” Gina pointed out.
He stood. “I’m not dragging her to the altar, Gina. If she won’t even leave her Inn to come visit me, then there’s no chance in hell that she’d ever even consider anything else.”
Gina pulled his chain. “Then just forget about her. You’re back in D.C. and we all know the field is open to you.”
Derek glared at her. “I can’t just forget about her. I’m in love with her!”
“Exactly, and your ass will wait for her, so relax and chill until she’s ready.” Gina told him.
“I won’t wait forever and I told her that.”
Gina looked surprised. “You told her that?”
“And I meant it,” Derek said taking his seat again. “I have limits too.”
“Would you really walk away?” Gina questioned.
Derek opened a file on his desk. “I won’t continue to chase a woman that doesn’t have any intentions of ever being caught.”
Gina sighed and changed the subject. “What’s going on at the Hill?”
Derek looked up. “Treason, conspiracy, collusion, and we may have been taken over by a foreign country without our knowledge.”
“Damn, this is really bad.” Gina whispered. “Are we going to get through this?”
He scratched his head. “This is unprecedented. So many hands in the cookie jar and no one really knows who’s been bought and paid for. Government will never be the same after this fiasco.”
“Maybe you can find out more at your dinner tonight,” Gina suggested.
Derek gave her a look. “I’m sure this dude’s been bought a few times over, but you’re right, I can scout out some of the others. I don’t want to get caught in the wrong camp and fuck up my reputation.”
He took a breath. “I’m not in the best mood, so I hope I don’t run into any bullshit.”
“You know Brian could go alone?”
“Yeah, I know, but I told him I was coming so I won’t back out.”
Gina stood. “It’s all going to work out, Derek. I’ve known you forever and you never miscalculate. Dina taught you well.”
“Stop gossiping with my sister about me,” he warned.
Gina laughed. “Never, I only work here to make sure nobody messes with you because she’s not around.”
“Do you actually work here?” Derek asked.
She laughed harder. “You know I do.” Gina headed to the door and paused when Derek spoke again.
“Thanks Gina,” he said quietly. “For letting me blow this off.”
Gina smiled. “Anytime Baby Boy.”
He frowned and she quickly exited the office, closing the door behind her. Derek glanced at the newest box of chocolates on his desk. He’d told Lana that they wouldn’t hold him for long. She’d sent several boxes and now he wanted nothing but the real thing. His phone buzzed on his desk and he checked the text message.
“Hey baby, did you get your delivery?”
Derek quickly typed back. “Yeah, I did.”
“You know that’s quality chocolate, right?” She sent a smiley face emoji.
He wasn’t in the mood for teasing. “It’s not the kind of chocolate I’m craving.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
There was no response for a minute, then another text came in.
“What’s wrong?”
He ran a hand down his face than wrote back. “Nothing baby, I miss you.”
“You sure?”
He scrolled through his phone and selected one of the many pictures of them together he had stored. It was the one of them in bed at the hotel in Grand Rapids and he was kissing her cheek, while she looked into the camera. He sent the picture to her with a message.
“I miss this…”
He laughed when she returned his text with a row of fire emojis, before another text came through.
“I’ll always find you.”
Derek sighed and thought about how Gina knew him so well as he typed his response.
“I’m not going anywhere, baby.”
******
That night Derek dressed in his tuxedo in preparation for the evening’s event. He hated these things but it was a part of his job. He and Brian were sharing a driver tonight, so when his doorbell rang, he headed to answer the door.
Opening it, he saw Brian on the porch of his expensive townhome in the city. Brian was dressed as he was in a tailored tux and black designer shoes.
“I’m ready, just give me a minute.” Derek announced and walked back down the hall. Brian followed and began talking.
“I thought you were going to make me go solo,”
Derek picked up his wallet and watch. “Nah, I’m a man of my word.”
“I know, that’s why I appreciate working with you. You’re a real good dude.”
Derek looked up. “What the hell is all this?”
Brian smiled. “Man, don’t trip. It’s not like that,” he assured him. “I’m just saying that I respect you and actually admire you a lot.”
Derek paused. “Okay, so I’m not really feeling this conversation.”
Brian frowned. “I guess this is sounding kind of left…”
“Very left,” Derek agreed.
“My bad,” Brian said and headed towards the door. Shaking his head, Derek followed.
Brian began talking as they headed down the hall. “See, I got here a little early and I was waiting outside…” He stepped out the door on the porch.
Derek listened as he closed and locked the door behind him. “Yeah, okay…”
The pair walked to the waiting car with dark tinted windows. “Well, a taxi pulled up and this little cutie got out. She was too bad for me not to introduce myself.”
Derek stopped outside the car. “Brian, what the hell are you talking about?”
“So I stepped to her as she got out, and then she started telling me that she was here to visit her dude,” Brian continued. “She told me this dude was her…everything, and then all about him, like how he sends her flowers every day, and teases her about being a barefoot country girl…”
Derek froze as the car door opened and when Lana stepped out, their eyes met.
“You said I didn’t have to call…” she whispered.
Brian watched as Derek pulled his woman into his arms and began to lay it on her. He looked around for a few minutes, then turned back to the pair.
“So, I’ll just grab her luggage and put it on the porch,” Brian announced to the oblivious couple. “Because I have a dinner to go to.”
Derek lifted his head and looked into Lana’s face. “I guess you have plans tonight,” she whispered as she looked over his attire.
“Not anymore,” he answered.
“I don’t want to take you aw…”
She was cut off by the sensual attack on her lips.
“Okay, I’m taking off now,” Brian announced after another few minutes. “It was nice to meet you Lana. Hope you enjoy your stay in Washington.”
The pair stayed locked in their embrace.
“I’m cool Derek. I’ll handle things at the dinner and report back sometime…whenever.”
Brian climbed into the vehicle and it took off, leaving Derek and Lana still kissing on the curb. After a few minutes, she pulled away.
“We should probably finish this inside,” Lana whispered.
Derek stared down at her. “We’ll be starting once we get inside.”
She smiled and he took her hand, leading her back to his home. Derek opened the door and allowed her inside before grabbing her luggage and following. Lana glanced around his living room before turning to him.
“Wow, this is where you live?” she said amazed.
After sitting her bags aside, he nodded. “You found me.”
Lana looked around again. “I see why you wouldn’t want to leave here. It’s beautiful and I’ve only seen one room.”
Derek came to her and took her hand. “Then let me show you the rest.”
They toured his office, the kitchen and a bathroom before heading upstairs. Derek inhaled the lavender scent of her beautiful hair as they climbed the stairwell. He showed her two rooms before they reached the master. Lana stared inside at the massive bed with shining wood furniture surrounding it.
“This is amazing…” she told quietly.
“Dina helped me hire a professional decorator. Otherwise, you’d be looking at a twin bed and some milk crates,” he confessed.
Lana laughed and turned to him. “It wouldn’t matter to me.”
Derek pulled her into his arms. “And that’s one of the many reasons why I love Lana Sable.”
She linked her arms around his neck. “You scared me when I texted you from the airport,” she confessed. “It felt like you were ready to end things.”
“I didn’t know you were at the airport,” he said giving her a look. “And I was concerned about where we were heading.”
Lana moved closer. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“You did, baby.” He assured her. “I can’t remember the last time I was that surprised.”
“Brian is a nice guy. He speaks very highly of you,” Lana told him.
Derek laughed. “I thought he was about to spring some weird shit on me. He was acting all strange.”
“It was his idea to come in and get you,” Lana explained. “When I got out of the cab, he was nice enough to help me with the bags.”
“He was trying to get with you until he found out who you were,” Derek corrected.
Lana smiled. “He’s handsome. I might have to introduce him to Lena.”
Derek moved her over to the bed. “Right now, I could care less about Brian, Lena or anybody else because my sweet chocolate is here.” He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist.
Cradling his face, she kissed him hotly. “There’s almost nowhere else I’d want to be,” Lana whispered against his mouth.
Derek held her in the air as she went for his bowtie and slowly untied it. “So you tie these yourself?” she surmised.
He nodded. “Every one.”
She finished loosening it and let the sides fall. “They’ve really grown on me. I never thought I’d fall for a man who wore bowties, but now I think they’re sexy.”
Derek squeezed her butt. “You’re sexy, and sweet…and you smell so good.” He buried his face in her neck and smelled cocoa butter.
“Put me down, so I can finish undressing you.” Lana told him in his ear.
He immediately let her feet touch the floor and Lana went for his jacket. “Is this a rental?”
Derek gave her a look.
Pushing the jacket off his broad shoulders, she smiled. “I should know better than that. You tie your own bowties.”
Smiling, Derek shrugged out of the jacket and tossed it on a nearby chair then Lana went to work on his shirt. She reached for the sleeve and saw the monogram.
“Do you really have your initials on your shirt?” she asked studying the letters D, J, and W, in the small script.
“Aren’t you supposed to be undressing me?” he reminded her.
Shaking her head, Lana went back to his sleeve. “Oh my god, are these diamond cufflinks?”
Derek lifted her face to his. “How about I undress you?” He reached for the hem of her shirt and lifted it over her head. Lana watched as he lowered his head and kissed the tops of her exposed breasts before gently licking them with his warm tongue.
Lana caressed his head against her flesh. “I like your haircut,” she told him as she touched the low cut wavy pattern.
Reaching for her jeans, Derek thanked her and slid the pants down her legs and waited for her to step out of them before laying her gently back on the bed. Lana raised her arms above her head and bent her legs to give him a view of what he’d been missing.
Derek gave her a naughty smile. “Yeah, I’m about to be all over that.”
Removing his cufflinks, he took off his shirt and Lana’s eyes lit on his chest. Her gaze moved lower while he kicked off his shoes and went for his slacks.
“So let me get all of this out of the way…” he told her while he got butt naked. “Hey baby. I’m so happy to see you. I’m so glad you came. And I missed you.”
Derek joined her on the bed, covering her body with his. “Does that cover everything?” he asked.
Lana nodded, enjoying the feel of his body against hers. “Yeah, I think so.”
Her breath caught as he began to touch her body. “Umm…I should say…I’m so happy to see you. I couldn’t wait to get here. And I missed you too.”
He smiled down into her face. “Time for the buffet?”
“It’s open all night…” Lana gave him a heated look.
“Tell me I’m not dreaming,” Derek whispered in Lana’s ear as he removed the bra that encased her B-cups.
“It feels real to me,” she answered.
He moved to her panties. “How long do I have you?”
Their eyes met. “Seven days.”
Derek lifted a brow. “I wasn’t expecting that. I thought you’d just come for the weekend.”
Lana touched his face. “That’s what took so long. I had to get things in order to be gone this long, because a weekend wouldn’t have been enough.”
He tossed her panties aside and laid next to her. “I thought you were changing your mind,” he told her honestly.
“No, I wasn’t.”
Derek lifted her bare leg over his waist and kissed her softly. “I love you.”
Lana blinked to contain the dampness. “This is the first time you’ve told me that in person.”
“If you let me, I’ll tell you every day in person.”
She kissed his lips. “We can work on that, because…I love you,” Lana whispered.
The two engaged in torrid kisses as their naked bodies intertwined. Derek slid his hand into her hair and reveled in its texture. “Lana…” he breathed her name.
Throwing her head back, she answered breathlessly, “Yes, to whatever you want.”
Derek lifted his head to look into her feverish face. “I want you.”
Lana let her hands roam over the heated flesh of his back and arms then lower. She took him into her hands and gently massaged up and down as they watched one another.
“And I want you…” she told him.
At her words, Derek rolled over to the nightstand and removed a packet. Turning the bedside lamp down low, he came back to Lana to stroke the fire some more before applying the protection.
Lana turned and pushed him down on the bed before straddling him. She ran her hands along his strong chest and felt his solid erection underneath her damp core. Lana stroked his arm until she reached his hand and transferred the package from his hand to hers, then met his eyes.
“I don’t think we need this,” she whispered and he frowned.
“Why not?”
Lana shrugged her bare shoulders. “Because we’re going to be together.”
He nodded. “Okay, I’ll bite…what is this?”
“What is what?”
“I could barely get you here and now you want to make babies, so bring me up to speed.”
Lana shook her head and opened the packet. “Never mind.”
Derek held her hand in his. “No, talk to me.”
“Lavender said that we’re having a son…first, and that Daddy is going to love him running around the Inn. Although, she couldn’t say that we’d be living there,” Lana explained and Derek stared at her.
He sat up with her still on his lap and rubbed his face. “Okay, who the hell is Lavender and what the hell is she talking about?”
Lana sighed and gently stroked his bearded face. “Lavender is Daddy’s girlfriend. I’ve told you about her, but what I didn’t tell you is that she has a gift. She can predict things, both her and her daughter.”
He nodded. “So this Lavender said that we’re going to have a son,”
“First, she also said that there would be more.”
Derek scratched his head. “Wow…”
“So now you’re ready to just throw caution to the wind because of what she says?” he questioned.
Lana shook her head. “Not really because of what she said, but because of what she said, I realized that you are what I want and I’m going to be with you. Now I don’t know exactly what that looks like, but if it means that I have to come to D.C., and you have to come to Grayling, then I’m ready to do that.”
She lifted his face to hers. “I’m here now, Derek, because I’m willing to try.”
He kissed her again and held her close. “How about this? Let’s not try to start making babies until we at least have a plan about what we’re going to do?”
He looked at her. “Is that okay?”
Lana nodded. “But what if it’s already too late?”
“What do you mean?” Derek stared at her. “Are you…”
“It’s only been a little over two weeks since we were last together. It’s too soon to know for sure,” Lana told him.
“You think, possibly?”
“Things got pretty raunchy before you left,” she reminded him.
Derek agreed and stroked her cheek. “You’re right and it was amazing.”
Lana smiled. “I know.”
He turned and laid her on the bed again. “I like it raunchy,” he told her, while pushing her legs apart. He studied his buffet before tasting it and Lana lost her breath until she reached her pinnacle. Derek reached for the foil on the bed and handed it to her.
“You decide, because either way, it’s about to go down.”
Lana scrambled to her knees, then tore the packet completely open. “If it’s meant to happen, it will.”
Derek watched and held his own breath as she applied the thin sheath. He grabbed her hair, pulling her mouth to his when she was done and the next thing Lana knew, she was filled with a hot heat that mingled with her own.
The deep strokes made her moan, first in the back of her throat then loud enough to fill the room. When he began to whisper her name in her ear, she pledged to give him whatever he desired. Derek’s mouth and hands were all over her body as Lana gripped his hard muscles. Deeper and deeper, she went higher and higher, until he exploded and sent them both into paradise.
Derek sucked on her tongue and massaged her naked butt cheeks as they both came down from their individual peaks. She stroked his damp back until he moved off her, to her side, and Lana smiled when he began to play in her hair.
“This is why it’s always a mess the next day,” she told him.
“I can’t help it,” he confessed.
Lana looked at him. “I know the feeling.”
Derek smiled. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes, I didn’t eat on the plane. I’m not really accustomed to plane rides,” she admitted.
Kissing her quickly, he moved from the bed. “Let’s get you some food, baby.”
Lana watched him walk into the attached bathroom and laid back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She was here in his place after talking herself through a two-hour plane ride. Glancing around the room, she wondered if she knew this man that wore monogramed shirts and diamond cufflinks.
The Derek she knew wore jeans, t-shirts and boots. He went fishing with her Daddy and carried trays downstairs. Lana realized that Derek really was a very important man. His friend Brian had told her of some of his accomplishments and Lana had been amazed. To her, he’d just been Derek, the Political Campaign Manager who’d stopped into her Inn, but apparently, he was far more than that.
She felt a warm hand on her leg and looked over to see him standing next to the bed. “You okay?” he asked.
Lana nodded. “I think I just need some food.”
Derek located her clothes and handed them to her. “Do you want to go out or order in?”
Getting dressed, Lana looked up. “Do you have food? I can cook something.”
“Yes, I have food, baby. But you didn’t come here to cook,” Derek said walking to his closet and grabbing some sweat pants and a T-shirt.
“It’s fine,” she told him as he came back to her.
“In or out?” he asked again.
Lana pulled her shirt over her head and down her stomach. “If you’re going to insist, then in please?”
He kissed her lips. “Thank you.” Slipping into his sweats, he asked. “Chinese, Italian, Ethiopian, Mongolian?”
She looked at him. “Are you serious?”
Derek stood before her with his bare chest. “You want me to pick?” he asked.
Lana reached out to touch his skin. “I’m going to have to get used to your world.”
He cradled her jaw. “It’s okay, we have time.”
“Seven days,” Lana reminded him.
Derek shook his head. “No baby, we have the rest of our lives.”
She wrapped her arms around him. “That’s a long time.”
“I wouldn’t want it any other way,”
“I’ll tell our kids that I met a slick city boy and he turned my world upside down,” Lana said softly.
He gathered her up into his arms and told her, “At least I had shoes on.”
******
Lana sat at the table eating the food Derek had ordered for them. When she looked up and caught him staring at her she paused.
“Do I have food on my face?” she asked with a smile.
He shook his head slowly. “No, I just can’t believe that you’re here.”
Lana sat her fork aside. “I’m here because I wanted to be with you.”
“What did your family say?”
“They practically pushed me out the door,” Lana confessed.
Laughing, Derek reached for her hand. “That’s why I love all the Sables.”
“And we love you,” she replied and squeezed his hand.
They went back to eating until Lana commented, “I guess I should have called. I didn’t know that you had a black tie affair.”
“No, you didn’t have to call and this was an event that I really didn’t want to attend anyway.” Derek told her.
“Why not?”
He shrugged. “A politician that I have no intentions of working with. He’s a yes man to the lobbyists and corporations.”
Lana looked around his house. “You told me that you were successful, but this is far beyond what I’d imagined. It’s almost like you’re a different person.”
Derek looked concerned. “I’m the same man you met in Grayling.”
She shook her head. “No, you’re much more than that.”
“Is that a problem?”
Lana looked away. “It’s a lot to take in.”
Derek stood from his chair and walked over to her. Lana looked up before he helped her to her feet and gently wrapped his arms around her.
“Let me show you my world,” he whispered.
Lana returned his embrace. “What else are you going to surprise me with?”
Derek picked her up and sat her on the table. He stepped between her legs and reached for the hem of her shirt. “Let me show you,” he told her as he whipped his shirt over his head and dropped it to the floor.