Page 26 of Surprise Baby for the Enemy

And god, what comes after this moment?! What happens when he’s done with me- when this dangerous, all-consuming pull between us fades? Worse. What happens if we actually keep this going? How could it ever work? The idea of us sitting down for Thanksgiving is laughable- passing the mashed potatoes would probably erupt into a pissing contest or worse, a full-blown showdown. Every moment with him is a risk, a powder keg ready to blow, and I can’t ignore the fact that I’m tangled up with someone who could destroy everything my family’s fought to protect. I’ve already failed to intimidate Silver, and I’m putting my ass in the air for Derrick while essentially being his captive.

No matter how good my body feels around this man, no matter how my own desires betray me, I can’t stay here.

CHAPTER 15

Raleigh

I can’t sleep after.For hours I lie perfectly still as the light fades outside and Derrick sleeps beside me.

There’s a tired ache between my legs and a buzzing satisfaction in my brain, both of which are totally alien to me. I’m being rewritten every time Derrick and I come together, convinced through chemical reactions to want him. Every sensation he worked out of me is playing on a loop through my mind.

The sight of him naked and the feeling between my legs when he was inside me.

Every orgasm. I thought I would come apart at the seams, but the weight of his body kept me together.

The blue of his eyes when he held my gaze and touched me, making up for how he’d left me hanging last time and then some.

It’s totally possible that if we have sex again, I’ll just blurt out that I’m obsessed and beg him to keep me in his house like some kind of pleasure slave.

I suck in a hungry gasp, then freeze. Beside me, Derrick’s breathing remains steady. I’ve been listening to him in the dark for a whole eternity, but I’m finally sure he’s asleep.

Good, because I need to leave. Because there can’tbea next time. Now that it’s happened, I’m certain that there shouldn’t have even been athistime. What Derrick did to me, what he made me feel, it was… it was…

I slip carefully out of the bed and feel around the floor for my clothes. I dress quickly, wincing every time the fabric of my shorts and shirt whispers against itself. Derrick doesn’t stir- not that I’m staring hard at the outline of his naked body in his bed. The door of the bedroom opens silently under my careful hand- and Derrick’s two huge dogs are right on the other side.

I clap my hand over my mouth to keep from shouting. The dogs’ collars jingle. Their wet noses rub against my legs as they sniff at me. I tip-toe around them, and they fuckingfollowme. Thank god they don’t bark like Derrick said.

Instinctively, I head for the front door, but freeze before I make it there.

“Fuck,” I hiss, remembering something extremely inconvenient.

My adorable red Bentley is still at Cooper’s. Derrick fuckingkidnappedme and drove me here.

I reroute to the garage, happy to shut the door between myself and the two dogs. Derrick’s car, a silver Cadillac, is parked inside.

And so is the vintage sky-blue Corvette.

A horrible, incredible idea kindles in my mind.

Dare I? Oh yes.

I have to get back to Cooper’s somehow. And stealing the police cruiser wouldn’t be satisfying enough. Of course Derrick might get in trouble for losing it, but it’s still fairly replaceable, and also it doesn’t belong to him personally. The Corvette, on the other hand…

I test the Corvette’s door, relieved to find it unlocked. I’ve picked up a lot of little useful, albeit questionable, skills online, and breaking into a locked car isn’t one of them. Yet.

What Idoknow is how to hotwire a car once I’m inside.

I get back out of the car and hunt around the garage for a flathead and some wire cutters, then pry open the steering column. It takes a bit of trial and error to remember which wires to cut, but after I accidentally set off the windshield wipers, I find the ones I really need.

Before I touch the starter wire to the ignition and battery, though, I realize I should probably have the garage door open so I’m ready to go. Fuck, I hope Derrick’s a heavy sleeper. Bracing myself for this whole plan to go up in smoke, I push the garage button near the inner door and rush back to the Corvette as the garage roars open. I strike the right wires together, and the car engine revs. I pump the gas, bringing it to life.

God, this car sounds beautiful. I almost feel bad for what I’m about to do to it.

Almost.

Cranking the gear shift and hitting the gas, I fly backward down the driveway, spin the car, and take off down the street.

It’s almost anticlimactic that no one comes after me. The neighborhood and houses are still and dark, totally ignorant of the crime I’ve just giddily committed. I want to crank up the radio, but I really am trying to get away with stealing this car, so I wait in silent impatience for the exit gate of Derrick’s community to open, then speed out onto the main road.

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