Page 34 of Inevitable Inheritance

“You’ll not be brushing me off. I am quite certain you haven’t eaten enough tonight.”

As if on cue, Taylor’s stomach growled.

“There, you see! Come on now,” Nan said, opening the door and stepping back.

“I’m right behind you, Nan!” Marty said. She would never turn down a meal.

“Derrick?” Taylor said, turning to him.

“Right here,” he said, following obediently, and happily, behind.

* * *

Nan whippedup some homemade pizzas, and the trio was soon bursting from overindulgence. Derrick watched as Taylor—with her stomach now full and yet another long day behind her—drifted off to sleep on her hand. Derrick smiled as he remembered how he watched her sleep the night before, watched the furrow leave her brow, watched her as she remained asleep in his arms as he carried her to his bed. She probably would not have been happy to know that Derrick had held her after getting into bed with her, held her against him and kissed her hair. He had loved every second, but now that he reviewed it he sort of felt like a serial killer.

Marty’s phone rang, playing Beyoncé’s “Run the World,” and she hopped up and out of the room to answer it, but Taylor slept right through it. Nan came over to the table beside Derrick, watching Taylor.

“She is an angel, I am so glad she came home,” Nan whispered as she looked at Taylor and smiled wistfully. “Thank you for bringing her home, Derrick. This is where she belongs.”

Derricks opened his mouth to agree, but he was cut off as Nan gave him a hard look. “I love you, lad. I’ve loved you since you were born, but let me warn you—you hurt her again, I’ll make soup out of yeh,” Nan said.

Derrick sat staring at her open-mouthed. He could not believe his life had just been threatened by this woman. She was Nan; she was like a grandmother. Then, as if nothing had happened, Nan smiled at him again. “You’ll be wanting to get her to bed,” she said, nodding to Taylor.

It took a few seconds for Derrick to process this. “Uh, right. Off to bed.” He easily scooped Taylor up as he stood.Damn, she is light, he thought,too light. He mindlessly took the stairs and headed to his bedroom. It wasn’t the teenage den it had been when he lived here; it had been updated to something more subdued over the years, but it still had the essence of Derrick. He took Taylor to the bed and tucked her in. She still wore the sundress she had donned earlier, and Derrick figured she would be comfortable enough.

Scoping out the room, he settled on the corner lounger for the night. Though he wanted to sleep next to Taylor, their encounter in the kitchen was still burned into his brain, and he couldn’t trust himself not to jump on her if he put himself that close. And he was certain she would be pissed if she found him there. He was so tired from watching her sleep the night before that he knew he wouldn’t wake up before she did like he had this morning and be able to hightail it out of the bed before she caught him with her.

He was just kicking off his shoes and settling back in the chair when Taylor sat up and shouted, “Derrick!”

“Hey, hey,” he said, moving to her side instantly. He sat on the bed and rubbed both her arms. “I’m here, I’m right here.”

Taylor reached up and grabbed his forearms; she could barely keep her arms up. “I thought you left,” she said to him breathlessly and then added urgently, “please don’t leave.”

“I told you I wouldn’t leave you, and I won’t, Tay. You can trust me.”

She looked torn for a minute, as if she were weighing his words. Suddenly Derrick hated himself, a lot. Then she shocked him out of his pity party. “Sleep with me?” she asked, her eyes wide and pleading.

His pants instantly became way too tight in front of his cock. “Ah …”

“Please?” she implored.

Derrick thought he was going to disgrace himself for the first time since junior high.

“I just can’t be alone in this place. Please just sleep in the bed with me. It’s big enough—please.”

He felt like she’d dumped cold water right over his head as he realized she meant the word ‘sleep’ literally. “Uh, yeah. Of course, yeah,” he replied.

Taylor looked instantly more relaxed and lay back down.

Derrick got up painfully and walked to the other side of the bed. He didn’t take off his jeans, but he did remove his shirt and lay on the bed, on top of the covers.

“Get under the blankets—you’ll be more comfortable,” Taylor said gruffly at him, half asleep. She shoved the blankets down for him.

Doubtful, Derrick thought to himself. Just the idea of being so close to her body now was bad, never mind without the linen barrier. “Nah, I’m …”

“Damn it, Derrick,” Taylor mumbled, suddenly sitting up and pushing the blankets down. She looked at him, irritated. “What the heck? Take off your damn jeans and get in bed,” she commanded, looking totally irked. “It’s a freaking king. I won’t touch you.”

Bummer, his libido thought, and Derrick told it to fuck off. Taylor was still sitting up, clearly exhausted, and looking at him with the well-come-on look. He got up, pulled off the jeans, and slid under the covers. Finally she flopped back and rolled onto her stomach.

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