Page 67 of Boss with Benefits

Derrick leaned back, his expression thoughtful. "First, we'll go through all the information you have, Lulu. Then I'll reach out to my contacts in the NYPD. They might be able to help us track down your dad."

I nodded, resolve surging inside me. "Let's do it. But I want to let my mom know first."

"Of course," Derrick said.

The three of us spent the next hour going through the diaries and other documents Lulu brought. There were old photographs, letters, and notes that painted a picture of a love story cut short by awful circumstances. It was heartbreaking, but it also gave me hope.

I called my mom, and she immediately said she thought this was good for me and that she'd do her own digging at the hospital where she used to work and where I was born.

Hours later, Lulu was gone, and Derrick and I were sitting cross-legged on his office floor. "Peyton's gonna kill me. I totally ditched all my work today."

"I emailed her and told her you were working on a special project with me," Derrick said. "But you'll need to pick up the slack tomorrow if you can. I don't want to leave Peyton in the lurch."

"Of course. Thanks," I said and reached for his hand, but he stood up, brushing off my affection. "I appreciate all this."

"You don't have to thank me, Rachel. I'm doing it because I want to."

I stood facing Derrick. The air between us was charged, full of unspoken words and memories of what happened ricocheting between us. I took a deep breath. "Derrick, about yesterday."

He held up a hand. "Don't. Let's forget about that and focus on finding your dad."

"No, I have to say this," I insisted. "I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"I don't want to hear your damn apologies, Rachel," he snapped. "Just... drop it."

I flinched, the ache that had been in my belly since I left him in that apartment growing.

Derrick rounded his desk and sat.

"Okay," I said.

Whatever damage I did may never be repaired. Derrick wasn't one to hold grudges, but he was principled, and I doubted he'd ever forgive me completely.

32

DERRICK

It had been nearly a week, and I couldn't shake the images of Rachel from my mind. The sensuality of her touch, her lips wrapped around my cock, the softness of her mouth on mine. She consumed most of my waking thoughts, and it was driving me crazy.

The clothes I wore that day smelled like her, and I had slept with that shirt every night, breathing in her scent. How fucking pathetic was that? One blow job and I had fallen harder.

The one crazy positive in all this was my cock behaved and I had a mind-altering orgasm. I didn't know if I was cured, but my cock certainly had no problem getting hard the second I thought of Rachel's lips stretched wide around it.

I mentally shook the image out of my head because right then was not the time. After Lulu's visit to the office, I spent the rest of the week digging up everything I could find on her birth mom, and we’d made a plan to meet up tonight and go over what we'd both discovered so far.

I was hunched over my laptop in my living room on the couch, trying desperately to keep this professional, but it was becoming more of a challenge to be this close to her and not touch her.

It was late, and we'd already been working for three hours, surrounded by stacks of documents and old yearbooks from her mother's alma mater.

Rachel sat next to me, her eyes fixed on the screen, but her thoughts seemed far away. She was wearing an oversized hoodie that covered her cutoffs, and despite everything, it was hard to focus with so much leg showing.

"Nothing in the hospital records," I muttered, forcing my gaze back to my screen.

Rachel sighed, tucking a strand of her black hair behind her ear. I had never seen her with her natural hair color. It was endearing and strange all at once.

"We're missing something," she said. "Where would my bio mom and dad have met so young? School? Church? Extracurricular activities?"

"School makes sense," I said, stretching my arms above my head. "Lulu said your mom was in a lot of academic clubs and choir, right?"

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