Page 8 of Derick

With a swift nod, she gave Hope a beaming smile. “Baby girl, go get your shoes, and then we’ll go with Derick.”

Hope’s squeal of joy as she wiggled to get down was deafening. I gently placed her on the floor and watched as she ran back up the stairs. I turned back to Ruby and couldn’t help the curl of my lips as her hands came to rest on her waist and her eyebrow rose again.

“W…what are you up tt…to?” Her brow dropped and her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth. Ruby didn’t stutter when she spoke to Hope, and she hadn’t a time or two with me either. This gave me …well, ha, there was no better word but hope.

Shrugging, I leaned back against the wall, trying for a non-threatening look. “I like you. I want to get to know you.”

“Why! I…I…I’m nob…nobody.” Her arms came around herself in a hug.

Slowly, I came to her and gathered her into my embrace. She shrank back at first, but I wasn’t letting her go. “You are not a nobody. You are amazing. Perfect.”

Ruby’s scoff tickled my ear, but she didn’t push me away. “I think tt…there is something w…wrong with y…you. Why would you th…think that? You barely know m…me.”

“I want to know you.” I leaned back so I could look into her beautiful dandelion eyes. “I like what I’ve learned about you. I love that you put your daughter first, and I know you are nothing like your family. Cassie loves you, and she has excellent taste.”

Her laugh was like music to my ears. It reminded me of when I was a young child before I realized how important and powerful my family was. I couldn’t wait to hear it over and over again.

“Oh, now I understand w…why Cassie suddenly b…became so interested to meet m…me and became my n…new friend.” She pushed on my chest and let me go, her eyes flashing, changing to a swirling green. “I don’t need f…f…fake friends.” She backed up and I reached out, grabbing her hand to stop her.

“No. Don’t go. Cassie wanted to meet you. I just pushed her to talk to you now and not wait until you’re out of this house. She in no way is a fake friend. I swear on my life.”

She tugged at her hand but stopped when I finished talking. “Ff…fine. I’m going to go get my b…bag and check o…n Hope.” I let her go and watched as she ran up the stairs.

Ruby

I was sittingin a Silverman’s car. I never even imagined I would ever get close to one like I had with Cassie. Well, she was a wifeof one, but Derick was a true Silverman, and the brother of the man my wanker dad had kidnaped. If anyone would have asked me if I would be in a car, let alone be hugged like he had earlier by a Silverman, I would have laughed in their face and told them they were high.

A shiver flowed down my spine as I remembered his touch. It made me feel things I never had before, like tingles and pulsing at my pussy. I’d only ever felt that good when I pleasured myself.

Derick was hot. I’d always thought beards made guys look like they were either homeless or belonged in some violent gang like my father’s, but Derick’s only added to how handsome he was. I wasn’t one to trust easily. I’d learned early in life—and unfortunately, it was the hard way—every time I let go of my trust issues, the lesson was a painful one, and always worse than the time before. I must trust Derick though, otherwise I wouldn’t let Hope near him. Hope had always been a brilliant judge of character too.

Hope sat in what looked like a brand-new, top-of-the-line pink car seat. She was watchingFrozen. She loved that movie and was a happy girl if I bought her anything with their characters on it. Derick must have known that too, because she had in one hand a water bottle filled with juice with Anna, Elsa, and Olaf on it, and a snack pack in her other, filled with all her favorite fruit—mango, blueberries, raspberries, and cherries. Those were the fruits my brother usually got her as those were too expensive for me to buy. Hope was one very content little girl.

“Y…you didn’t buy th…that seat just f…for Hope, did you?” It didn’t look like any child had been in it. Hope wasn’t in car seats very often, and she wasn’t a messy child, but I knew that if a kid had been in the seat, there usually was some wear to tell if it had been used. And this one still had that fresh smell.

His shrug was so careless, like spending a couple of hundred dollars was nothing. “I’d get the princess anything. She deserves only the best.”

I couldn’t hold back the rolling of my eyes. I felt like my whole body wanted to join in. Hope was extremely smart and cute. I knew as her mother I was the most biased person when I spoke about her, but I knew it to be true because Hope could get anyone wrapped around her little fingers. She had Derick eating out of her hands.

“You d…do realize you’re p…playing into her little ha…hands. She’s a s....smart one, an…and as much a…as I love her, sh…she’s cheeky, and I swear she knows the p…power she holds.”

His laughter made my heart soar, and I loved the sound. I didn’t love a lot of things; Hope was my number one and my brother was a close second, music was in there too, but there weren’t many other things on the list, but Derick’s laugh was now high up there.

“Oh, I know she’s smart, but she’s adorable and looks just like her beautiful mother.”

Covering my cheeks as they heated, I shrank back into my seat. I’d been called pretty, sexy, and fuckable, many times in my life, and it always made my skin crawl, but when Derick called me beautiful, I didn’t feel anything bad. Instead, I had a reaction I’d never had—I was turned on. I learned growing up around bikers and other low-lives, things children should never know about or see, and I had stopped blushing well before I became a teen.

“Don’t cover it, that blush just adds to your beauty.”

Damn, he was good. I was sure my whole body now matched my cheeks. His smile showed his perfect, white teeth, and I tried not to sigh at what his handsome face did to me. My stomach flip-flopped, and I craved his touch again.

“I’d love to know what is going on in that mind of yours,” he said. “You look like you’re deep in thought.”

Wiggling up, I smirked at him. “Wouldn’t y…you like to kn…know?” I had no fear of joking around with Derick. It was a nice change to how I usually acted around men.

“Yes. Yes, I would.” He chuckled, and it was deep and raspy. It felt like I’d had a nice cold glass of water after walking in the desert for a week.

I kept my smile in place as he turned onto a street that backed up to the beach. The houses that I could see were huge and all had massive security fences, but they weren’t prison-like fences, more elaborate to fit the rich decor around them. These were houses that a lot of people dreamed about. I didn’t even dream of things this nice. I would be happy if I could have a nice little townhouse for Hope and I. These houses—er, mansions, more like it—were right out of a fairytale to me.

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