Page 70 of Serving the CEO

It was sleek and sexy…and left no room for wandering hands. Not that I expected that to be on the menu, but I never knew with Derrick. Since he’d first gotten me off in a restaurant a month ago, he’d taken to teasing me in various public places. Tonight, however, I didn’t think that was part of his plan.

In this 'bandage' dress design, several strips of cloth are wound around me to form the garment. This dress showed off my cleavage, but it also had a small feature Derrick would enjoy-a 'collar' of sorts extending down the midline of my chest to a plunging neckline.

I felt elegant, decadent, and sexy wearing it, and as I looked at my reflection, a big part of me wished this was all... real.

I turned away from the mirror. Those thoughts had been coming more often, and it was nearly impossible to ignore them.

I heard Jami was settling in for a lazy night in, and I felt the need to go talk to her.

But our truce about Derrick didn’t include heart-to-hearts where I asked her to help me figure out exactly how I felt about our boss. We could talk about everything else, but my relationship was off-limits, especially since we both knew that our time dating was coming to an end. In fact, I was pretty sure that tonight would be the proposal. After all, we were set to be married in a week.

Jami told me she wasn't coming to the wedding, and I understood why she couldn't support a marriage based on a business deal. Although it would be difficult not to have her there, I wasn't about to force it. My marriage had an expiration date, and I wanted to get back to my regular life afterwards.

My friends' disapproval and my own tumultuous emotions weren’t the only things crowding my mind lately either. While my parents knew that Derrick and I were dating, and I’d dropped enough hints for them to know it was serious, I knew tonight’s proposal would surprise them. Finding out that the wedding was next week would be an even bigger shock, and I hadn’t yet figured out how much I could tell them.

The buzzing of the intercom drew me out of my thoughts. I grabbed my purse and shoes and headed for the door. After letting Derrick into the building, I pulled on my shoes and smoothed down my dress.

Looking over to where Jami was lounging on the couch, I called out, “I’m leaving now.”

“Text me if you’re not coming home tonight,” she said.

“I will,” I promised. The fact that she still worried about me made me hopeful for the future of our friendship.

The melancholy trying to overwhelm me faded into the background when I opened the door a moment later and saw Derrick. The intensity of his eyes knocked my breath away, and my lips curved into a smile. He was already leaning in to kiss me before I had a chance to say hello.

And the kiss left me even more breathless.

He gave my lower lip one last nip before breaking contact to brush his mouth over my cheek, jaw, and neck. “You smell divine, Jessica.”

A delicious shiver ran through me as he pressed another kiss to my neck, and I was grateful he stopped there. My knees were weak enough as it was.

“Here.”

He handed me a bouquet of roses. It wasn't your typical roses, though.

I stroked a velvety petal as I took the flowers. “These are gorgeous. I’ve never seen roses like this.”

The petals were a deep crimson that darkened at the base of the bloom. The underside was a warm, creamy yellow with hints of red.

“They’re called dark night roses.”

He traced my dress with his eyes. “I like this. A lot.”

“I thought you might.”

The gleam in his eyes made my belly tighten, and I backed up. “Let me put these in a vase so we can head out."

His gaze dipped to where the strap on my dress slid down between my breasts, and he said, “I think I’ll wait out here. I’m very tempted to mess you up, and you look so pretty.”

Blushing, I shut the door and hurried to get the vase from the kitchen.

It was going to be an intense night.

There was a twist in my heart. If only it was all true.

* * *

My heart had been fluttering insteadof beating for much of the evening, and I was feeling lightheaded. As usual, the champagne Derrick ordered was exquisite, but I only sipped it. I had to admit, his taste for the finer things in life was something I could get used to. Well, at least as a temporary perk for agreeing to this arrangement. The chocolate dessert – some French concoction I couldn’t pronounce – was incredible. However, after a bite or two, I had to put the fork down because my stomach was in knots.

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