Now he looked at me like he’d never been prouder. “Thank you so much, sweet pea.” He opened his arms, like he wanted me to come to him and hug him.
I rose from the couch and bent over to embrace him.
He squeezed me tightly. “I love you.”
I squeezed him back. “I love you too, Daddy.”I worked in Derek’s corporate office, scanning more papers into his server while organizing the rest of the space. It seemed like he hadn’t used the room in years, or he only stopped by to do what was necessary, leaving most of it untouched. The cleaning crew never came in here, so it had quite a smell to it.
Why did men always smell?
Lily walked inside and approached me at the desk. “Hmm, doesn’t smell as bad as it used to.”
“But it shouldn’t smell at all.” I opened the scanner and removed the paper before placing the next one inside. The first paper appeared on my laptop, every word on the page easy to read.
Lily had remained outside the office most of the time I’d been there, working on…I wasn’t entirely sure. She must have responded to emails and requests for Derek’s time, but anyone Derek actually wanted to talk to went to him directly. “I have to say, I’m surprised Dr. Hamilton has allowed you to do this. I mean, he can be a bit of a tool sometimes…all the time.”
He was rude when we first met, and I hadn’t liked him either. But now I knew Derek all the way down to his core, and the second someone gave him anything less than a compliment, it got under my skin. “He’s not a tool, Lily.”
She chuckled. “Come on, he can’t hear you. He’s down there building his satellites.”
“Whether he can hear us or not, he’s not a tool.” I lifted my gaze and looked at her, surprised she would talk about her boss that way. Yes, Derek could be short and ill-tempered, but the worst he could say was nothing at all.
She crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. “Alright…whatever you say.”
I didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot with this woman, but she’d put us in that situation. I wasn’t just loyal to Derek because he was my boss, but because he was my friend.
“Are you sleeping with him?”
I nearly did a double take. “Excuse me—”
“I’ve worked for Dr. Hamilton since this place opened, and he’s never allowed anyone near his things like this.”
“I’m not sleeping with him, Lily.” I gave her a cold stare, finding her disrespect disgusting. When we first met, she seemed perky and nice, but she’d quickly turned into a witch. Was she threatened by me? That I would absorb her job? Talking shit about her boss was not the way to prevent that from happening. “You should get back to your desk. I have a lot of stuff to do.”At the end of the day, we both got into the Escalade and headed home.
Derek looked at his paperwork, his mind clearly still in the lab even though he’d been there all day.
I debated telling him about my problems with Lily, but I didn’t want to be a snitch. With Derek’s no-nonsense attitude, he’d probably fire her, not because he was cold, but because it was the simplest solution and he didn’t get much use out of her anyway. I also didn’t want to tell him that people thought he was a tool, even though he’d probably be the first one to admit he was a difficult person.
After a few minutes of silence, he turned to me. “How’s the office going?”
“Good. Almost done.”
He continued to study me, his dark eyes shifting back and forth slightly. “Everything alright?”
I used to be the one who understood him so well that I could read his subtle cues and body language, but now he knew me well enough to do the same. “Yeah. I made a change to the website.” I pulled out my phone and showed it to him. “I added myself as your contact info. I just thought it was easier because you may have people that need you for something and I can handle them on your behalf.” Ignoring the outside world wouldn’t work forever, and he might miss out on a great opportunity since he was a recluse. He seemed to trust me enough with a lot of things, so he might trust me with this.
He stared at the screen.
Contact Dr. Hamilton:
For inquiries, requests, or general information, send your emails here:
Emerson Lane
Executive Assistant
1-605-555-9932He handed the phone back to me and looked out the window.
I expected him to put up some kind of protest. “I just thought I could handle this for you because you never know what sort of opportunity might arise. I can filter all of it for you.”