His stare lingered, and slowly his eyes softened as he processed the admission I’d made. “I missed you too… I always miss you.”When I finished at his executive office, I walked into the lab to see Derek working alone, staying after hours like usual. He had large schematics everywhere as he sketched his ideas. Then he had me print them when he assumed they were final, produced by a computer, and then made his marks and printed it again…over and over. Nothing was ever good enough, and this part of the project seemed to be most intense because it was the foundation of the entire thing.
His head was bowed as he stood over his work, his hand moving over his jawline as he stared at the gibberish on the page. It wasn’t a bunch of mathematical equations, but labeled parts…stuff I didn’t understand.
I shut the door behind me and walked toward him.
The sound of my heels made him lift his gaze and look at me. “Hey, baby.” Then he bowed his head again.
I felt the smile move into my lips but also my heart because I loved it when he called me that, not caring who was standing there at the time. It could be his colleagues, his parents, or his brother, and he didn’t care. For a man who hadn’t been in a relationship in a really long time, he knew exactly how to be a committed man—and that was really sexy. “Hey.” I set my purse on the table and glanced down at one of his schematics. “How’s it going?”
“The wheel rotation should allow the rover to maneuver out of a dip, but it interferes with the brakes and trips the wires underneath, so now I have to move the wires and design a new braking system, and the superconductor for the solar panel creates too much heat conduction…” He went on and on.
I nodded along even though I had no idea what he was saying. “Trial and error. You’ll figure it out.”
“This is my twelfth try, so I don’t know about that…”
“It doesn’t matter how many tries it takes, Derek. Perfection is priceless.”
He lifted his gaze and looked at me before he checked his watch. “Jesus, I didn’t realize how late it was.”
“You never do,” I said affectionately. “I can bring you dinner before I head out.”
“No, it’s okay.” He rolled up the schematic and put the rubber band around the outside. “I’ve got to work on that book, and I can’t write here so…” He grabbed the rest of his things, and we walked out together.
We made it to the car, and Ronnie drove us to his penthouse.
“I talked to Lizzie about the tutoring…”
He turned to look at me, ignoring the work in his hands.
“She was receptive to it.”
He still didn’t have a reaction, like he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.
“She thinks she’s beyond help, based on her previous interactions with tutors, but I told her it would be different with you.”
“No one is beyond help.”
I knew he would say that, but it made me smile anyway. “She was afraid I asked for your help, so I told her you offered on your own.”
“And she has no idea about us?”
I shook my head.
He gave a slight nod. “Alright.”
“I thought you could spend an hour with her every Tuesday and Thursday…if that’s okay.”
“As in, tomorrow?” he asked, slightly unnerved.
“Yeah. Or we can start next week if that’s better for you.”
He looked out the window for a while as he considered the task in front of him, and instead of putting it off as long as possible, he turned to me and said, “Tomorrow is fine.” The change in attitude was obvious now, the way he had more confidence in himself after the book signing. He knew he wasn’t as terrible with people as he once thought, that he had the capability of relating to others, to not be the stuffy introvert he used to be.
“Great. I’ll drop her off, then come back and get her.”
“You won’t be there?” he asked in surprise.
“No. I want you guys to have some privacy. If I’m there, she’ll act differently. And if she sees us together, she might pick up on us.”
He gave another nod then looked down at his work.
“You’ll be fine, Derek. I have no doubt.”
He turned back to me as Ronnie pulled up to the penthouse. “Thanks, baby.” He opened the door to get out.
“I don’t need a ride tonight, Ronnie.” I got out too and joined Derek on the sidewalk.
Derek looked at me in surprise because he expected me to go home like usual.
“I said I missed you…”
The grin that spread over his face was like a hot coffee on a fall day, a perfect warmth that filled my veins with happiness. It reached his eyes, and he gave me a look of affection and kindness that made him a million times more handsome than he already was. “Show me how much you missed me.”