24. Derek
24
DEREK
“ O kay.” She swallowed, nervous and uneasy. But she wasn’t running. Of course, she wasn’t. Claire had proven to be tough. Yet, I hated that I’d given her a reason not to smile and to look worried at all.
“In fact,” she said after she cleared her throat, “I need to talk to you as well.”
I held up my hand. “Please. Let me get this off my chest.”
“O… Okay.”
I drew in a deep breath then expelled it. “I don’t want to sell you an inch of my land. I never did.”
She didn’t react, staring at me like she was frozen.
“I deliberately worded it loosely like that as a loophole. I didn’t want to outright lie and say I’d sell anything because I didn’t want to. I never wanted to sell any of this land, but when I realized that you were in this area for business and you were actively looking for land to develop, I made that appointment just for an excuse to talk to you again.”
I waited, giving her a chance to let this sink in. I’d rehearsed all night, pacing and muttering. Naomi was invited to Stacy and Nicky’s house for a sleepover, and I jumped on the opportunity to have alone time with Claire. I wanted to do this right. If we could be together, I wanted to do so knowing no secrets or regrets could stand between us.
“So when I emailed about that land…”
I nodded. “I replied knowing it was you.”
“But you had no intention to sell.”
“None whatsoever. I just wanted to see you again. To talk to you. You were the first woman since Jenna died who made me want to talk. Naomi kept talking about you, and I knew she was curious about you. And it made me realize I was curious about you.”
“Then…” She furrowed her brow. “Why…?”
“It just hit me. How much I enjoyed your company and how other women seemed to be threatened by my being with you. The idea of going on a fake date hit me out of nowhere, and I thought up that deal. I duped you into thinking I’d sell some land if you’d spend time with me.”
“Without planning to let go of any of it.”
I winced. “Don’t hate me.”
“How stupid do you think I am?”
I froze, waiting for her to lash out and be furious.
“I… don’t.”
A slow but careful smile spread on her face. “I noticed how vague you were about the land.”
I nodded. “So you wouldn’t want details.”
“And you never wanted to show me around.”
“Because I want this to stay my home, not be developed.”
She huffed. “And here I thought I was just being paranoid. I knew something was fishy with your ‘deal’.”
“But you still agreed to it anyway?”
She nodded.
“Yeah. Because I wanted to get to know you, too.”
I dared to hope this wasn’t over. “I hate that I lied. That I manipulated you at all. But I was so confused. That I wanted to spend time with you. That I would be so desperate to ensure we could see each other again.”
She lowered her gaze, only meeting my eye again when I took her hand and squeezed her fingers. “I wasn’t ready to date, but it was so stupid and wrong to dupe you into something like dating.”
“Yeah, sort of.”
“It didn’t take long for me to see that nothing was fake, though. It was all real for me. Every minute, Claire.”
“I know.” She bit her lower lip, almost sheepish. “I… I didn’t fake anything.”
“Can you forgive me?”
“Maybe.”
Oh, shit.
“It depends on where we’re going now.” She smiled, bracing herself to speak further. “I only went into that deal because I wanted that land to save my father’s company. Grace gambled with one of our big accounts and had a huge loss, and Dad counted on me to bring in more sales to recoup that hit. So, he suggested land around here. That was why I was so desperate for your land.”
I sank against the cushions as hope deflated. “I feel like shit.”
She laughed once.
“And I’m confused because you’re still smiling.”
“That’s what took so long tonight. The three of us talked. We really talked. She’s been under his guidance for commercial deals. She’s going into rehab for her gambling addiction. He admitted that he’d never actually expected me to clean up all her messes and let the company go down.”
“What does that mean?”
She smiled. “It’s not so dire anymore. They can figure it out and I can do what I want.”
“Which is what?” I frowned, worried that I’d misread her and her passion wasn’t real estate.
“Residential properties and slowing down.” She looked at me with a nervous expression. “I do want your land, Derek. But not to sell it. Just to enjoy it with you and Naomi.”
I exhaled a hard whoosh of air as I lunged for her. Framing her face, I held her close to kiss her hard. In this kiss, I tried to pour out all the happiness and relief I felt in knowing we weren’t over.
She laughed, falling back onto the couch.
“Are you serious?”
She nodded. “I’m not worried about getting your land that you never intended to sell to me.”
“And I’m not worried about women bothering me in town and needing to look unavailable.” I smiled down at her before I kissed her again. “Because I am taken. If you want me.”
She kissed me. “Oh, I want.”
“I am sorry I manipulated you.”
“I think… we sort of manipulated each other.”
“But will that ruin anything in the long term?” I asked as she hugged me close.
“No. Maybe we started this with lies, but it built into something real.”
I kissed her again, so excited and thrilled that she wasn’t mad, that things were falling into place so perfectly.
“You’re not worried that we’re moving too fast?”
She shook her head, kissing me and running her hands up and down my back. “When you know, you know, right?”
I nodded, parting her lips and tasting her sweetness.
“It’s the season for falling in love,” she teased.
“A Christmas miracle,” I joked back. “One we hadn’t bargained for.”
She moaned against my mouth, smiling into the kiss. Then she went still and stopped. “Shoot. What if Naomi walks out and?—”
I grinned, kissing her again as I ground down on her. Pressing her into the couch, I sandwiched her with nowhere to go. She wanted to stay. With me. Like this.
“She’s at my sister’s house for the night. I wanted to come clean and be honest with you.”
“Oh.”
“I didn’t want another second to go by of falling in love while hating that I’d lied.”
“Love?” she asked with a sexy smile that lit up her caramel eyes.
“Yeah.” I could admit it without any grudge in my heart, without a sliver of grief. “I’m falling in love with you, Claire.”
She hugged her arms around my neck. “And I love you,” she whispered against my mouth.
“A Christmas miracle, indeed,” I joked.
She giggled, but her laughter faded as I tugged her shirt up and lowered back down to kiss her.
“Just to clarify,” she said as she pulled at my shirt. “This is all real.”
I nodded, removing my shirt and returning my mouth to her skin.
“I’m moving in?” she asked between panted breaths as I kissed my way down until I removed her bra.
“Please.” I leaned up, gazing at her. “You’ll leave Denver?”
“I already have.”
I kissed her again, misjudging how close we were to the edge of the couch so we rolled off. I took the brunt of the fall, laughing with her as we shifted again.
I wanted to look down into her eyes this time, and I rolled her until she was on her back. Her jeans ended up near the chair. Mine were kicked off into a pile near my feet. Her panties ended up draped on a branch on the tree, and my boxers hung off one of my ankles.
Once she was naked and writhing beneath me, so wet and aroused, I lined up my dick to her entrance.
“You’ll stay?” I asked her.
She rolled us until she straddled me. “For as long as you’ll have me.” She moved my cock toward her, and in a slow sink down, she took all of me.
I groaned, holding her in place. “How about…” I sat up to kiss her, keeping her snugly wrapped around my dick. “How about forever?”
She smiled. “I like the sound of that.”
Riding me slowly, she made sure that her clit got the friction she clearly sought. Up and down, she rocked on me, and I did all I could not to come too soon.
I hugged her to my chest so I could suck on her nipples. She gripped my hair with her fingers coiled tight so we’d stay flush.
When I moved my hands from her ass to caress her back, I braced her for more leverage on top of me.
“I love you, Claire.”
She hummed her pleasure as she humped me. “I love y?—”
An ornament fell.
“Oh, shit.” But she didn’t stop. She didn’t slow her rocking on my dick.
Another fell, shaken loose by the motion on the floor.
Together, we fought laughter.
“She’ll know,” she said. “She’ll know that we repositioned ornaments!”
I kissed her as I neared my orgasm. If she didn’t stop laughing, and making me laugh, I’d never be able to hold off. Since she said she loved me, I was already floating on cloud nine.
“Oh, Derek.” She went faster, driven closer to coming when I squeezed the cheeks of her ass.
More ornaments fell as she rode me in front of the Christmas tree. I wasn’t sure how many would still be hanging, but then she came.
Clenching around me and gloving me so tight, she came with a loud cry. “Oh!”
I held her close, willing her to milk me dry. The first streaks of pleasure shot through me, racing up my spine, and I shouted as I filled her.
A couple more ornaments fell to the carpet as she continued to slowly rock on me, wringing out every last bit of release between us.
Only when she was sated and spent, clinging to me, did we both sigh. I hugged her, holding her on my lap as I willed my heart to slow.
Then as I opened my eyes and surveyed the damage, I laughed.
Ornaments had fallen off the tree in a mess. They lay scattered on the carpet, fortunately not broken.
“Oh… We’re in trouble now.”
I smiled. “Nah. We still have a copy of her diagram and tree map.”
She kissed me once more. Then we laughed and carefully got out of the landmine of ornaments strewn all over.