21. Georgia
“Deli, can you…” Derek’s voice trails off, the sound of it sending a shiver up my spine as I continue to braid Delilah’s hair.
It’s been four days since Derek and I shared our first sober kiss in the kitchen. Since then, he’s done everything in his power to kiss me every time he’s seen me, no matter where.
We’ve grown closer than ever before and have begun to create a rhythm together.
Every morning, he wakes up, gets ready for school, and cooks breakfast for us.
I wake up, get Delilah and myself ready, then we drop Deli off for school as a family.
He walks Agnes before we leave, and we all walk her together at night.
It’s bliss to say the least.
“?Mande?” Delilah calls back, her voice confused as she looks up at me with furrowed brows.
Why is she saying Monday? I don’t think he asked her what today was…
Delilah’s entire body perks up as she watches me, the confusion leaving her face.
“I can teach you Spanish!” she exclaims, picking up my hands as she turns to fully face me.
Thank God I finished her hair before Derek called out to her.
Giving her a small smile, I listen intently as she explains what the word “mande” means and frown. This entire time, I’d been thinking they were talking about a specific day of the week when, in reality, they were reacting to being called.
I feel like the biggest idiot in the world as Delilah continues to speak, “Do you know how to say hello?”
Chuckling, I nod. Noting the small piece of hair sticking up from her braided bun, I turn her back in her seat and fix it as she continues my Spanish lesson.
“And when you want to say ‘No,’ you just say the English version since they’re the same word,” she rambles on, and I soak in her every word like a sponge.
“What do I say when I want to tell your papá to make cupcakes?”
Delilah seems to ponder my question for a second before turning back to me. “Hazme pastelitos, or you could say just cupcakes,” She shrugs, pouting adorably.
“Pasta-lee-toes? Like pasta?”
The four-year-old grimaces, shaking her head. “Pastelitos,” she says, pronouncing the word slowly. I nod, brushing out her tiny baby hairs to frame her face.
“Got it. Are you ready to see your hair?”
Delilah gives me a bright smile, jumping up and down as she turns to look in the mirror on her wall. She gasps when she takes in the sight of herself in the mirror.
“I look like a princess!” she exclaims, looking at me with a proud smile.
“You’re a princess every day, Deli Belly.”
Delilah scrunches her nose, a small blush dusting her cheeks as she giggles. “Can you do my hair every day?”
My eyes widen, and my heart grows two sizes as her words sink in. “Of course, I’ll do your hair for as long as you’d like.”
Derek’s throat clearing catches both of our attention, and the sight of him steals my breath away. He leans against the doorframe, arms folded over his chest. His hair is damp and curly from his shower, and he’s wearing a dark green sweater, his glasses a matching color.
I get goosebumps when our eyes lock and chills when he winks at me.
“I hate to interrupt this sweet moment, but Deli, we’re going to be late for school. You’ll have to eat breakfast in the car,” he says, taking a step into the room as she sighs but nods.
Derek smiles at his daughter, kissing the top of her forehead before turning to me, stealing a kiss from my lips.
“Good morning,” he says softly, his eyes warm as they trace over my face.
“Good morning.”
In less than fifteen minutes, we’re out of the apartment, the three of us singing along to Princess North's latest soundtrack as we drive Delilah to school.
Derek’s hand has found a permanent home on my thigh as he drives, and I’m not complaining one bit as we stop at Deli’s school.
“Make good choices,” he says to the preschooler as she giggles.
“Block more goals,” Delilah chimes back, unbuckling herself from her booster seat as Derek laughs heartily. I join in laughing when Delilah stands in the space between the front and back seats.
She looks between us, her eyes shifty as she takes her bottom lip between her teeth, exposing her dimple.
“Can both of you walk me to class today?” she asks.
Derek and I lock eyes swiftly with one another before I bust out a huge grin. “Of course!”
We walk Delilah to her class, hand in hand, allowing her to play and skip all the way to the classroom.
When we get to the Princess North and Prince South themed room, Delilah pauses in the door and hugs both of us.
The action takes Derek and me by surprise, but we hug her immediately, pulling her close.
“Thank you for doing my hair, Mamá! I’ll see you after school!”
My mouth parts, but no words come out as Derek stands me up, pulling me into his arms.
Did she just call me her mamá?
Me—Georgia “Lemon Drop is my middle name” Adams?
My jaw quivers as I pull my bottom lip into my mouth, trying my hardest not to cry as Derek pulls me closer, kissing the top of my head.
“It’s okay to feel, darlin’... I’ve got ya.”
His words, his comfort… It’s all too much, but just enough. They’re exactly what I need at this moment, and I do what he says and cry.
“She called me her ‘mamá’!” I cry from the car, fifteen minutes after we’d left Delilah’s school.
“I know, darlin’, I was there…”
I turn in my seat to face him as he drives. “Did you see her cute little smile when she said it? Please tell me you saw it!”
“I saw it, honey,” he says, entertaining my bullshit.
I continue to cry happy tears all the way to the fabric store.
Derek is the first one out of the car, grinning from ear to ear as he opens the door for me.
“What a gentleman,” I tease as he smacks my ass.
“I try…”
We’re greeted by a store clerk as soon as we enter the small fabric store. The store smells old and dusty as we make our way through the dozens of aisles of fabric, stopping in the tulle section.
Derek furrows his brows at the large amount of clothing material before frowning, “What do we need to get? It’s kinda creepy in here…”
I smile, patting his chest, before focusing on the fabric at hand.
“We’re looking for fabric for my next piece. I don’t have the right fabric to make the perfect dress, and the fabric shop on campus is trash. This place has a good variety for a fairly cheap price.”
He mulls over my words for a moment before nodding. “Sounds perfect, what’s the game plan, coach?”
My eyes light up, the world growing brighter as his words sink in.
“We need the most perfect tulle known to man…” My words are drowned out when he picks up a red satin fabric from the shelf.
“Get it together, assistant… That is very clearly satin.”
He frowns. “What’s the difference?”
I gasp, horrified.
“What’s the difference?! That’s like asking me what the difference is between hockey and football—hot guys are in both sports, but the sports couldn’t be any more different.”
He raises an amused brow at me. “Hot guys?”
“I did have a crush on Ryan,” I say offhandedly, turning to the tulle opposite the satin.
What kind of fabric shop puts tulle and satin in the same aisle anyway?
Derek’s presence at my back causes me to go still as he turns me around to face him. “You like Ryan?”
I tilt my head at him, feigning confusion as he gives me a zero-bullshit glare.
“Don’t glare at me, sour bear. I said I had a crush on him,” I tut, emphasizing the word “had” as he narrows his eyes on me.
Derek gently grasps my chin, tilting my head up to match his eyes. “How long ago was this?”
I breathe in his rich smell and sigh as he gets closer to me, the air between us thick.
“Can’t say,” I tease as he chuckles darkly.
“I’ll make you forget about it anyway…” He trails off, and before I can mull over his words, his hand is clutching my throat and his lips are on mine.
Derek groans into the kiss, moving my head to the side as his lips trail to my neck and then up to the spot below my ear, kissing and sucking the space. A moan almost escapes me, but he sees it coming before it does and clasps a hand around my mouth.
“I’m going to need you to be very, very quiet. Can you do that for me, darlin’?”
His words catch me off guard, but the desire burning beneath the depths of his brown eyes has me slowly nodding from beneath his hand.
Derek leans in close, his own lips an inch from his hand on my mouth. “Good girl.”
I think I’m going to combust.
His hand, which I hadn’t noticed on the small of my back, pulls me closer to him. I gasp as he pulls me back into a searing kiss, and the hand that’d been on my mouth travels to my breast, palming it above my clothing.
“Will you let me touch you, right here? Let me touch you where you’re aching for me?”
I nod, my chest heaving as the dirtiest of words fall from the lips of the quietest and calmest man that I know.
“Words, darlin’,” he tuts, grasping the bottom of my chin, holding the cheeks.
“Wh-what if we get caught?”
Derek smirks. “Then don’t make a sound… What do you say?”
I bite my bottom lip before quickly pecking him, “I want you to touch me, Derek.”
He wastes zero time, raising my skirt ever so slightly, pulling my panties to the side with his long, thick fingers. I sigh into his mouth as he kisses me and works his thumb on my clit.
I catch our reflection through a small opening in the curtains next to us. If someone walked by this window, they’d see us, no doubt about it.
“You’re so wet for me, darlin’. Does me touching you like this in public get you off? Or is it just my beautiful face?”
“The sight of myself makes me horny. Haven’t you wondered why I always stare at myself in the car mirror?” I tease, groaning and placing my head on his arm as he inserts a finger inside of me.
“Hmm, is that so? Look at me, baby. That’s right…” he says, his southern accent in full flare as he works me between my thighs.
Rustling a few aisles over alerts us to someone else being in the store, and my eyes widen as I try to untangle us from this compromising position.
Derek, on the other hand, could give a flying fuck. Instead of stopping, he pushes in another finger and pumps faster, all while his thumb continues to circle me—working me over.
His lips are on mine, kissing and massaging my own as he pulls back an inch. “I’m gonna need you to cum for me, can you do that, darlin’? Can you come on my fingers for me?”
I moan, I don’t mean to, but the dirty words that tumble out of this country gentleman mixed with his movements have me seeing stars.
Derek chuckles cockily. “That’s my girl… Come on, let it out, baby.”
And I do.
He seals our lips together, working me harder and faster than I’ve ever had in my life. A feeling like the galaxy exploding has me tumbling over the edge as my climax shoots through me.
Derek bites my bottom lip, tugging as I clench around him.
“You did so well, honey,” he coos, fixing my skirt, as the man who’d been manning the register turns down our aisle.
“Did you two need any help with anything?” he asks, looking between us as I try to catch my breath.
Derek licks the tip of his finger with a gigantic smile. “Nope, I’ve got everything I need. Pretty sweet, if you ask me.”
I gulp, my eyes widening.
He did not just—
The bastard shoots me a wink as the store clerk disappears back around the corner.
“So, what were we talking about again? You know… before?” He asks, a little cocky smirk dancing across his face as I draw a blank.
“I can’t remember…” I curse under my breath as his smirk widens into a grin.
“Good.”