Just For You, Sir (Doms of Decadence) (5 page)

“Maybe you should try and find her. Do you know her last name?” Holly asked.

He shook his head. “And the only address I have for her is a large apartment building.”

“Well, it’s a start, isn’t it?” Brax said. “And if you are thinking about her this much then you probably need to try and find her. For your peace of mind as much as anything
else.”

***

“I think I’ve found her.”

Stephan
Worthington sat up straight, gripping his phone tightly.

“What? Seriously?”

His stepbrother laughed. It was low, menacing sound. Stephan held back a shudder. Although Evan came in handy, particularly when Stephan had a job he didn’t want to get his hands dirty with, he could never fully trust him. There was something wrong with Evan.

When
they were young, pet rabbits and dogs had started to go missing in their neighborhood. Stephan knew it had something to do with Evan, although his father had never suspected his stepson as the culprit. Evan’s mother, Stephan’s stepmother, might have known, but she would never accuse her precious son of doing anything wrong.

As they’d grown older,
Stephan had found ways to use Evan’s lack of a conscience to his advantage, but he always figured there would come a time when he would have to do something about Evan.

Something permanent.

“How did you find her?”

“It
was easy. Stupid bitch got her picture in the paper. I’ve had my team on the lookout across the country. Two weeks ago, she was in a newspaper in Austin, Texas.”

“What? Why was she in the news
?”

She wouldn’t dare
go to the press about him, would she? She had to know that would be a death sentence.

“Oh, she was being a
Good Samaritan. She happened to be one of the first people on the scene when that stupid bitch, Cece, had a car accident.”

“Wait, you said that was two weeks ago, she could have moved on by now. What took your team so long?”

Stephan wasn’t even sure who Evan’s team was. Didn’t want to know, quite frankly.

“
It’s a big country, you know. We’ve had a lot of places to look.” Evan’s voice grew increasingly agitated.

“You’re right, I’m sorry,”
Stephan soothed. “You did an excellent job. What now? Will you send someone out there?”

What the hell was she doing in Texas?

“Since you’re my brother, I’m going myself. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of that little problem.”

***

“So, the doctor said everything is all right?” Derrick asked, looking over at a beaming Holly who lay resting on a lounger by his outdoor pool.

“Yep, everything is great. We have to go back in s
ix weeks for an ultrasound to check on the baby and she gave us some information to read.”

Brax was currently thumbing through a number of pamphlets.
“There’s a lot of information here. A lot of stuff you can’t eat. No more coffee, either.”

Derrick’s eyes widened. “Seriously? How will you survive? Aren’t you nine-tenths caffeine?”

“Smart ass.” Holly whacked him on the arm. “And I can have one coffee a day.”

Brax just grunted.

“Well, I suppose we’d better go get ready then head back home,” Holly said, standing.

“Not so fast. I bought something for you.”

“Derrick, you didn’t have to do that,” she replied.

“Yes, I did.
I’ve wanted to do this for a while. Follow me.” He led them toward the attached garage. Then over to the latest model Volvo S60.

“You bought a new car?” Holly queried, looking puzzled.

“No, I bought you a new car. It has a top safety rating, traction control, airbags and I had a navigational system put in. That tin can you’re driving isn’t safe. I saw what can happen when a car like that is in an accident and it’s not pretty. With all this commuting and a baby on the way, I want you in something safer.”

“As do I,”
Brax agreed.

Holly turned to look at him. “You knew about this?”

He shrugged. “Derrick called me to ask what I thought. That’s why I was a bit late getting here last night; I stopped at the car lot to have a look at this car.”

“
And neither of you thought to ask me? I should get a say in this. I like the car I have.”

“And just how are you going to get a car seat and
stroller and everything else you’ll need into the car you currently have, sweetheart?” Brax asked.

Holly bit her lower lip. “All right, point taken. But I have plenty of time to look for a new car.”

“Now you don’t have to,” Derrick said. “I found you one of the safest cars available. Call it an early birthday present.”

“My birthday is in November
, Derrick.” She turned to Brax. “You’re really okay with this?”

Brax
smiled. “Derrick can be very convincing and he wanted to do this for you, and now for the baby as well.”

“Holly, you’re the only family I have. The only person I love. This car is the very least I can do to keep you safe.”

Derrick knew he had won when Holly flung herself into his arms.

“Thank you, you over-protective, bossy, brother.”

“You’re welcome.”

This was like looking for a needle in a haystack. He had no idea where to start first. Why hadn’t he walked her to her door?

She’d insisted that she’d be fine walking to her apartment on her own and he hadn’t pushed her. S
he’d been wary and he’d understood. They didn’t know each other, after all.

The building only had about 250 apartments.

Piece of cake, right?

He snorted. “Well, I’m not going to find her sitting here,” he muttered and opened his car door.

A small female stepped out of the apartment building and he paused, heart racing. No, her hair was longer than Jacey’s, darker. He watched as the woman walked down the block, entering a diner.

Well, why hadn’t he thought of that? No doubt
a lot of people around here frequented this diner, hopefully Jacey did as well.

Derrick crossed the road and entered the diner.

He came to a standstill, shock holding him immobile as he spied a waitress across the room. Her back was to him, but he’d still recognize her anywhere.

“Excuse me,” someone said behind him.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, moving out of the way. Satisfaction filled him.

Damn, his luck was looking up.

Jacey longed to
sit with her feet up, sipping a glass of iced tea. She’d been working for close to ten hours and she was exhausted. Not that she would complain.

More hours meant more
money and she needed every penny. One of the other waitresses had called in sick and she’d snapped up the extra hours. She only had about twenty minutes of this shift left, she could get through it.

“Jacey.”

She stilled. This voice had been keeping her awake at night. “Jacey.” His voice shivered down her spine as need flooded her, pooling between her legs, making her clit throb.

She had never reacted to
Stephan like this. Slowly, she turned, hardly daring to believe her eyes.

Derrick smi
led at her. “I was hoping I’d get to see you again.”

She cleared her throat. “You were?”

He nodded. “Are you due for a break soon? Maybe you’ll sit with me for a moment?”

W
hat to do? She should turn him down. There was no way she could take things further, there was just no room in her life for anyone, especially someone as dominant and powerful as Derrick.

And yet,
there was something so irresistible about him. Like a whole container of Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey when she was on a diet.

Bad idea. Oh
, but it would taste so good.

“I’m finished in twenty minutes. Can I get you something to eat or drink?”

“I’ll take some iced tea.”

Jacey nodded with a smile, watching as he slipped into a booth. Shaking
off her surprise, she walked over to the kitchen and grabbing the jug of iced tea and poured a large glass.

“
Wow that is one hunk of man sitting in your area, girl.” Frankie stepped through the door into the back, fanning herself. “If I was a few years younger, I’d be drooling all over him.” Frankie had to be at least sixty.

Jacey smiled at her. “What are you talking about, if you were younger? You don’t look a day over twenty-five.”

“If only,” Frankie replied with a laugh, flicking her hand at Jacey.

Jacey picked up the glass of tea and carried it out to Derrick. Frankie was
right, he was definitely a hunk with his dark hair and intense eyes.

The last part of her shift went by
in a blur and she soon found herself out the back, in the small storage room, changing into her own clothes.

Due to a high employee
turnover the diner’s owner kept a few spare uniforms in the back. She wasn’t sure how often he washed them, but she was grateful that she didn’t have to carry it around.

She fingered the uniform as she hung it up. Things would be so much easier if she had a permanent job. But that would mean tax forms and social security numbers and
Stephan on her doorstep. He had the resources to find her.

Jacey
grabbed her backpack out of one of the lockers then stepped back into the eating area of the diner. A wave of queasiness rushed over her and she took a deep breath, putting a calming hand on her stomach. She needed to eat.

“Go sit down,” Frankie called out to her. “I’ll bring you a burger.”

S
he smiled her thanks then made her way over to Derrick.

“Hi,”
she said as she stood beside his booth. Derrick quickly slid out and stood.

“Have a seat, love. Can I get you a drink or something?”

“It’s okay. Frankie is bringing over something for me.” She’d started her shift at six this morning and had only managed a few bites of a sandwich during her shift. She was now shaking with hunger and fatigue. Frankie bustled over with a large burger and glass of iced tea. Jacey looked over at Derrick awkwardly. “Sorry, late lunch. Would you like something?”

She owed him for the pie the other night.

He shook his head and leaned back. “Please, go ahead.”

She
forced herself not to wolf the food down. Eating too fast when she had an empty stomach would only make her sick. She’d learned that the hard way.

Derrick was silent as she ate, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. In fact, she was surprised by how at ease she felt around him.

“Go out to dinner with me,” he finally said.

“Umm.” She glanced down at her near-empty plate.

Derrick’s lips twitched. “Maybe not tonight. Tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up.”

“Derrick, we don’t even know each other.”

“Which is why we need to go out to dinner. To get to know each other. You’re a hard woman to track down, I couldn’t believe my luck when I walked into this diner and saw you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you and I want to get to know you better.”

She stared at him
in surprise. This wasn’t what she had expected. Not at all.

“Ahh, Derrick.”

He held up his hand. “I can tell you’re going to say no, so I want you to think about it. When’s your next shift?”

She
had a lot of shifts this week to cover for one of the other waitresses.

“I’m working
the breakfast shift every day this week.” She probably shouldn’t have told him that. Yet there was something about Derrick that made it near impossible to lie to him.

“Good.” He grinned and pulled out his wallet, leaving
more than enough money on the table to cover the bill and a generous tip. Standing, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Oh God, what was she getting herself into?

Shaking herself out of her stupor, she picked up the cash he’d left, gaping at it in disbelief. Fifty dollars? The iced tea had cost $1.50.

Shaking her head, she placed the fifty into her pocket and grabbed some change for the tea. She’d give him the money back tomorrow.

She was actually looking forward to it.

***

Jacey
bit back a yawn as she walked toward the diner for her breakfast shift.

She just couldn’t get used to sleeping in the shelter, there were too many people, too much noise, too much worry that that someone might catch her
with her guard down. Add her poor sleep to these early morning shifts at the diner, plus the fatigue from being pregnant and Jacey felt like she was running on empty.