The Inheritance (Forever Bound #1) (3 page)

It was a different experience to have sex in the front of that truck, but she easily got accustomed to it. With her clothes shed and tossed to the seat next to them, she helped him roll his condom on. His cock thrust into her, and her lips went back to his. His hands enthusiastically massaged her breasts as they made out in the dark alley as if they were two teenagers that didn’t want to get caught. Her stomach tightened, and the truck started rocking. His hips gyrated hard against hers, and she dug her fingers into his shoulders, just trying to hold on.

“Oh God…” she cried, breaking from the kiss and arching her back. Her body seized beneath him. “Yes…yes…oh my God yes…” she cried. Her juices wrapped around his condom, and he crashed hard into her. The momentum lessened, but their breathing remained rushed. His eyes locked with hers as slowly he eased down his thrusts. She laughed, breathlessly seated in his truck.

“Perfect…” he mumbled, softly nibbling her on the chin.

She didn’t say another word in that vehicle until he had pulled out, she took a few moments to gain her composure, and she got dressed. He crawled onto the passenger seat and got dressed, and that’s when it seemed to hit him that this was a one-time thing.

“Thank you,” she quietly replied.

He nodded, then looked away from her. She got out of the truck and grabbed her car key out of her pocket. That’s all it was about…getting a high and fulfilling a need. She didn’t want anything else, because she didn’t want to find herself with another broken heart and this was, by far, the best alternative.

After the latest information Derek received on Friday night about the mall project, he could tell Monday would be busy with meetings and trying to desperately get the project back on track. He started off the day with a meeting with a few board members to go over what Ted had found at the development site. He wasn’t surprised to find each of them ready to pin the blame on someone else.

I thought so and so was in charge of that area,
or,
didn’t so and so work that out?
He finally just had to toss up his hands and state that if anyone was to blame, it was him. After all, he was in charge and should’ve paid more attention. The important thing was to figure out where to go from there. If it really didn’t belong to any of the people that they talked to, then they needed to find out who did belong to the property. He wasn’t losing hope, especially after coming so far. He adjourned that meeting and went back to his office to work on crunching some numbers.

Once he sat down, he heard his phone ring. He quickly answered it. “Mayor Worthington…”

“It’s Ted, and I’ve talked to Bruce Forester. He said the property doesn’t belong to him.”

“Oh…” Derek slowly replied. He wasn’t surprised. “What now?” he asked.

“Well, Mr. Forester said that he remembered seeing the building next to his land, but since he never utilized the area, he didn’t really pay much attention to who owned it. I suppose I could call the other people on the list, but frankly…I think we’d be spinning our wheels. It might be most beneficial to find out if we can get the records of who owns the place.”

“You’re right,” Derek agreed. “I’ll look into it. Thanks for your help, Ted. I’ll be talking to you soon.” They said their goodbyes, then Derek buzzed for Lily, his assistant, to come into his office. She came in, carrying her notebook and took a seat across from him. “Will you check around and see if you can find out who owns a property?”

“Sure! Have an address?” she asked.

He pulled a copy of the map from his desk and shook his head. “Not exactly. It’s on the corner of Elm and 64
th
Street. It’s right next to the property that Bruce Forester just sold us. I know that really doesn’t give you much to go on, but hopefully, you can find something in the records department.”

She smiled, looking down at the area that Derek pointed to. “I’ll give it my best shot.” She jotted down a few notes, then looked up at him. “Want to go over your schedule for the rest of the day?”

“Alright!” He pulled up the calendar on his phone and clicked on the date.

“At 10:00 you’re meeting with Luther Glass to discuss his charity run he’s sponsoring for ALS.”

Derek scrolled down and nodded. “Check.”

“At noon, you have a dinner luncheon with Mr. Clawson at Bill’s Diner.”

He stopped looking at his phone and looked up. “Bill’s Diner? I thought he was coming here, and we were ordering in.”

She tilted her head. “I told you that the plans were changed. He has another meeting across town, so thought it’d be best to make it at the Diner. Don’t you remember?”

He looked down at his phone that still said
lunch in the conference room with Frank Clawson.
“Suppose it slipped my mind. They say the mind is the first to go.” He laughed and changed the entry in his phone to read Bill’s Diner. Okay, what next?”

She chuckled, looking down at her notebook. “At two o’clock you have a ribbon cutting at Victory Lanes Bowling Alley.”

“Check,” he replied.

“Then at four thirty you’re meeting with the director at the children’s home to discuss fundraising.”

“Okay, I have that all on my phone. Anything else need to be added?” he asked.

“Well, I did get an unusual call from Jesse Tremble.”

Derek frowned. “Jesse? What does he want?”

She smiled. “He wanted me to add him to the schedule for today, but I told him I thought you might be a little booked. Do you want me to call him back?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of Jesse. Thanks, Lily.”

She nodded and stood up. “I’ll get on trying to figure out who owns that property. Do you need me to do anything else?”

“Not right now. Thanks!” He waved her on and picked up his phone to call Jesse, but was stopped with a knock on the door. He looked up and smiled when he spotted Jesse at the door. “Leaving Lily to do your dirty work?” he asked.

Jesse shrugged. “Didn’t work, did it? She said you were booked solid and couldn’t be bothered with meeting with me.” Jesse leaned against the door and smugly grinned at his friend. “I actually do need to discuss business with you.”

“Oh you do, do you?” Derek asked, standing to his feet and rounding his desk. “Honestly, Lily’s right…I’m swamped.”

Jesse groaned. “This isn’t just going to go away. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to deal with it, and I advise you doing it sooner. Time is running out.”

Derek stepped back and stared at Jesse. “What are you talking about?”

“The little matter of your father’s will. It’s coming up on a year, and the clock is ticking. If you’re to get a wife and a child…”

“Shhh…” Derek placed his hand against Jesse’s mouth. “Do you want the whole world to hear?”

Jesse chuckled, pushing Derek’s hand away. “Fine, but the fact of the matter is…you need to make it your priority.”

“Why?” Derek asked.

Jesse stared at him like Derek had just said the craziest thing. “What do you mean why?”

“I guess I don’t understand what the big deal is. I’m happy, and I don’t see why I need to change that.”

“Let me get this straight.” Jesse moved closer so he was out of earshot. “You think you might want to forfeit the notion and simply accept the realization that you won’t get the rest of your dad’s inheritance?”

Derek thought about that and slowly nodded as the realization hit him. Since learning of the stipulation, he hadn’t given it much thought. Sure it threw him for a loop, but he didn’t want his father to dictate how he lived for the rest of his life, and he could possibly be prepared to refuse the rules he was given. “I’m just saying that I’m thinking about it. I don’t know what my future has in store for me, but I do know that I’m not prepared to get married just so I won’t lose his money.”

Jesse looked away from Derek and Derek wanted to question whether Jesse was alright. This didn’t concern him, as his friend or his lawyer, but it seemed to confuse him. “Just promise me one thing.”

Derek shrugged. “What?”

“Really think about it. Let me come over tonight and we can lay out all the pros and cons.”

Derek sighed. It wouldn’t make much difference, he was sure of that, but he would give his friend the benefit of the doubt and agree to it. “Fine. I’ll call Mary and ask her to set an extra plate for dinner. See you at seven o’clock?”

“I’ll be there.” Jesse paused at his door and chuckled. “I think I might actually be able to change your mind.”

Derek frowned. “Why do you say that?”

Jesse shook his head. “I’ll explain later. Bye.”

“Goodbye.” Derek watched him as he got in the elevator, then the doors closed. There were times he didn’t understand Jesse, and this was one of those times. He glanced at his watch. He only had a few minutes to get to his next meeting, so he needed to hurry.

***

Charity reached the time clock, just as Jamie clocked out. “Been busy today?” Charity asked.

“Not really. It’s been sort of dead, actually, but you’re the only one here until one thirty so it might get nuts later.”

Charity groaned. “Figures. Do you have plans this afternoon?”

Jamie shrugged. “Only if you call grocery shopping plans.” She laughed as she followed Charity out of the backroom. “Doug works until six, and we might catch a movie tonight. What time do you get off?” she asked.

“Six thirty. Short day. Have fun grocery shopping!” Charity replied with a chuckle as she opened up the cash register and started calculating her starting balance.

“See ya!” Jamie called.

“Bye!” Charity mumbled as she tallied up the money and put the piece of paper under the drawer. She turned around to grab a pad of order forms to slip into her apron pocket when she heard Jamie’s voice.

“Charity…” she hissed. “Guess who just walked into the diner?”

Charity looked up at Jamie’s excited voice. “Wh
“ her words fell off when she spotted Derek Worthington taking a seat. Her jaw dropped. She didn’t recall ever seeing him inside the diner unless it was for some charity that the city was sponsoring. “What’s he doing here?” she asked in a choked whisper.

“If I were a betting woman, I’d say he’s here to eat.” Charity gave Jamie an annoyed look.

“I gather that, but why?” Charity asked.

Jamie shrugged. “Perhaps he’s seeing how the little people eat.”

Charity rolled her eyes. He seemed nice in the times she found herself watching him on the news or seeing him speak out about what’s important in the city, but his social status was different from theirs. It was common nature to expect that. He had money, and not everyone was as fortunate. She stood in place, frozen and unsure of herself. She’d never spoken two words to him and even though they lived in a small city, she had never really paid much attention to him.

“He’s awfully handsome, don’t you think?” Jamie asked.

Jamie’s words interrupted her thoughts. Charity snickered, ready to say something sarcastic to downsize how she felt, but she couldn’t even gain her own thoughts. Jamie was right. He was handsome. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it before. “Haven’t noticed,” she lied. “I better go see what the highness wants.”

Jamie reached out and grabbed her hand to stop her. “He’s the Mayor…not a prince.” She laughed, then released Charity’s hand. Charity walked over to the two men and put on her most genuine smile. “Hello, and welcome to Bill’s Diner. My name is Charity, and I’ll be your server today. Can I start you off with drinks?”

She first looked at Mayor Worthington, and he looked away from the menu to gaze at her. There was a light in his eyes, and as he looked at her, she felt a bit weak in the knees. Forcing herself to keep eye contact and not sway, she kept her smile. “I’ll just take a coffee…black. Thank you!”

She nodded and turned to the other guy, a little older than the Mayor and a bulkier build. He nodded. “Same. Thank you!”

Charity nodded. “I will be right back with you.” She left the table and went back to the counter, where Jamie still stood.

“What’d he order?” Jamie asked.

Charity tilted an eyebrow in her direction. “Coffee. I thought you had grocery shopping to do.”

Jamie shrugged. “I’m intrigued. What can I say?”

Charity poured two cups of coffee and turned to her co-worker. “He’s just like any other man.”

Jamie smiled. “Right and Brad Pitt is just like any other man.”

Charity smiled and left Jamie standing there to take the two mugs back to their table. She placed one down in front of each man, then removed her pad from her pocket. “Ready to order?”

“Um…” Derek replied, still looking down at his menu. “Frank, you can order first.”

Charity slid her eyes to the other guy. “I’ll take the Spaghetti platter with garlic toast.”

She jotted the order down and looked up at Mayor Worthington. “And for you, Mayor?” she asked.

He looked up and smiled, then closed the menu in front of him. “What do you suggest?”

Her eyes remained locked on his. “Excuse me?” she asked, her pen poised in her hand.

His eyes brightened. “I thought you could make a suggestion. I don’t get the opportunity to eat here very often, and I’m not accustomed to knowing what tastes good.”

She looked down at the pad of paper. No one came into the diner expecting the waitress to make a suggestion. She couldn’t tell whether he was just cocky, annoying, or just simply wanted her help. He was even on the borderline of flirting. She opened up his menu and pointed to the Fish. “The fish sells well.”

He grinned and said, “Then the fish it is.”

“What side would you like? We have cole slaw, side salad, baked beans, fries, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese.”