After we had settled in his...

How should I say it?

MANSION! Or as Derick calls it HOME.

But I guess home is in the eye of the beholder or something like that.

"Still can't get over my house?"

"Nope, I'm still not over your penthouse back in Chicago"

"That was months ago"

"I had probably the strangest first month of employment in history"

"It was fun though wasn't it?"

"For you? Maybe, but it was hell of a lot of work for me"

He chuckled then looked at his watch and nodded approvingly.

"It's five PM, wanna go somewhere relaxing?"

"Like?"

"The park, unless you just wanna stay inside, that's also fine by me"

"No, the park sounds good"

"There's one nearby so we don't need to take the car"

When he was walking to the door I looked him up and down.

"What?"

"You're going in a suit?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"People are gonna think you're weird, plus this isn't New York, this is LA, where people wear khaki shorts and T-Shirts plus, isn't it uncomfortable?"

"I've spent almost two days straight in a suit, I'm used to it"

I huffed and grabbed his jacket.

"Stop making everything sound so sad, now take off your jacket"

I looked up and saw the expression on his face and how he was looking at my hands, that's when I noticed I pulled him way closer than I expected.

I pulled back and looked up embarrassed, I quickly shook off the feeling and gave him the puppy dog eyes.

"Please" I pouted.

He stared at me for a good two minutes until he cracked.

"Ugh! Fine, but I'm not wearing khaki shorts!"

"Deal! But do you even have casual clothes to wear?"

"I do! And even if I didn't I'd ask someone to buy it for me"

"Alright, alright don't shove your rich money in my face"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"How does this look?"

When he walked out of the closet my breath hitched in my throat.

He was wearing a half sleeved light blue dress shirt with two of the first buttons unbuttoned showing off a fair bit of skin, from his biceps to his chest hair and it was paired off with dark beige trousers to contrast with the light shirt.

Damn, the blue makes his eyes pop out, I'm sure the sky is jealous of how blue they are.

"Hey! Are you done checking me out? I asked how it looked" He said, smirking when he saw the look on my face.

Was I drooling?

I was shaken out of daze and sighed my response.

"You look good"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

We walked side by side in the quite park, the sun was going to set any minute now and people were starting to fill out.

"It's strange"

I said trying to clear up the awkward air around us.

"What is?"

"Walking with you as though this is a normal occurrence, having dinner with you, calling you by your first name, I just didn't want to do something like this at the moment"

"If this wasn't something you wanted, why did you go on a date with Victor that day?"

"First of all I just felt like it and secondly how did you know I went out with Vick? I never said anything about that"

He looked down not answering me.

And it struck me.

He didn't do what I think he's done.

He did, didn't he?

God our lord and creator show this man some mercy...

Because I am about to kill him!

"Don't tell me you looked through my office computer!"

"I had to"

"You had to?! Is that even an excuse?! At least come up with a better one!"

"If I was giving you an excuse, I wouldn't have bothered giving you one anyway"

He said calmly like I didn't just fully lash out on him.

I closed my mouth and took a deep breath.

He's right.

He's too smart for that kind of thing.

"Yeah, So you had to?" I asked after calming down my nerves a bit.

"Yes I had to for the sake of my sanity, wouldn't you be pissed off if someone you're interested in goes on a date with someone else?"

"You're interested in me?" I asked genuinely surprised, I thought he asked me out just to mess with me a bit.

"I mean I knew I was attractive but I didn't think I was attractive enough for a guy like you" I continued after the shock had worn off.

"A guy like me?" He raised a brow.

"You know, the type that likes easy girls that wear a lot of makeup and show off a lot of skin"

"That's not my type...

I like it when girls try to be sexy and all but personality matters more to me, girls that turn me on are just good for one night, not forever, but having a partner with not only good looks but contrasting characteristics are more interesting, seeing them handle things a way you don't, I like that"

Why is he suddenly sparkling?

It's amazing how he's sometimes a huge jerk but once in awhile you can feel how mature and sensible he is.

And at those moments I think...

'So that's why I can stand his mood swings, his weird requests, even his very bothersome personality too'

"I like this side of you..." I mumbled.

"Did you say something?"

"No" I smiled.

"Did you ever miss your dad? You know, when he left"

"He was never really a father, he was more like a coach, and not one of the good ones, he had the belief that discipline was everything, affection was just another emotion but he wasn't always like that, it happened after I was born so me and Nina never saw that side of him, what about you? Do you ever resent your dad?"

"Every single day...

My dad liked it rough, a bit like yours, I love my mom but I used to pity her, she couldn't escape and would take the hits for me and my sister, but after awhile he got bored and didn't care anymore but I still pitied my mom, having to play the beautiful, educated housewife is something she never expected doing and when my dad finally left us alone I realized my mother doesn't need the pity, she deserves a world of happiness and that's what I've always wanted to give her"

"You really are a mamma's boy, aren't you Derick?" I smiled curiously.

'And there's nothing wrong with that' I thought to myself.

"And you just had to ruin the moment didn't you?"

I walked up to him and put my hands on his shoulders.

"Well, this is supposed to be a Date Mr. Reid so I expect you to surprise me and convince me you're not just some lifeless CEO that can't keep his pants on"

"If that's what you want Ms. Downs then we can have fun, if you get my drift"

He said wiggling his eyebrows with a smirk on his gorgeous face.

"And you just had to go ahead and ruin the moment, didn't you?" I mimicked.

"Pay back for ruining mine"

I chuckled and leaned in, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"What was that for?"

"For being cute!"

I shouted running away from his stunned figure.

When I was far enough away I smiled to myself remembering what had happened.

For someone who doesn't get enough sleep or nutrition he has really smooth skin.

I sat on a bench as I was a bit out of breath and looked around.

Wow, never in my life did I think I'd be 'intimate' with my boss, maybe giving him a chance isn't so bad, plus I like the teasing that's going on between us.

I felt a pair of hands on my eyes.

Big ones.

"I wonder who could this be?"

"Someone you were with just three minutes ago, tall, intelligent and extremely good looking"

"Was there someone like that? I don't remember"

"Ok that's enough"

He removed his hands and took a seat beside me.

"How did you get to me this quick?"

"Don't run away from someone who has been here so many times, they know it like the back of their hand"

"Shortcut?"

"Yup" he said nodding his slowly.

"You could've just said that"

"Come on, I've had enough of your sarcastic remarks for one day, let's go have dinner and get some sleep"

I agreed and we left the park and made our way back to his place.

"So what're we having for dinner?"

"I hoped that you could cook"

"Aren't you romantic?" I said sarcastically.

"I try" he chuckled.

"Don't worry I'll help" he continued.

"Can you even cook? I know you can bake but cooking is something else"

"Did you taste my cake? Even if I can't cook me just adding some salt will make a dish taste like it's made from a five star restaurant."

"Moving on, you go there and think of something you'd like, while I familiarize myself with your kitchen"

"You did not just ignore me"

I chuckled and made my way to the fridge.

"Dinner would've been easier if you called someone else to make it" I said, raising my voice slightly.

"I like watching you cook"

"You've never seen me cook" I smiled.

"I may or may not have seen you make your way around the kitchen when you went to help my mom that day"

I froze.

"And?"

"I heard my mother say you take care of me like a babysitter, I saw the look of concern on your face when she said I sometimes don't eat and that's when I knew, I want you around me more"

With every word he stepped closer and closer, coming near me.

He stood behind me and snaked his arms around me.

He laid his chin on my head and squeezed me tighter.

"You're amazing, just like my mother said, do you acknowledge my feelings?"

"It's too early to tell" I said, pulling his hands away and stepping out of his embrace.

I cleared my throat and looked at him.

"I'll get back to cooking, I'll cook whatever I want so don't bother thinking about it" I chuckled lighting up the very awkward mood.

"I'm not hungry, you can cook for yourself"

He got up and left me alone in the kitchen.

I sighed and continued taking out ingredients to make a Fettuccine Alfredo.

You can never go wrong with pasta.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I was right.

Eating alone SUCKS.

Thank you for ruining pasta Derick!

I sighed and took out another plate and put some food on it, I grabbed my plate too and took it up stairs.

When I got to Mr. Asshole's door I kicked it with my foot as my hands were full.

You'd think there'd be some kind of dresser in the hallway of some gigantic house, but no.

I kicked it again since there was no answer the first time.

"Can't you open the door?!"

"I can't!"

"Well why not?!"

"Because I'm holding the thing that's going to help you not stave to death!"

He went quite and the door opened.

"I'm not hungry"

"Where have I heard that one before, now step aside"

"You could've eaten without me you know"

"Yeah I could've but my conscience couldn't handle it"

"So what's for dinner?"

"Fettuccine Alfredo"

"Yum, come on in"

"We're not eating in the bedroom!"

"Why not?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Have you no shame?! My Mamá taught me better than that!"

"Okay, okay, I got it, but I've got a full dining set in here"

"A bedroom is meant for sleeping in, not eating"

"You will be one strict mom" he chuckled.

"Growing up with a strict but gentle mom has its perks"

Good he's back to normal.

"By the way I haven't forgotten the fact I'm taking you shopping tomorrow"

"We're still on for that?"

"Yup"

The evening went well, we ate our dinner, laughed, talked and I'm happy that awkward mood around us was gone.

Now lying in bed I looked up at the ceiling and thought about it, one out of seven.

Six more days to go and during those six days a lot can happen...

⭐️💬

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