Falling Into You (Geek to Chic) (28 page)

While Alex processed the fact that he would
be gone for a month in a little over a week, Derek went back to returning his
emails and shutting down his computers.
 
When he turned back his friend was smiling.
 
“If I didn’t already like Roni, I would
now.
 
She made you human!”
 

“Funny.
 
Now Collin will be in the office next week, so I will be able to bring
him up to speed on the technical portion of the company so he can handle any
items that come back from the military testing of the drone security package I
will be delivering in the next day or two.
 
So all you will have to handle is the financial and corporate signatures
as it will take the lawyers more time to establish Collin and Phin as
signatures.
 
Also, I am hoping Jemma will
be back by then...”

“Stop, please stop.
 
You are ruining the image I had of you being
human.
 
Relax, we can handle the business
while you are gone.
 
I promise the world
will not end if you become mortal for a month and take a break.
 
Go.
 
Have fun.
 
Have kinky sex on the
beach.”
 
Alex smiled at the last comment.

“Well, it is a private beach.” Derek
smirked, thinking of Roni naked on the beach and all the naughty things he
would be doing to her.
 
Then his naughty
bubble burst with one devastating thought.
 
“What if I invite her to go away with me and tell her I love her and she
tells me she doesn’t feel the same or dumps me?”
 

Alex simply stood and shook his head.
 
“You’re a fucking idiot if you don’t already
know how that woman feels about you.
 
Derek,
she looks at you like you hung the moon.
 
Not to mention she makes sure you eat, sleep and act human toward the
staff.
 
Since she has come into your life
you have mellowed, in a good way.
 
She
brings out the best in you.
 
And you seem
to do the same for her.
 
All of us know
how much the two of you love each other.
 
In fact, we are all jealous of how perfect you two fit together.
 
So don’t be a chicken shit.
 
Tell the girl how you love her.”

With that his friend walked out the
door.
 
Derek was now the one
stunned.
 
He had no idea the way Roni and
he felt about each other was so obvious to the outside world.
 
Nor did he have any idea that his friend
wanted that love in his life.
 
Something
was changing in his playboy friend that was for sure.
 

Roni spun
around in her room in her beautiful full length ocean blue gown.
 
Watching as the skirt flew out in a large
circle. The scoop neck had small beading and lace, leading into a wave of
material that gave the illusion of it being a wraparound dress.
 
The gown was silk and hit the floor, even
with her silver Jimmy Choo stilettos.
 
Earlier in the day Izzy and she had treated themselves to pedicures and
manicures before getting their makeup and hair professionally done.
 
The stylist has gone all out, styling her
hair into an up do placing small pearls (to match the beading on her gown)
throughout her hair.
 
Her eyes had that
smoky look of them, thanks to the wonderful makeup artist. She felt like
Cinderella.
 
  

“Remind me
again how I got roped into going to this gala?”
 
Izzy questioned in a very unhappy voice as she stomped into Izzy’s
room.
 
Even with the scowl on her face,
Izzy looks amazing.
 
Izzy wore a
strapless green gown, the bodice hugged her breasts tightly while the skirt
flowed freely to the floor.
 
Even with
the three inch stilettos Izzy was a tiny wisp of a woman.
 

“Oh Izzy you
look so beautiful.
 
Stop scowling, I
promise you will have fun.
 
Plus Collin
needed a date and you were being a nice friend by saying you would go with
him.”
 
Roni knew Izzy’s mood had nothing
to do with where they were going or who she was going with.
 
It had to do with who she wasn’t going with.
 
“Plus, who can turn down free champagne and
the prospect of dancing with men who look like they just walked off a GQ
shoot?” Roni was doing her best to lighten the mood and encourage her friend to
have fun tonight.
 

Izzy walked
over to the full length mirror in Roni’s room, she turned side to side to gauge
how her look had turned out.
 
After
seeing that she did in fact look incredible, Izzy spun to face Roni.
 
“You’re right, we will have a great time
tonight.
 
Even if Supreme Douche Bag and
his flavor of the hour are sitting at our table.”
 
Izzy was smiling as she spoke, but Roni could
see the flames of rage with an underlying hurt in her friend’s eyes when she
spoke of Alex.
 
Roni wanted to say
something to comfort her tiny friend, she knew though that Izzy didn’t want
anyone to know (not even Izzy herself) that she was attracted to Alex.
 

Roni went the
way of humor to help her friend through the pain.
 
“Well, I bet between the two of us I bet we
can have a great time, at Alex’s expense.
 
And if our joking makes it harder for him to get laid tonight, well
consider it punishment for his douche bag ways.”
 
Roni knew Izzy would like that last part a
great deal.
 

“Oh, you are
evil.
 
That’s why I love you!”
 
As if on cue the doorbell rang.
 
“I’ll get the door so you can make a grand
entrance for Derek.”
 
Izzy made kissy
noises as she walked down the hallway toward the front door.
 

Roni took
several deep breaths.
 
She and Derek had
been seeing each other for only a little over a month now, but her heart was
convinced she was in love with him.
 
On
some level she had been in love with him the second she laid eyes on him at
Starbucks.
 
She remembered that day
distinctly.
 
Up until she plowed him over
a few months ago, it was the one and only time he had looked at her.
 
She had been waiting for her tea, chit
chatting with the barista when he walked in.
 
She turned her head to the sound of the door opening and saw him.
 
He had no phone in his hand, his look was
intense but gentle, his custom made suit hung on him perfectly emphasizing his
large shoulders.
 

Roni’s brain
had told her she was being rude by staring, but the rest of her was enjoying
the sight damn her manners.
 
Then he
looked at her.
 
No, that wasn’t right, he
looked right into her soul, or at least that was how it felt.
 
Neither of them made a move to close the
distance between them or look away, they simply stared at one another.
 
Of course it was her own clumsiness that had
ended the moment.
 
She reached for the
tea that the barista had set on the counter for her.
 
Her gaze still locked on his she didn’t
notice that she did not have a good grip on the cup.
 
It slipped right through her hand crashing to
the floor, breaking the spell between them. She hopped out of the way of the
hot water splash looking down only briefly at the mess she had made.
 
When she looked back up, he was gone.
 
He had not even ordered a coffee.
 

Now the man
that had captivated her with a locking gaze was taking her to the Children’s
Charity Gala. Roni was on cloud nine at the thought of him holding her as they
dance.
 
She heard Collin, Derek and Izzy
talking in the living room about this and that and decided it was time she got
out of here and joined them.
 
She entered
the living room, and was stopped in her tracks at the sight of Derek’s
back.
 
Sure, she saw him every day in a
suit, but seeing him in an expensive tuxedo nearly had her drooling.
 

He turned
around slowly.
 
Once he was facing her,
his eyes caressed her from head to toe and back again.
 
He stepped toward her, taking her hand,
kissing it gently.
 
“Roni you take my
breath away.
 
You look beyond
beautiful.”
 
He then leaned close to
whisper in her ear, “makes me not want to share you with the rest of the
world.”
 
A shiver of lust ran through her
body in response.

“You look
pretty good yourself boss man.” She countered, calling him the nickname on
purpose to tap down the sizzle between them so that they had a shot at actually
making it out the door. He kissed her chastely.

“Shall
we?”
 
Derek said, holding out his arm for
her to take.
 

“Why yes we
shall.”
 
She giggled her response.
 
Each of the guys helped the girls wrap their
shawls around them.
 
As they stepped out
they saw a stretch limo waiting to whisk them off to the event.
 
Roni had been looking forward to this night
for weeks.
 
She knew that tonight would
be nothing but perfection solely because that even if she tripped and fell into
an ice sculpture or something like that, Derek would be next to her ready to
pick her off the floor.
   

The four of
them settled into their seats in the limo.
 
Derek turned to her with a satisfied look on his face.
 
“I finally get to take you to a fancy
dinner.
 
I even got you to put on a fancy
gown and ride in a limo.” He looked so pleased with himself.
 

“Well, enjoy
this evening because this girl likes her pizza and beer over champagne and
expensive shoes.
 
Ok, maybe I like the
shoes.”
 
She wiggled her feet from under
her gown to show him her beautiful shoes.
 

He sucked in a
breath.
 
He casually glanced over at
Collin and Izzy ensuring they were not listening.
 
Then he turned his full attention back to
Roni.
 
She shivered when she saw the heat
in his eyes.
 
He leaned in as close to
her as he could get.
 
“I have no problem
with you are losing the dress later tonight,” he kissed the sensitive skin
behind her ear, “but I agree the shoes should definitely stay.”
 

Derek had done
little more than kiss her once and whisper a vaguely naughty sentence in her
ear and she was ready to tell the driver to drop them at his house instead of
going to the gala.
 
Who needed a fancy
gala with celebrities when she could have Derek naked in bed?
 
He pulled away from her taking her hand in
his.
 
He rubbed his thumb along her pulse
line.
 
She wondered if he could feel how
her pulse was racing from his single sentence. He smiled, yep, he could
definitely feel the effect of his words.
 

They said nothing
more on the ride to the charity event.
 
Both seemingly lost in thoughts of what would come after the gala.
 
Roni smiled to herself, remembering her other
purchase at the mall for this evening, under her dress she wore a surprise for
Derek. All men loved garter belts and lacy bras, and she knew Derek would be no
exception.
 
She has even forgone the
panties, opting to go commando, as she assumed Derek was as well.
 
She wondered if he even owned a pair of
boxers.
 
That made her smile even
wider.
 

He looked over
at her curiously, “And what is that smile for?”

She was about
to ask him if he did in fact have an underwear drawer, when the limo
stopped.
 
Instead, she kissed him softly,
“Guess it will have to wait, we have arrived.”
 
As the last word fell from her mouth the limo door opened.
 
Derek shook his head at her in a playful way
and slid out.
 
Turning back to help her
out.
 
She kissed him again and they
entered the Brown Palace Hotel.
 

She did not
know if she could hold her feelings for him in, much longer.
 
Tonight may be the night she said the words.
The night she admitted to both of them how much he truly had come to mean to
her in this brief time together.
 

***

When Roni had
walked into the living room in her blue dress, it had taken everything Derek
had to keep from throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her back to her
room.
 
She took his breath away with her
beauty.
 
He now had his arm around her
waist in a possessive manner.
 
He wanted
every man in the room to know she was his.
 
She had brought so much more meaning to his life.
 
Before Roni, he was a workaholic with no
desire to change that part of himself.
 
He now saw himself on the path to recovery from his workaholic ways.

He had a grand
plan for this evening. Derek felt overwhelmed with his feelings for her.
 
Part of him was waiting for the other shoe to
drop.
 
He decided to ignore that bastard
of a voice.
 
Instead, he was moving
forward with his plans.
 
After they
danced the night away at the gala he planned to tell her he loved her and ask
her if she wanted to go on a vacation with him.

Derek had even
gone as far booking the trip.
 
His
private jet would fly them to a small island near Barbados.
 
The house he had rented had a private beach,
full staff and a small yacht for day trips.
 
He was going to prove to her that she was more important than work by
leaving his laptop and all other gadgets behind.
 
He was so excited he felt like a child on
Christmas morning.
  

He watched as
she took in the ballroom.
 
Decorated in
white and blue, the round table tops covered in white linen with blue napkin
swans adorning the dinner plates.
 
The
dance floor, in the middle of the ballroom, had random blue and white lights
shooting shapes onto the black floor.
 
Along the far side of the room was a large bar, with high wrought iron
stools.
 
Roni was smiling when she looked
up at him.
 
A joyful, almost innocent
smile that warmed his heart.
 
He leaned
down and kissed her chastely before taking her hand.
 
“Shall we find our seats?”
 

Tonight, Roni
looked at him as though he hung the moon.
 
He wanted to keep that look on her face for as long as he possibly
could.
 
He leaned down once more for a
quick kiss.
 
As his lips touched hers a
flash of light hit his eyelids. He left Roni’s lips to see one of the press
photographers standing before them snapping away.
 
He had forgotten that they would be
here.
 
Then again, since it was Roni on
his arm tonight, someone who meant the world to him, he didn’t mind having
their picture plastered all over the news. He tugged her hand toward the
direction of their table.
 

They stopped
along the way to the table to greet different associates.
 
His mind was so distracted by his plans for
later with Roni he could barely carry on the mundane greetings as they moved
through the ballroom.
 
They arrived at
the table to find Alex and Caroline already sitting chatting away.
 
He searched his brain for if Alex had
mentioned he was bringing C.
 
He was
pretty sure last time they spoke about the gala he had said he was bringing
some leggy blond he met in New York a while ago.
 
“Caroline I didn’t realize you were
coming.
 
Who has Netty?”