Page 55 of Prudence
“You just what?” he came closer, penning me in against the wall, and my pulse began pounding in my eardrums. His clean scent invaded my nostrils, and his warmth felt like it was seeping past the thin material of my dress even though no parts of us touched.
I blinked, and mortifyingly, a tear escaped and fell down my cheek. Derek’s focus went to it immediately, his expression serious as he watched its descent. This was the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me, surely. Crying over a man who wasn’t even mine to cry over.
“I overheard some of your conversation with Paloma, her proposition, and I … God, I’m so ridiculous. I don’t even know why I’m upset.” I looked up, my eyes locking with his. “Please don’t feel like you have to humour me with any of this.”
“Humour you?” Derek said, his voice laced with disbelief.
“Yes. It’s your daughter’s birthday, and I’m—”
“She was completely out of line,” he said then, cutting me off. He sounded furious, and I blinked in surprise. Derek’s brow was wrinkled, his eyes locked on mine as they swam with concern. “I need you to understand that I will never, not even for one night, be revisiting that relationship.”
“You do?” I squeaked, my eyes flicking back and forth between his, but all I saw was the truth, no deception in his words or on his face.
“We divorced for a reason. It’s been over for five years, and Paloma knows it.” The fervency in his voice had my chest fluttering. “She also knows she shouldn’t have asked that of me. I have no idea what’s gotten into her, but I think maybe being away from the kids for so long has made her nostalgic or homesick in some way.”
His words had my throat tightening, my lips turning dry. “Derek,” I ventured, my voice oh so tentative, and his eyes flashed to mine. I swallowed thickly and forced myself to continue, “Why are telling me all this?”
His eyes darkened as they zeroed in on me. It was like he was trying to peer into my very soul. Instead of answering, he met my question with one of his own as he leaned in even closer, his lips ghosting against the shell of my ear and causing my entire body to tremble. “Why are you crying?”
“I’m not.”
Derek arched a sceptical eyebrow and gently thumbed away the wetness on my cheek, not needing to say a word to argue my lie since he had the evidence right there. My breath hitched when he lifted his other hand and caressed his knuckles over my cheek. “These eyes, they’ve always fucking ruined me,” he murmured, and I gasped when his knuckles continued their descent down to my jaw, along the curve of my neck and lower to my sensitive collar bone. “You look beautiful today,” hecontinued. “When I saw you earlier, I couldn’t stop staring.” Was that when Tara witnessed him looking at me? Could she be right about the longing she saw in his gaze?
“I like how you look, too,” I replied stupidly, and a sexy yet tender smile graced his lips.
“Yeah? What do you like about how I look?”
Something in his gaze had me feeling bold as I reached up and gently palmed the stubble on his jaw. “I like this,” I whispered, and he seemed to melt into my touch, his cheek pressing into my palm. “I sometimes wonder how it feels …”
“What else?”
“Your eyes, how you look at me. Your mouth. Your body. How much bigger than me you are.”
“Fuck,” he swore then buried his face in my neck, pressing a wet, open-mouthed kiss to the overly sensitised flesh, and I let out the tiniest moan. My head fell back against the wall as he continued kissing my neck, spreading a wave of tingles down my spine.
I felt his hands go to the skirt of my dress, hitching it up when suddenly there was a loud commotion that came from downstairs. Someone—Derek’s mother it sounded like—screamed, “Padraig! Oh, my goodness!” and we instantly pulled apart, sharing a concerned glance before we left the room and hurried downstairs. I was still trying to get my head around what just transpired between Derek and me when we entered the kitchen and found several people gathered around Derek’s father, who lay unconscious on the floor. Out in the garden, Gigi, her mother and the other party guests were eating cake, entirely unaware of what was going down in the kitchen.
“What happened?” I asked, immediately shifting into doctor mode. I wasn’t an emergency medic, but after all my years in the hospital, it was second nature for me to take charge when someone fell ill around me.
“He just collapsed,” Jo said. “One minute, he was standing there talking to me; the next, he mentioned feeling a little dizzy; and a few seconds later, he went down.”
I went to the sofa by the door, grabbing two of the velvety cushions. Kneeling before Padraig, I quickly checked to ensure he was still breathing before I placed the cushions under his feet to elevate his legs.
“Go open the windows. We need fresh air in this room,” I instructed Nuala, who wore a startled, panicked expression before she nodded and sprang into action.
“He was complaining of a headache earlier,” Tristan said just as Padraig came to, blearily peering about the room in confusion like he had no idea what just happened.
“Okay, I need everyone to give Padraig some space,” I said then looked to Derek. “Is there a medical kit in the house?”
“I think so. I’ll go look for it.”
He left, and I turned to his mother, “Did you call for an ambulance yet?”
“No, I’ll do it now.” Jo started ushering everyone out of the room before going to make the call, leaving me to see to her husband. As I peered down at the man I’d been taught to resent for so many years on behalf of my aunt, I put all my preconceived judgements aside and set about treating him like I would any other patient.
He stared up at me, dazed and confused.
“Hi there, I’m Milly. Remember me?” Very slowly, he nodded. “I’m just going to loosen some of your clothing,” I went on as I undid the first few buttons on his shirt before loosening his belt. “Your wife is calling an ambulance, and they should be here shortly, but in the meantime, I want you to remain lying down and try to relax. Can you tell me your name, today’s date and where you are?”
