Page 23 of Under Control
She shrugged. “Sometimes. I have a car, you know.”
That’s right. She’d driven to the Village Hearts meeting. “What kind of car?”
“A silver one,” she said, and he laughed. “A silver Audi, actually, but I spent so much time trying to find addresses and then trying to find a place to park and then walking back to the address I was going to—and too often being late because of it—that I realized it was more efficient and even cost-effective in the long run to let somebody else drive.”
“Unless you’re coming all the way across the city,” he pointed out. She held up her now empty glass and he nodded. As much as he wished one of them had a vehicle so they could go somewhere else—like maybe his place—making sure nobody drove drunk was important to everybody at Kincaid’s, so he liked that about her.
“I think I’ll go ahead and order a ride now,” she said. “It’s getting late and I have a rule about not falling asleep in the back seat of strange cars.”
Derek didn’t want to think about that. He didn’t even want to think about her being awake in a strange car, but it wasn’t his place to dictate her transportation. And he wasn’t in a position to offer an alternative at the moment. “That’s a good rule.”
Once she ordered a car, the clock was ticking on their night and they spent most of the remaining time circulating through the crowd so Olivia could say goodnight to the other members of the board and the members of his crew.
When it was time to go outside, he walked out with her. Their fingers were interlocked and it felt so good to walk hand in hand with her that he was tempted to ask her to cancel the car and just walk with him for a little while.
But then an image of her asleep in the back seat of a stranger’s car flashed through his mind and his fingers tightened around hers.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” He knew it was probably the safest way for her to travel if she didn’t want to drive herself, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. “Of course I’m okay. I finally have a good reason to look forward to a Monday.”
She laughed, and he let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her close. Going in for the kiss was easier than jumping out of a plane this time, but the feeling it gave him was no less exhilarating.
When he heard a car pull up and slow, he reluctantly ended it. “Send me a text when you know about what time you’ll arrive Monday. And please text me when you get home tonight so I don’t lie in bed worrying about you falling asleep in a stranger’s car.”
She laughed. “I will. Enjoy your pizza and bowling night.”
Once she was in the car, he waved and then shoved his hands in his pockets. He knew once he went back inside, the guys were going to grill him about Olivia. Especially Scott, probably, since he’d made it clear he thought she was out of Derek’s league. And they’d probably ask a lot of questions he didn’t know the answers to yet.
But the one answer he did know made him smile as he pulled open the glass door. Yes, he and Olivia were officiallydating.
Chapter Seven
Derek was never going to get used to ringing his own damn doorbell. It wasn’t his anymore, and hadn’t been for a while, but the small cape had been his for a long time. Standing on the front step, waiting for somebody to answer the door would never feel right.
Amber had met Jason two weeks after Derek moved out and they’d hit it off immediately. Even Derek had to admit they were perfect for each other. At first he’d felt some jealousy and sometimes even anger, but seeing them together had gotten easier with time. Amber deserved to be happy, and Derek knew living in a happy home was the most important thing for his kids. And he’d seen the difference it made in them, and especially in Julia.
He wouldn’t mind having some of that happy home stuff for himself, though. Eventually.
Jason answered the door. “Hey, Derek, come on in.”
It was never easy walking into the living room—and maybe never would be—but like everything else about the divorce, he took comfort in believing they were all better off for it. And the new furniture helped. It wasn’t reallyhisliving room anymore.
“Amber’s in the kitchen, doing her grocery list. The kids will probably be a few more minutes because they have to finish putting their laundry away before they can go.”
“Thanks. How are things?”
“Good. And you?”
“Good.” That was usually as far as they got in conversation unless Amber or the kids were part of it—not because of animosity, but because they didn’t have a lot in common—so Derek went into the kitchen.
“The kids are almost ready.”
“Laundry. Jason told me. Do you mind if I help myself to a soda?”
She chuckled and shook her head. “Of course not.”
He went to the fridge and grabbed a soda. She didn’t care if he got himself a drink and he knew it, but it didn’t seem right to go into the fridge as if it was his own, just as it didn’t seem right to walk in without ringing the doorbell. Amber didn’t feel the same way, since half the time she walked into his apartment without knocking, but it was different. His apartment was just his apartment. This house was Jason’s house now.
