Page 15 of Irresistible Valentine

"Thank you for coming, it means a lot to me and Paula," Malcolm said, meeting his eyes.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it," Derrick said.

Just then Mrs. Saddler approached. "That was the most beautiful cake I have ever seen. You sure are a good boss, Mr. Argent," she said.

As she moved on, Derrick frowned and muttered under his breath, "No, I'm not."

Hearing him, Malcolm got worried. Did that mean that Derrick regretted what happened between them? Instead of freaking out over it, he came straight out and asked him, "Do you regret what we did?"

Derrick turned to him, took his hand and squeezed it. "No. I can't. It was too good," he said, his voice low and intimate, and Malcolm smiled.

As he grinned stupidly and couldn't look away from Derrick's dark eyes, Malcolm overheard his neighbor, Lucy, saying, "He can't be trusted to plan Valentine's Day. If I want romance, I have to do it myself."

"Honey, I'm standing right here," her husband said.

"No fighting," their daughter said and Paula looked worried.

"They aren't really gonna fight," Malcolm reassured her, but the mention of Valentine's Day reminded him of the pink card that had fallen out of Derrick's pocket the first day Paula went to the office with him. Despite Derrick being here and what he said, Malcolm warned himself not to count on being with him on Valentine's Day.

Chapter 11

Paula's birthday party was winding down. Paula was standing in the doorway, holding Malcolm's hand and waving goodbye to the guests as they were leaving. Once all the guests were gone, Derrick was still there. That was a good sign, but Malcolm didn't want to make too much of it.

After meeting his gaze for a second, he turned his attention to the living room. The apartment was quiet, balloons were still floating high, the decorations were a little disarranged. There was leftover food, dirty dishes, as well as scraps of wrapping paper to deal with. Despite the work ahead of him, Malcolm looked at the cheerful chaos left over from the party and smiled. He was so happy he could give Paula a nice birthday.

Picking her up, Malcolm asked her, "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah. Birthday party!" she said and gave him a big smile and a hug.

"And that cake, huh?" he said and looked over at Derrick.

"It was so big and pretty," she said.

"Want to thank Derrick again for getting it for you and for all the other gifts he got you?" Malcolm asked.

Paula did. She leaned over and put her arms around Derrick. "Thank you, Mr. A," she said sweetly.

"Anything for you," Derrick told her.

Malcolm noticed it was Paula's bedtime and he sent her off to get ready for bed. Dressed in her pajamas, Paula came back carrying a book. It was part of the big set of beautifully illustrated books that Derrick had given her. Looking up at Derrick, she offered him the book. "I don't know how to read. You wanna read it to me, Mr. A? I need a bedtime story," she said.

Derrick was surprised but then he took the book from her. "Of course."

They all went to Paula's room and Derrick sat down on the floor next to her bed. As Paula squirmed under the covers, Malcolm tucked her in and kissed her forehead. Then he listened to Derrick reading, enjoying how his deep voice became warm and mellow.

He was still reading as she fell asleep. "That did the trick," Derrick said as he and Malcolm left the room quietly.

"Thank you for the cake and the gifts, all those books," Malcolm said as they went out into the living room.

"I didn't know which one she would like," Derrick said.

"So you bought a whole library?"

"It's hardly a library," Derrick said.

Malcolm was waiting for Derrick to say he was leaving now, and he was dying to ask him to stay. He was too afraid of a no, so he started clearing up so he wouldn't just stand there begging Derrick with his eyes not to leave.

To his surprise, Derrick started helping him clear up. He stacked plates and carried them to the kitchen then started filling the dishwasher.

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