Dangerous Love(57)

She laughed and pushed against his chest. “No, I’ve got to get these clothes put away. Everyday it’s a hunt for what I’m going to wear to work. I’m tired of living out of boxes.”

“I’ll take you shopping.” He leaned down and ran his expert tongue up her neck, sending a wake of tingles down her spine. “In fact, let’s go.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the house.

Derk’s get-the-job-done-now personality was something she was going to have to either adjust to or get him to lighten up over. If she suggested something in passing, she never knew if Derk would agree, then suddenly they’d be in the truck headed to a destination to get the task completed. That’d happened with the bedroom furniture and her new car. Nothing like being pulled into a furniture store without a bra and panties on. She’d given him an earful after they’d left the store. He’d pulled the car over to the brim of the road and took advantage of her missing undergarments.



***



Mackenzie loved working for Derrick Murphy. Was the man intense? Yes, that’d be putting it mildly. Was his tone curt and seemingly angry? Yes, but she’d quickly learned the difference in the variety of his inflections. Was he mysterious? She couldn’t answer that, but she could say the man put off a dangerous aura that could make any woman without bladder problems pee their pants. But none of that bothered her, because Mr. Murphy treated her well. In fact, he’d made a couple comments about how he should have replaced his old secretary a long time ago.

What had she done differently?

Well, for one, she made certain he ate lunch daily. It didn’t matter if she went out to pick up take-out for herself or brought something in from home, she always had extra for him. Or Mary, his housekeeper would stop by early Monday mornings and stock the refrigerator with meals for the week. Apparently the former secretary hadn’t been feeding Mr. Murphy those meals, she’d taken them home for her boyfriend. What kind of woman did that? And how had Mr. Murphy let it slide? When she’d brought him his first heated lunch, he looked at her strange. “Did you make this?”

“No, Mary made it. I have lunch for you all week,” she said. “Mrs. Murphy asked Mary to make you lunch for each day of the week to make sure you eat.”

“When did she start this?” he asked, his handsome features visibly lightening.

“She always has, Mr. Murphy,” Mackenzie said softly. “Your secretary was taking the meals home.”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” he cursed. “That woman.”

“Maybe she didn’t have any food.” Mackenzie had been there and done that.

“Her husband is a wealthy bank CEO, Mackenzie. She dripped in diamonds when she sat out front. I hired her as a favor and regretted it every damn day,” he said exasperated.

“Oh.”

He picked up his office phone. “I need to call my wife and thank her. She probably thinks I’m an asshole for not appreciating her thoughtfulness. Damn it, I’m going to have thank Mary too. That fucking Bridget.”

Mac had quietly left the office and closed the door behind her.

She also stocked the full sized kitchen in the office. From water bottles, coffee, pretzels, candy, soda, snacks, her and Mr. Murphy’s lunches, as well as a couple bottles of champagne and his favorite whiskey, the office was now a place to work all day but not go hungry or thirsty. And Mr. Murphy’s employees picked up on that real quick. They’d come into the office for meetings and constantly raid the kitchen. Mackenzie made more trips to the grocery store than she ever had in her life. In fact, Mr. Murphy gave her a bank card that was to be used for anything she needed for the office, including the food.

Mackenzie also became Mr. Murphy’s office guard dog. No one got past her. If they had a meeting with him, they waited in the office chairs she purchased until he was ready to see them. Though the men never sat in the chairs. Instead they took the opportunity to go the kitchen and feed themselves.

Every single person, specifically Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, made her feel welcome and appreciated. They made her feel as if she was important in their lives. As if she belonged. They made her feel cherished and loved. There were times when she was in the shower, getting ready for work in the mornings, and would openly sob about the direction her life had taken. How her world felt complete for the first time. How her heart felt like it could burst into a million pieces with so much love consuming it. It was at those moments when Derk would climb into the shower behind her and wordlessly hold her. He knew. He just knew where her mind and heart had gone and how it was too overwhelming to hold inside.