A Heart Worth Healing

Chapter 12

The next morning, Kirsty found Derek eating breakfast down in the solarium. She greeted him warmly, still enchanted by the apparent change in his attitude toward her. But, to her disappointment, he had again adopted his businesslike demeanour. The only thing which gave her hope was that he smiled at her with his eyes, making her shiver inside.

After Kirsty had been served her breakfast, Derek asked her more questions about Harrison. She answered him methodically, trying not to look as disillusioned as she felt. Derek obviously regretted the previous evening. He was probably trying to save face by pretending it had not happened. But it had. And there was nothing he could do to take it away. Despite her disillusionment, Kirsty was happy. Maybe Derek had not meant to love her, but he had loved her last night, just the same.

Derek intruded into her thoughts by asking her if she would meet him at his office later that day.

"Yes, I can do that," she replied, taking a sip of her orange juice.

"Good," Derek replied. "We have to discuss our plan for how you will deal with Harrison tomorrow."

Kirsty nodded, wondering what Derek was planning to do. At least he was including her in his preparations; it was more than she expected from him.

"What about Paul?" she asked, hoping her question would not offend him.

"What about him?" Derek repeated neutrally, focusing on her with his deep blue eyes.

"Well, don't you think you should try to find out if he is the one who is betraying you? You could set a trap that only the traitor will fall into. That way, if Paul is innocent, then he would never know what you had tried to do."

Derek looked at her deeply for a long moment. Then he murmured something under his breath.

"What did you say?" Kirsty asked, leaning toward him.

"Nothing," he replied. "Why are you so worried about Paul, anyway?"

Exasperated with his apparent ignorance, Kirsty answered, "Because whoever is doing this to you will not stop with just Geldon. He or she might try to orchestrate take-overs of your other companies. You should take care of such a threat before it's too late."

Rubbing his chin with his hand, Derek said, "Yes, you're right. I should."

With that, he stood up and picked up the papers he had been reading before Kirsty joined him. He walked over to Kirsty and kissed her softly on the cheek.

"I'm sorry about last night," he said softly, his mouth tantalizingly close to Kirsty's. "It will never happen again. I'll see you later."

Before Kirsty could say anything, Derek left the solarium. She could feel her heart pounding. Why had he apologized? She was perplexed, to say the least. He had given her what she wanted; there was no taking it back. The only problem now was that she wanted to feel his passion all the time. He had only whetted her appetite. But she would have to learn to control her emotions. He would not let her stay if she disobeyed him all the time. She was angry at herself; after all, it had only taken one night for her convictions to dissolve. She was complacent once again. There were more important things at stake now, however, and she would have to learn to accept it.

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When Kirsty joined Derek at his office later that day, she was quiet, calm, and, above all, indifferent. She knew she must not involve herself too much in Derek's affairs. She had inflicted too much damage already.

Derek greeted her, asking her to sit down in the chair across from him. He had many papers on his desk and had obviously been working on something complicated.