He chuckled. “Invade all you want. There’s a gym in the building. I think there’s a big tub in my bathroom, too, but I can’t remember.”
“You can’t remember?”
“I’m not home much.”
She believed that. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t sure, Jenna. I … care about you.”
Jenna’s heart lifted to hear those words. No, it wasn’tI love you, but he’d just invited her to stay with him, giving them more time together. “Thank you. And, Derek, for the record, I care about you, too.”
21
After arranging to have Jenna’s belongings shipped to Derek’s condo in Denver, they flew by private jet to Denver International Airport and took a limo through the city.
She craned her head. “Where are the mountains?”
He pointed to the west. “You’ll see them from my balcony.”
As they drew close to his building, Derek saw a group of reporters gathered on the sidewalk.Shit. He pushed the button to speak with their driver. “Let’s go in through the garage.”
“Yes, sir.”
The reporters were there for Derek, not Jenna, but the moment they recognized Jenna, they would go after her, and his relationship with her—however one might label it—would become part of the press surrounding her father’s downfall.
They drove around back and passed through a security checkpoint, the driver stopping near the elevators.
Derek thanked him. “Can you park and bring up our bags?”
“Yes, sir.”
Derek would ordinarily handle that himself. But, although he was no longer wearing the sling, his shoulder and ribs made carrying anything difficult. He’d also rather focus on Jenna.
They rode the elevator to the eleventh floor.
Jenna glanced around the hallway outside his door. “This is chic.”
“You like it?”
Derek would be a liar if he said he wasn’t nervous. He’d brought women back to his place for sex, but he’d never had a woman move in with him, even temporarily. Some part of him was afraid that he was going too far, that crossing this threshold would only end with Jenna getting hurt. Even so, he couldn’t find the strength to let her go.
He punched in his access code, opened the door, and moved aside to let her enter.
She stepped inside, looked up at the chandelier in the entryway. “Wow!”
Apart from the view of the mountains, he’d never thought much about the condo himself. It was just where he came to shower, sleep, and eat between jobs.
“Did you decorate this place? It’s all so tasteful.”
“Hell, no. I hired someone for that. If it had been left to me, it would probably look more like a gun locker or a gym.”
He found himself smiling as she moved through the space, seeming to love what she saw. The kitchen with its aluminum appliances, marble countertops, and glass-walled, walk-in wine refrigerator. The living room, which had a fireplace and floor-to-ceiling windows that looked west toward the mountains. The master bedroom with its twin walk-in closets and enormous bathroom.
“Youdohave a huge tub—right in front of the windows. How could you forget that? Look how big this shower is! You could have four people in there.”
He only wanted one—her.
He followed her to the second bedroom, which served as a storage area for gear.