Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 163: Come On In

Chapter 163: Come On In

If there was one thing that Emily Molson was teaching Derek without her even realizing that the lesson was taking place. It was that patience was not a trait that he came across naturally. He was struggling, honest to goodness struggling.

All that he had to do was wait what would no doubt be just a few more minutes. An hour at the most, for her to arrive, and he was not sure if he was going to make it. They had decided that she would show up around eight, and that was where Derek was having a problem. They had said around eight, and not been specific on the time. Around eight could mean a few minutes until eight o’clock. Or it could mean half-past eight, or if she were pushing it, she would make it some time till nine o’clock. It would still fall within the range of around eight, and Derek’s mind was having a field day with him.

As far as his mind was concerned, the around eight would somehow turn into 10 o’clock at night, and he had no idea how to deal with that. He had not even eaten, not even bothering to open the fridge and see if he could get something to keep himself going. Instead, he was alternating between staring at the door and staring at his phone.

He had at least put his work shoes and briefcase away, but he was still in his work attire. The only thing that was missing from his suit was the coat, and he had rolled up his shirt sleeves. He looked for all the world like a calm person, simply enjoying the hours after work. But Derek was anything but calm.

He was panicking, and as he looked down at his phone, he tapped the device against his open palm, seriously considering either texting Emily or calling her.

He pressed the screen and the moment that it lit up, he went to the messaging icon and began to type. How far are you? Are you still coming? Is there too much traffic? Are the directions that I gave you okay? Are you able to follow them easily enough? If you are lost, just tell me. I will come to pick you up.

It was a rapid fire message that barely made any sense, too many random thoughts thrown together. Staring at it, Derek decided to just delete it, instead of enduring the embarrassment of trying to explain to Emily why he had fired off such a weird thing in the first place.

Message deleted, Derek went back to tapping the phone again. Tap, tap, tap, tap, he went. This time when he turned it back on, he forced himself to put it away.

At first he placed it on the table in front of him, but the temptation was still there, the phone trying to entice him to pick it up and do something stupid. He’d heard of drunk texting before, but clearly desperate texting could be just as embarrassing as texting while inebriated.

He could not allow himself access to his phone. And so, picking it up, Derek put the device on the couch and covered it with a cushion.

Out of sight, out of mind, he promised himself.

But even then, he kept staring at the cushion.

He wanted so badly to just lift it up and take his phone from beneath it, but he controlled himself. His hands coming down to grip his knees so that he kept his fingers busy and as far away from his phone as possible. He felt like a naughty child in time out, and it was ridiculous.

But Derek forced himself to stay put, knowing that the moment he moved, he would be picking up his phone. And this time he would not be making a few regrettable would-be texts. Instead, he would be calling. And if he managed to dial Emily’s number and she picked up, there was no telling what he might say.

’Hurry up, I need sleep. Get here quick so that I can sleep. Do you think we can sleep faster if you show up earlier?’ Those were the thoughts that popped into Derek’s mind when it came to what he would say. And he was greatly embarrassed by them. He sounded like a clingy ex. There was no way his ego would be able to survive him making a fool of himself like that. Perhaps being in the same room as his phone was not such a good idea. Maybe it would be best if he left the room.

In fact, not only left the room, but Derek was beginning to think it would be in his best interest to try and work off his excess energy. It was now twenty minutes to eight.

If Emily managed to hold up her end of the bargain, then she would be there in around twenty minutes, which meant that Derek would have time for a quick swim. He could just nip upstairs, get changed and hit the pool. By the time that she arrived, he would have been pleasantly tired, just enough to let him sink into his bones and not feel as though his mouth were about to lose control at any given moment. Mind made up, Derek pushed himself to his feet and made his way to the stairs.

He took them two at a time. Wanting to get to his room and get changed as quickly as possible. And he was almost halfway there when he heard a sound that, at first he thought that he had imagined his mind finally cracking after hours of waiting. But then the sound came again and Derek’s heart nearly stopped in his chest. The doorbell was ringing.

And that could mean only one thing.

Emily had finally arrived. She had come. She had really come. Realizing that she was finally there, Derek had a mini panic. He took an aborted step going upstairs. Then he stopped.

He turned and spun in place, torn between finishing his ascent and heading back down so that he could greet Emily. For someone who had been nearly vibrating out of his skin as he had waited for her to arrive, he now wanted to be anywhere but near her. What if she saw how nervous he was and decided to cancel things, wanting him to be in a calmer state before they did anything?

Balling his hands into fists, Derek silenced his inner negative thoughts. Now was not the time to ruin things for himself. He was the CEO for crying out loud. This was something that did not even count as pressure when compared to the situations that he dealt with. He could do this. And so with a deep breath, Derek headed back downstairs. An aura of calmness settling him over him with every step he took, and by the time he reached the front door and opened it, there was no trace of the panic that he had been having a few seconds earlier.

As expected it was Emily at his door. A bag slung over her shoulder. Derek smiled at her and she smiled back. Stepping aside, he ushered her in.