Hugging my purse to my chest, I lowered my head and made my way to my car. Halfway there, someone grabbed my arm. My heart sped up for two point two seconds, because I could tell it was a guy, and for some reason I immediately thought it might be Jackson coming to do a replay of last night, only it’d be more than just a kiss.

It wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t.

It was Derek.

“Where are you heading off to so quickly?” he asked, his tone as unfeeling as my reaction. “I’ve been trying to catch up to you out here for five minutes.”

Seeing as I hadn’t even been outside for that long, I found that hard to believe. But I didn’t correct him. I learned early on in our “relationship” that he didn’t take kindly to being told he was wrong, after I informed him that he was wrong about the chemical properties of sulfur while we were still in college.

He’d stormed off and hadn’t spoken to me for two days.

It had been a great few days.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were coming to the office today. I’m going home. I have to—” I cut off, my mouth falling open, because I finally focused on him. “Oh, my God. Your nose.”

It wasn’t just swollen or bruised. It was broken, judging from the tape and gauze across it. His whole face was shadowed with blues, purples, and yellows, even under his eyes, and a little bit of his eye socket, too. He looked as if he had a run-in with a truck, rather than Jackson’s fist. Or like a child had finger-painted all over his face.

Derek lifted a hand and touched the bandaging, anger adding a splotchy red to his face. I couldn’t look away. It was like a mashed-up rainbow. “If I ever figure out who that guy was, I’ll slap him with a lawsuit so huge, he’ll never crawl out from under the pile of paperwork I’ll bury him under. My portrait is going to be ruined forever.”

I swallowed and let out a nervous sound of agreement, while holding back a laugh. That was what Derek was concerned about. His future painting as CEO of his father’s company. I had bigger things to worry about, though. Because at some point Derek would see Jackson. At some point he would realize the jerk who punched him was living with me and was, in fact, my stepbrother.

Then again, he had been pretty drunk that night. Things had to have been blurry. Maybe he wouldn’t recognize Jackson at all. “Did you have to go to the hospital?”

“Yes. Father took me.”

Okay. It was hard not to roll my eyes at that one. I mean, the man was almost twenty-five, and he still did nothing without running it by his father first. “That’s good.”

“Though he did point out that as my fiancée, you should have been by my side.” He crossed his arms. “Speaking of which, where did you run off to so fast?”

I’m not really your fiancée. “You were drunk, and it seemed as if your buddies had it well in control. So when I saw my stepbrother, I went over to say hi.” I lifted a shoulder. “Plus, you were being a jerk.”

“I’m sorry.” Derek frowned even more, if that was possible. “But I still don’t like some strange guy living with you.”

And I didn’t want to deal with the possibility of being trapped in a loveless marriage while Derek indulged himself with his piece on the side, but sometimes life wasn’t fair. “And I still don’t care,” I said sweetly, smiling at him. “He’s not some strange guy. He’s my stepbrother, so he stays. And no one can know about it. We already went over this. End of discussion.”

He frowned. “We’re getting married. If I don’t want you living with another man, I get a say.”

“Sure you do. But I get to ignore your say.” Just like you ignore mine, and the fact that I never officially said I would marry you. “Tell me, how was your meeting Thursday night?”

He blanched, because we both know he wasn’t actually working on Thursday night. He might not know that I knew…but I did. “F-fine. Why?”

Because I saw you. I know what you were really doing. “No reason. Just curious. I know how much was dependent upon your…meeting.”

“You’re acting strangely.” He stepped closer, frowning and staring at me as if I’d sprouted an extra leg or something equally ridiculous. “What’s gotten into you lately?”

“Nothing,” I said quickly, picturing Jackson’s smile when I said I would try to do stuff for me now. I had meant it. I was finished with being a doormat. If it came to it, I would still marry Derek to save thousands of jobs. But that didn’t mean I had to bend over backward to make him happy. Not when he certainly didn’t reciprocate. “I’m just sick of people telling me what they want me to do. Sick of constantly jumping to attention the second someone looks my way.”

“And this change of heart was brought to us by…?”

“Me.” I lifted my chin. “That’s all I need.”

He snorted. “I think the timing of your newfound independence is awfully coincidental. I also think I know why that is.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Why?”

“Your stepbrother. He moved in last night, didn’t he?”

I fidgeted with my books. “Yeah. And?”

“He saw the fight at the bar and thinks I’m the kind of guy who gets in bar brawls.” Derek’s frown deepened. If he frowned any more, the corners of his lips would touch his jawline. “He doesn’t like me. Maybe he thinks you can do better.”

I choked on the laugh trying to escape. “Uh…”

“No matter. I’ll change his mind.” He shook his head. “But I’m telling you this now: If I sense anything else besides a bad attitude coming from this living arrangement…the merger is off.”

Just like that, the laugh trying to choke me to death died. “Anything like what?”

“He’s not your real brother.” He eyed me, focusing on my low-cut shirt. “Need I elaborate?”

Oh. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m not.” He gave me a once-over. “I’m not blind to the fact that you’re an attractive woman. This may be a business arrangement, but I’ll be damned if word spreads that you’re stepping out on me. Especially with your brother. That’s disgusting.”

He dared to tell me to keep my pants on when he’d been doing the exact opposite in a car in the freaking parking lot just a few nights ago? Screw him. “Wait. Hold up.” I lifted a hand. “You don’t get it both ways. He’s not my brother. You just said that.”

He pressed his lips into a thin line. “You know what I mean. Keep it fraternal, not sexual. I don’t want anyone to think I can’t keep my woman satisfied.”

I was so angry, I was practically dizzy from rage. “You’ve never even tried to make this anything more than a business relationship. And now you’re seriously standing here, telling me what I can do with my body?”

His eyes grew cold and flat, and I took a step back before I could catch myself. “Honestly, Lilly, I don’t care who you fuck, but if you do the slightest thing to embarrass me, I will walk away. Thornton Products can always find another distribution company, but without us, Hastings International will be ruined, thousands of people will be out of a job, and it will be. All. Your. Fault.”

With that, he was gone.

Derek meant his parting remarks to be demoralizing, but all I wanted to do was throw my purse at his fat head with all the strength I possessed. Gritting my teeth, I opened my car door, chucked my bag into the passenger seat, and slid into the driver’s seat. Scowling, I hit the steering wheel as hard as I could. “Of all the arrogance…the…the…asshole.”

I trembled with rage. Choked on it.

And then I cradled my hand, because man, that hurt.

But he thought he could throw ultimatums at me, and I wouldn’t care? Thought he could just command me to stay alone, because he was worried about his precious reputation? Oh, if it was only me to worry about, I’d grab Jackson and make out with him in the middle of a frat party. If I had my way, I’d create such a scandal, Derek could move thousands of miles away and still not be able to escape the rumors.