Derek flushed, gave Jackson a once-over, and took his hand. “I wasn’t drunk. I was just feeling a little…frisky. So I sought out my beautiful fiancée.” He dropped Jackson’s hand and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer. “Surely you understand that.”

Jackson stared at the spot where Derek held me, right above my hip. “Of course. And as long as the ‘frisky’ feeling is mutual, I would never interfere.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Derek snapped.

Jackson didn’t say anything. Just raised a brow.

Derek stared back at him. He didn’t even look away when he asked me, “Would you like a ride to work? We have to go to your parents’ house after you’re done, so it seemed like a good idea to carpool.”

Damn it. Dinner. I forgot all about that. “Uh, yeah, sure. I would like a ride.”

“Guess I’ll be eating pizza alone,” Jackson drawled. He shoved his free hand into his pocket and clucked his tongue. “More for me.”

“You should come,” I said quickly. “To dinner. Tell them you’re back.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.”

Derek opened the door. “Pity. I would have loved seeing you there.”

“I’m sure you would have,” Jackson said, his tone way too cheerful. “How long, exactly, have you two known each other?”

“Since childhood,” Derek said. He turned back to Jackson, his smile tight. “Since before her father decided to marry your mother. Long before you came into the picture.”

“Ah,” Jackson said. He seemed anything but impressed. “Funny, though, I don’t remember hearing much about you back then.”

“You know how it is when you’re a kid.” Derek glanced at me. “You don’t appreciate the finer things in life.”

Jackson cocked his head. “What does that mean, exactly? I’d love to know.”

“Jackson,” I said.

“What? It’s a good question.” He stepped closer. “The first time I saw him, he was manhandling you. Is that how he normally treats the ‘finer things’ in his life?”

“I don’t care whether you like me or not,” Derek said, curling his upper lip. “We might be future in-laws, but don’t mistake that to mean your opinion carries any weight with me. All I care about, Jackson, is that you mind your own business. And if you want me to keep your little secret, you’ll do so.”

“She’s my stepsister.” Jackson leaned in. “And we live together. That’ll be hard to do, if I even wanted to. And I don’t.”

Derek stepped in front of me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, my God, stop it, guys,” I snapped. “It doesn’t mean anything. All it means is he’s protective of me because I’m his…his…”

“Family,” Jackson supplied, staring at me way too intently for comfort.

“Right. Family.” But family doesn’t do what we did last night, do they, Jackson? “Fighting with him will accomplish nothing.”

“Nothing at all,” Jackson agreed, way too cheerily. He was enjoying this, the bastard. “If I want to hate you, I’ll hate you. I earned that right when I fought for the freedom for you to wear those god-awful khakis every damn day.”

I choked on a laugh but tried to cover it up with a cough. I couldn’t help it. Because Derek did wear them every single day, and it was ridiculous. Did he sleep in them, too? Like he always had to maintain appearances or something.

Derek turned red and caught my hand. “Let’s go.” I nearly violently yanked away because he never held my hand. Like, ever. As a matter of fact, he avoided touching me, aside from a light hand on my back when we had to attend functions together. Clearly, he viewed Jackson as a threat, which, I mean, duh. Jackson was hot, tattooed, confident, and single. What man wouldn’t be intimidated by all that? “We’re going to be late.”

Over my shoulder, I glanced at Jackson one last time. He raised a brow, as if daring me to say no. As if he expected me to come to my senses and run off screaming.

“See you later, Jackson.”

“Yeah.” He rocked back on his heels, frowning. “Later.”

I closed the door behind us, and the second we were alone, Derek let me go. The farce was over. “Why didn’t you tell me the guy who punched me was your stepbrother?”

“I didn’t know if you would remember him,” I said, not caring if he was angry. As Jackson pointed out, nothing I did would make him like me. I didn’t have the right equipment, so to speak. “So I figured we could cross that bridge when we came to it. If we came to it.”

“Well, we’re there.” He walked to his car door and yanked it open. I opened mine, shaking my head. His father had never taught him manners. Living with him was going to be a blast. “And I’m pissed you never said anything to me. Your stepbrother violently attacked me, and you let me walk into a dangerous situation, with no warning.”

I closed my door and buckled up. It was on the tip of my tongue to apologize. It was what I always did. But I didn’t want to. I had nothing to apologize for. I didn’t owe him anything. “Oh, please. Maybe next time you should just keep your hands to yourself unless I give you explicit permission otherwise. That should help you avoid his anger again.”

“Or maybe you should remind him that knowing one another when you were kids does not mean his opinion takes precedence over mine,” Derek snapped, starting the car. “We’re engaged. He has no business jumping in. Not even if I want to grope your ass in public—which I clearly didn’t do, but that’s not the point. Your ass is mine, for all intents and purposes.”

I stiffened. Derek hadn’t been like this when we were younger. He’d always been a spoiled brat, but never this callous. Something had changed in him. Or maybe I was the one who had changed. Maybe I didn’t have the tolerance for his bullshit anymore. “No. It’s not. I am not, and never will be, your property.”

He rested his elbows on the steering wheel, rubbing his face with his hands. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s…we have a plan, right? There are things we have to do in order to make sure our lives don’t go to hell. To save thousands of jobs. We both know it’s the right thing to do. A sacrifice for others. He’s a deviation from the plan, and it just threw me off. And what if you decided to back out? Then all those people would be out of jobs. I can’t live with that. Can you?”

And that, right there, was the crux of it all. Sure, I could walk away. Sure, I could choose myself over those people. But I’d have to live with that decision for the rest of my life. “No.” I crossed my arms. “Not if I could stop it.”

“Same here. So we both know what we need to do.” He rested a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry, okay? I know I’ve been a bit of an asshole lately. Mom’s been meeting with Nancy, putting the finishing touches on our wedding. We’ll be married before we know it, and all this stress will be gone.”

Nancy, my stepmother, was taking time out of her busy schedule hosting charity events and various social committees to “help” plan the wedding. The only thing I’d have to do for the wedding is say “I do.” I stared out the window. Because the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to throw up. “Yeah, well, that just means the companies will be saved sooner rather than later. It doesn’t excuse your behavior toward Jackson.”

“I know.” He took his hand back and pulled out onto the road. “I just hate guys like that, who go off and do whatever they want, and don’t live up to their responsibilities. I’m the one making the sacrifices for our families, and he has the nerve to judge me? But for you, I’ll try to get along with him.”

I swallowed, not answering. Derek wasn’t wrong, exactly. If Jackson hadn’t enlisted and had fallen in line with Daddy’s plans, I probably wouldn’t be sitting in this car. But Derek didn’t really know Jackson, didn’t know the kind of man he really was.

Not like I did.