Fighting You

The Deal

Having Derek inside her office jolted Natalie out from her thoughts. She felt a bit rattled as she did not want to confront Derek yet. But she had to keep a check on herself Natalie reminded herself. She had to appear cool and calm for now.

Natalie was not expecting to see Derek so soon actually. She was still working out a plan to get rid of him as soon as possible. She had not arrived at any concrete means yet. She narrowed her eyes at Derek. One look at him  and she knew Derek had it all planned out already. 

What has he come up with now? Natalie wondered. Anyways, ready or not she was sure she will be finding that out soon.

Straightening her shoulders Natalie started, "Yes Mr. Morgan. How may I..." 

Natalie  could hardly complete her sentence before Derek interrupted. 

"You can call me Derek now Natalie. Now that  we'll be seeing more of each other  I don't think the formality is necessary anymore. Watsay?" Derek smirked.

Natalie gritted her teeth. She wanted to be polite to him but the fool was obviously a lost cause!

"You will not be staying here Derek!" Natalie replied back. "I'm obviously not interested in your offer. A statement I've been making since the first day you've landed at my inn. And after last night there is no way I'll be even considering it!"

"Ooh.... Last night..". Derek drawled stroking his chin pretending to be deep in thought. As though he didn't recall what had happened the previous night. 

Natalie looked up at him. Stunned. Had he already forgotten?! Was she the only one affected by what had happened between them. Natalie felt so foolish. God!  Why did she have to even bring up last night. Derek obviously did not care. He was a guy after all. He must have done that and maybe a whole lot more with plenty of women. Natalie felt mortified.

Totally embarrassed, Natalie risked a glance at Derek. And saw him grinning.

"I was that good huh?" Derek teased. Of course Derek remembered! How could he forget about last night?! He had after all kissed Natalie Thompson for the first time. He could recall every single detail  of that moment. But for some reason he loved fooling around with Natalie. 

Natalie realized Derek was just messing with her just a tad too late.

And at that moment Natalie wished she had taken some kickboxing lessons because all she wanted to do now was kick someone's ass. Someone in question being Derek-The Jerk!

"No you were not! I've had better," Natalie shot back. But the blush slowly creeping up her cheeks belied the statement.

Derek looked at Natalie for a second. "You are such a bad liar Natalie," Derek laughed. "A good kisser though" he added and winked at her. "But if you still have doubts... Well then I guess, I'll just have to prove you wrong."

Natalie too stumped hardly had time to react. Before she could move Derek had trapped her between himself and the book shelf behind Natalie.

"Hmmm... So you were saying?" Derek continued smoothly.

This time Natalie steeled herself. She would not succumb to their attraction. No matter how great the temptation. She wanted to tell him to go to hell, but the words would just not form in her mouth. So instead she held up her hand and pushed Derek back.

"Don't flirt with me Derek. It will not get you anywhere," Natalie replied walking away from him. "I know you want my inn but I can guarantee you that pursuing me will not get you that."

 "Then what will?" Derek asked curiously. 

Yes, Derek admitted. He was flirting with Natalie. And to be frank he had done so before when he wanted things to be done or to get what he wanted. But this was different. He did not flirt with Natalie as a means to acquire the inn. In fact sometimes he hardly even thought about it when he was with her.  She made him forget what he was actually here for. Which was a revelation in itself. He was attracted to Natalie, Derek concluded. He wanted to her. And not for just one night. 

The way Natalie was frowning at him right now with mistrust in her eyes, Derek did not like that. He wanted her to smile at him the way she did when she spoke with Ruth or with Jason...

Jason! Derek did not like him at all. He wasn't bad Derek thought but something about him irked Derek a lot. Like when he kissed Natalie, or hugged her and touched her so casually. Derek wanted to be the one doing all those things with Natalie. Not that twit!

"Hello? Derek?" Natalie waved her hand in front of Derek. "Are you still here?"

Derek mentally shook himself. "Yes sorry... You were saying?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "I was saying nothing will be changing my mind in this matter. I'm just not interested. Why won't you just give up?"

"Ok then," Derek replied. "What if I told you that I won't ask you to sell me the inn anymore?" Derek asked Natalie. 

"Well then I'll be very much relieved to hear that," Natalie replied. 

"But I have one condition if you don't want me to pester you," Derek continued. "I'll be in Stone Isles for another month. So how about you give that partnership I talked about another try?"

"Here we go again!" Natalie sighed dropping into her seat.

"Look let's see this as a trial period ok. This won't be official. No signing papers or anything. I promise I won't interfere in any of your daily affairs. You run the place and take all the decisions. I'll just work behind the scene. Think of me as  a benefactor. I'd really like to invest in your inn Natalie. I see how capable you are. And I know I will not be making a mistake in investing my time and money in Stonehedge. Together we can work on the inn and develop it into something much better. Please think about it at least?" Derek urged Natalie.

Natalie stood mulling over what Derek had just told. She weighed the pros and cons. One thing was sure. No matter what Natalie did Derek would be staying at Stonehedge for a month without a doubt. And a little investment from his side for the inn would be really helpful. Natalie had a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders. If it was just her then at least she could refuse Derek's offer outright but she had her aunt to think about and also the staff working under her. Yes the only con of accepting the offer would be working alongside Derek. But she could manage couldn't she? Natalie reflected. Besides it was just sort of a test drive. If it doesn't work out then she could say that she had at least tried.

"Trial period for a month?" Natalie asked distinctly. "And if it doesn't work out you will leave me and my inn alone at the end of the month?"

"Yes, absolutely!" Derek confirmed.

Natalie considered Derek's answer for another minute. "Alright then Mr. Morgan. I guess we have a deal...!"

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