Chapter 247: Stir-Fry
In the past, dating amongst co-workers at Haven Group had been something that was against the rules. As time had gone on, things had gotten a bit more relaxed and that rule had been cancelled out. Dating people you worked with was no longer something that was rewarded with immediate termination.
But just because it would not get you fired, and it did not break any regulations. That did not mean that dating in the workplace was not dangerous. For one, it could still be exploited by others within the company to get ahead.
Then there was also the risk that what happened at home in the couple’s private lives would leak into the workplace. Arguments at home, carrying on at work. Couples sabotaging one another on purpose. Or somebody else insinuating that they could not be impartial with one another.
Simply because at the end of the day they went home together, had children together, just had generally built a life with each other. Derek was certain that his uncle would use that point of attack. When it came to the fact that Derek and Emily were now an official couple.
That worried him, but still, as uneasy as that made him. Derek could not make himself regret asking Emily to be his girlfriend.
After she had said yes, things had just fallen into place.
Little discrepancies that he had never noticed before, righting themselves on their own. All because he and Emily had taken what now felt to him like the natural step in their relationship.
Derek knew the smell of Emily in the mornings, like sunshine in the spring, all warm and bright... inviting. He knew how it felt to have her soft cheek pressed against his chest. He knew what her first smile in the morning looked like, sleep still clouding her eyes. Her movements slow, her hair a mess.
He knew how she looked in the throes of pleasure. How her mouth opened in a soundless scream as she came, tears streaming down her face. He knew how she looked in the shower.