Meant to Be Yours: New Adult BBW College Romance (Derek and Jaike Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

me.”

Chapter Two

    Jaike’s phone suddenly rang, and she couldn’t answer it fast enough. “Hello?” Oh my God, she could barely hear herself over her loudly beating heart.  
    Someone at the other end of the line answered, but her mind only heard gibberish. It was still whirling, unable to process what Derek Christopoulos had just said.  
    What happened didn’t really happen, did it? It couldn’t. And if it did – surely he didn’t mean it? Because if he did, didn’t that mean Derek Christopoulos as much admitted…to loving her?
    “ARE YOU THERE, JAIKE?”
    Jaike jumped at the loud voice speaking on the phone, the words jerking her out of her jumbled thoughts. “I’m sorry,” she stammered. Her gaze strayed to Derek as she spoke. She couldn’t help it. She needed to see his face, needed to know if he really meant it.
    But for once, Derek’s stormy eyes were closed to her.
    “…someone’s here trying to move things into your room, and we need you to confirm in person that this is something you wish.”
    This time, the dorm’s resident head’s words penetrated her mind, making Jaike’s jaw drop in confusion. “I don’t understand – someone’s trying to move into my room?”
    “Yes. That’s why we need to have you sort this out as soon as possible—”
    Jaike said without thinking, “I’ll come back now. Just give me twenty.”
    The resident head sighed. “I’ll see what I can do, but these guys might not listen to me.”
    When Jaike ended the call, she looked down at her shoes as she told Derek, “I just got a call from the resident head at my dorm. He says I have to go back. It’s an emergency.”
    ****
    “She bolted?” Christien di Luca repeated Derek’s words with a bark of laughter. Half-French and half-Greek, Derek’s closest friend was considered by many as an incredibly successful negotiator because of his ruthlessness and smooth-talking ways. But none of the latter had been evident since Derek relayed Jaike’s reaction to his near-confession about his feelings.  
    “Couldn’t take a cab out of here fast enough. She left so quickly the security detail I had assigned to her almost missed her.” Derek’s tone was pissed, but his anger wasn’t directed at his friend or even Jaike. He was furious with himself. One look at Jaike’s panicked face and he knew he had moved too damn fast. He should have taken it slow, allowed Jaike to think everything was still a sexy flirting game between them.
    But he hadn’t. And so he had paid the price, allowing Jaike to leave when his baser instincts told him to do the opposite. Derek told himself he should be thankful that she had not thrown the collar away. At least she had taken it with her. It could have been worse. She could have just returned it to him and told him she wasn’t ready for it.
    From the other end of the line, he could still hear Christien laughing.
    “Shut up.”
    “Are you truly sure she returns your affection, mon ami?” Christien asked, but this time his tone was half-serious. Although he was known to be a man who was quick to smile and offer a pretty word, in reality he was all ice inside, and there were only a precious few Christien truly cared about. Derek was one of them, and he hated the thought of his friend having wasted all these years running after a girl who didn’t have any feelings for him.
    “I am.” Derek meant it. But what he wasn’t sure about, dammit, was whether Jaike was stubborn and afraid enough to keep denying the bond between them.
    “I see.” If Derek believed that Jaike Hepburn loved him, then he trusted his friend enough to believe the same thing – even if all evidence pointed to the contrary. Christien decided to change the subject, asking, “Where are you now?”
    “On my way back as well.”
    “You know, if she freaked out over the collar, it’s possible she could faint dead away when she realizes what we’re doing here.”
    Derek grimaced. “That’s why I’m the one