by Alex Strong
“This was never about buying you,” he said. “I hope you know that.”
“Then what was it about?” she asked desperately.
He scowled. “I—I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it.”
She sighed. “Good night, Damien.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
She nodded. “I think it’s for the best,” she whispered. “At least for tonight.”
He kissed her forehead and walked away.
Karina changed into leggings and a tank top before crawling into bed, her lips still swollen from his kiss. As she lay there, waiting for sleep to comfort her, she found herself remembering every word Damien had said to her in the hotel room. And she wondered why the more he said to her, the more confused she became.
Karina wasn’t all that surprised when she came downstairs the next morning to find that Damien had gone into the office. He turned up just as Romi was setting the table for dinner. The timing was so perfect that Karina knew he must have given her a heads-up.
“How was your day?” he asked politely as he spooned some vegetables onto his plate.
“I missed you,” she said and watched his hand stop in mid-air for a split second.
“I thought you needed some time to yourself,” he said, continuing what he was doing without looking at her.
She placed a hand on his arm, and he finally met her eye.
“Do you still want me here?” she asked.
“Of course.”
“Then why are you avoiding me?”
“I told you, I thought you needed some space.”
She shook her head. “I don’t have much time left here,” she said. “I want to spend it with you.”
He picked up her hand and kissed the palm of it. “I agree,” he said.
Darkness had completely fallen by the time they finished dinner, and Damien grabbed the open bottle of wine and their glasses from the table before leading Karina outside.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To gaze at the stars,” he said with a coy smile.
She followed him to the end of the dock, where he removed his shoes and rolled up his pants. She did the same, and soon they were sitting side by side with their toes in the water.
“Should I worry about sharks eating my feet?” she asked as he filled their wine glasses.
“So long as you’re not bleeding into the water, you should be fine.”
“Not exactly reassuring.”
He handed her the glass. “What are your plans when you go home?” he asked.
“Go back to school, hopefully.”
“I’ll make sure that happens.”
“You don’t have to,” she said, laying a hand on his thigh. “Helping my parents out has been more than enough.”
“I know,” he said. “But I want to.”
She took another sip as they sat there, quietly looking out over the water.
“What will you do when I go home?” she asked.
“Probably work more,” he said.
She looked up to see a small, sad smile on his face.
“Have I been that much of a distraction?”
He looked down at her and his smile grew. “A very welcome one.”
“Thank you,” she said, resting her head against him. “For everything. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
“Amorecito, mi cielo.”
“That sounded sexy,” she said, lifting her head to look at him. “What does it mean?”
There was that devilish smirk of his. “Perhaps one day I’ll tell you,” he said before trying to kiss her.
She laughed, pulling away from him. “It probably means I smell like a goat or something.”
“Trust me,” he said, laughing with her. “You don’t smell like a goat.”
“And what do I smell like then?”
He set his glass down before leaning in close, pushing her hair back behind her shoulder, and this time she let him.
“You smell like citrus. And sunshine.” He brushed his lips against her neck. “You smell like home,” he whispered.
“Oh god,” she moaned, setting her own glass down behind them. “You know just the right things to say.”
“It’s the truth,” he said before pressing his lips to hers.
“I think it might be time to take this inside,” she mumbled.
“I think you’re right.”
An hour later, Karina collapsed on the bed next to Damien.
“God, you’re amazing,” he said as he gently bit her shoulder.
“Oh no you don’t,” she panted.
“Don’t what?” he said, propping himself up on his elbow.
“Don’t you get me started already. I don’t think my body could handle it yet.”
“Are you saying,” he kissed the top of her breast, “it wouldn’t take much?”
“Stop,” she giggled.
“Only because you asked me to.”
She rolled over to face him, tucking her hands under her head.
“What made you go into the coffee shop that day?” she asked. “It seems like something you’d have Tom do for you.”
“Are you trying to distract me?” he asked.
“Maybe,” she said with a grin, and he kissed her shoulder before answering.
“Sometimes I like to do the mundane things myself,” he said. “To be around simpler people that have no idea who I am and want nothing from me. Except four dollars and eighty-five cents,” he said, touching her nose.
“And next thing you know, you’re bringing home one of those simpletons.”
He arched an eyebrow. “I would hardly call you a simpleton. You have a bachelor’s degree in public health for crying out loud,” he said. “Which begs the question, what were you doing in that coffee shop? I would’ve thought there would be more prosperous options available to you.”
“The plan was to keep going to school full-time,” she sighed. “Get it all out of the way. I took the job because the hours were flexible and it was close to the campus. Then my mom was diagnosed with leukemia and I postponed school. I stayed at the shop because again, the hours were flexible, and I could help my dad take care of her. I’d had a scholarship—a big one. But it expired, and so now I’m starting from scratch again.”
He brushed her hair back.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“For coming into the shop that day.”
“Thank you for being there that day.”
And then he kissed her with such gentleness that she could feel her heart breaking into a million pieces. Pieces she knew she was going to have to put back together someday.
“I should go,” she said, pulling away from him.
“Go where?” he asked, frowning.
“To my room. It’s getting late.”
“Why?”
“Isn’t that part of the deal? Isn’t that why I have my own room?”
“Is that what you think?” he asked.
“I don’t have any delusions about what this is, Damien. You don’t have to worry about that.”
She stood and pulled her underwear and shirt back on, picking up the rest of her clothes. It bothered her that he wasn’t saying anything, just watching as she dressed, not saying the words she realized she wanted him to say. Stay here with me. But he didn’t, and she gave him one last kiss on the cheek before heading back to her room.
Karina crawled into bed and the tears came before she could even attempt to stop them. How could she have let this happen? There were exactly thirteen days left until she went home, and Karina knew she’d better get her feelings in check if she was going to survive them.
There was a click, and she realized that the bedroom door was opening. It could only be Damien. She wiped her wet cheeks with her hands, keeping her back to the door. He crawled into the bed and pressed his naked body against her, wrapping his arm around her waist.
“I don’t care if we hav
e sex,” he whispered into her ear. “Or even whose bed we’re in. I just want to be close to you.”
She turned in his arms to face him.
“I want to wake up next to you,” he said.
“You can’t say things like that,” she told him.
“Why not?”
“You—you just can’t.”
He kissed her. Slowly and deeply, and it cut into her just as much as his words. She was standing on an edge she could never come back from, and he didn’t even know he was pushing her over. But she kissed him back, knowing she didn’t have the power to push him away. Didn’t want to. And as he climbed on top of her, she wrapped her arms around him, her hunger for Damien growing insatiable.
As her body slowly moved with his, their lips locked together, she knew this was different than all the other sex they had. It was strangely more intimate despite everything else they had already done together. Karina wanted it to end and never end at the same time. Because she was falling off the cliff. Falling quickly, and she feared there would be no one at the bottom to catch her.
Reality
Someone was pounding on a door, and as Karina and Damien shot up at the sound of it, she realized it wasn’t her door.
“Damien!” shouted Tom’s voice from down the hall.
“What time is it?” Damien asked in a panic as he twisted to look at the clock. “Shit!”
“Damien, are you in there?” Tom called out.
Karina knew it wouldn’t take him long to realize that Damien was not, in fact, in there. Because he was in here.
Damien jumped out of bed and looked around her room, completely buck-ass naked. “Shit!”
“So you slept in,” she said, falling back onto the bed. “Big deal. We all do it at some point.”
“I don’t. And all my clothes are in my room,” he pointed in the direction of it, “which Tom is standing outside of right now.”
The pounding moved to her door.
“Not anymore,” she said with a smile.
“Karina? Are you in there?”
“Are you going to answer it?” Damien answered.
“You’re the one he’s looking for.”
“I’m naked.”
“I don’t see the problem here,” she said with a wicked grin.
“Dammit, Karina,” he seethed. “That is my employee out there. This is completely unprofessional!”
“Sorry, Mr. Bishop,” she said, climbing out of bed and grabbing the robe at the end of it. “I guess I completely forgot my place.”
Damien said nothing, just continued to fume.
“Karina?” Tom shouted one more time.
She simply leaned against the door, glaring at Damien. “Hey Tom, could you do me a favor and go wait downstairs?”
“I’m looking for Damien,” he said. “Do you know where he is?”
“Just trust me, Tom. Go wait downstairs and I promise he will be right down.”
“Oh, thank you, Karina.”
“No problem.”
She and Damien listened to his footsteps disappear.
“Problem solved,” she said, opening the door for him and handing him the robe.
“Thank you,” he muttered without much gratitude as he hastily wrapped it around himself.
She slammed the door behind him before flopping onto the bed, everything he’d said to her last night feeling like a dream.
Even though Karina had spent less than twenty-four hours in New York City, it reminded her how cold it was back home compared to sunny Miami, so she decided to take advantage of it, not having anything else to do. She spent a lot of time swimming laps in the pool, trying to burn off the frustrated energy. It sapped her energy for sure but did little for her frustration. Despite all that had happened in the past few weeks, Damien had never snapped at her.
Deciding it didn’t matter—she was going home soon anyway—she laid back in a lounge chair and popped her earbuds in, letting the music soothe her wounded soul. She hadn’t even realized she had dozed off until she felt something touch her leg, and she opened her eyes to see Damien sitting on the chair next to her, still dressed in a suit.
She pulled the earbuds out. “Did you need something?” she asked in an icy tone.
“I want to apologize,” he said.
“Whatever for?” she said sarcastically, closing her eyes again.
“For the way I acted this morning.”
“Oh, you mean when you were a complete asshole?”
“I’m sorry, Karina.”
“Doesn’t make it right,” she said, opening her eyes.
“I know.” He sighed. “It’s just that—you have to understand I wasn’t lying when I said I’ve never slept in. I’ve never been so caught off guard before.”
She looked at him and saw the same quizzical expression she’d seen on his face that first day at the coffee shop, when he turned to look at her before walking out the door.
“You’ve done something to me,” he said in an uncertain voice.
“Are you saying this is my fault?”
“No,” he said quickly. “I’m just trying to explain myself. But you’re right, it doesn’t excuse the way I treated you.” He stood up. “Come with me. I want to show you something. Please.”
She climbed out of the chair and stepped into the strapless dress she had chosen as a swimsuit cover-up, curious what he had in store for her. Without a word, he led her into the house and to the front sitting room, where a beautiful cello was waiting for her next to the piano.
“What is this?” she asked.
“It’s a cello,” he said. “I thought that was obvious.”
“I know what it is. Why is there a cello here?”
“You sounded so wistful that night, talking about playing it.”
That night felt so long ago to Karina. It was hard to believe how much had happened since then.
“It’s just on loan again, right?” she asked, touching the necklace still around her throat.
“You’re the only person I know who plays the cello,” he said. “Well, the only person I’d want to give a cello to, at least.”
As Karina stood there, staring at it, her fingers started to itch, dying to touch the strings.
“Do you want to play it?” he asked.
“I don’t even know if I remember any songs,” she said as she sat down on the piano bench next to it.
“I think you’d be surprised,” he said with a smile.
She pulled the instrument closer to her and grabbed the bow with her right hand. It felt good in her palm. Slowly she pulled it across the strings and the sound of it sent a chill down her spine. It reminded her of Damien’s voice. She tried a couple chords, testing it out, and made a couple slight adjustments.
There was a song she thought she remembered. Being one of her favorites, she had played it so many times. Her fingers fell into place on the fingerboard and she bowed the strings, closing her eyes as she felt the vibrations of it. She hadn’t even realized how much she missed this until now. When the last note ended, she opened her eyes to see Damien sitting on the couch, looking awestruck.
“Vivaldi,” he said and she nodded.
“From The Four Seasons.”
“That was incredible.”
“Thank you,” she said, blushing. “It was the only song I could remember.”
“It was perfect. And perhaps the next time I owe you an apology, I’ll just bring home some sheet music. Any requests?”
“That you don’t have to apologize to me,” she said hesitantly.
“I promise to try,” he said.
“That’s all I ask.” She stood and put the cello back on its stand. “Where are you going to keep this?” she asked.
“I think it looks nice right there next to the piano,” he said, standing. “Don’t you?”
“It does. And it might have to stay there, because I don’t have room for this in my apartment.”
He tucked her hair behind her ear. “Then I gues
s you’ll just have to come down and play it for me from time to time,” he said quietly.
Karina didn’t know what to say to that. Part of her wanted to clap her hands and say yes, absolutely, but deep down she knew she could never bear it. This was going to hurt enough when she had to leave.
“What do you say we give Romi the night off and go out for dinner?” he asked.
“I’d like that,” she said, forcing a smile.
They enjoyed a casual dinner (by Damien’s standards) at a popular restaurant in downtown Miami. They were seated at a small table for two, and even though the place was packed, Karina felt like it was only he two of them. She barely even remembered what they ate, except for the dessert—a chocolate torte that they shared.
“Will there be anything else?” the waiter asked when he stopped by to collect the empty plate.
Damien looked at her. “Do you want anything else?” he asked.
“Nothing that’s on the menu,” she said with a playful smile.
“That will be all,” Damien told the waiter, not taking his eyes off of her.
The waiter walked away and she excused herself to use the restroom, leaving a restless Damien at the table.
Karina was still grinning as she walked out of the bathroom—until she saw Tabitha sitting in her seat across from Damien. As she neared the table, Tabitha caught sight of her and gave Karina a nasty little smile before turning her attention back to Damien. It was all she could do not to slap the woman as Karina calmly walked over to them.
“Oh hello,” Tabitha said in a sugary voice when Karina stepped up to the table to stand next to Damien. “Kari, right?”
“It’s Karina, actually,” Damien corrected her.
“Oops,” she said with a giggle. “My mistake.”
“So what brings you to our table?” Karina asked, attempting her best smile.
“Well, I was attending a private function in the back room. Gregson’s birthday in fact,” said Tabitha, shooting a glance at Damien. “And I happened to catch a glimpse of Damien out here. I thought what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t stop by and say hi?”
“What kind of friend indeed,” said Karina.