Dameon closed his eyes and willed his brain to settle.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Grace hadn’t meant to stay, and certainly didn’t think she’d wake up to the sun peeking in Dameon’s bedroom window.
But that was exactly how she woke up.
Dameon had offered breakfast and a leisurely morning, but that would have to wait for a weekend. She hated to scramble off, but she would have been late to work if she hadn’t rushed out the door.
But not before Dameon kissed her senseless and whispered promising words of what he wanted to do with her the next time they were together.
Morning fog accompanied her on her way home, and the streets were relatively bare with so many people off for the holiday week.
She took stock of how she felt after a night with Dameon.
Blissfully sore in areas of her body that hadn’t moved that way in some time, and emotionally charged. He was a patient and giving lover, and she’d responded in a way she never had before. Most of her lovers needed to spend more than a night to figure out what worked for her.
Not Dameon.
Right before Grace started to walk out her door, she checked the time.
Remembering her meeting with Richard the day before and him denying her overtime, instead of rushing, she drove first to the coffee shop and took her time.
The office bustled with activity when she walked in exactly forty minutes late. She dropped her purse on her desk and went straight to Richard’s office with a revised expense sheet in her hands.
She didn’t knock. Didn’t say hi.
“I’ll be sure and clarify overtime in the future. But the mileage is accurate. If you want someone to audit my time, by all means. I have nothing to hide.” She placed the paper on his desk and turned to leave.
Richard didn’t utter a syllable as she walked away.
It was the closest thing to standing up for herself she’d ever done with her boss, and her adrenaline was pumping when she went back to her office.
She sat motionless and waited for her nerves to calm. When they did, she smiled.
This was who she was. Strong, centered, and in control.
Somehow she’d stopped being that since summer.
She tackled her inbox with purpose. It was time to spread the workload. And by the time they had their early monthly meeting in January, she’d be prepared.
Grace called an emergency girls’ night.
If there was one thing consistent with a new man in your life, it was the need to talk about it with your girlfriends.
Parker brought a cheese plate, Erin brought wine, and Grace pulled out an array of fruit and cold smoked salmon. They met at Grace’s condo since both her brothers were home, and the last thing she wanted to do was clue them in on her love life.
Erin and Parker arrived together.
The minute Grace opened the door, the two other women paused.
Parker spoke first. “Someone is getting laid.”
Grace knew she was blushing. “Is it that obvious?”
Parker squealed and walked through the door. Erin handed her not one but two bottles of wine.
“I knew it!” Erin said. “You sounded way too excited in your message for tonight to be bad news.”
“Oh my God, you guys . . . I can’t tell you how great it was.”
They shuffled around her small kitchen while Grace found a wine opener.
“I thought you were going to wait. At least that’s what you said the last time we talked, which was what, Christmas?” Erin grabbed three glasses out of the cupboard and placed them on the counter.
“I was. We were,” Grace corrected herself. “And then we didn’t.”
Parker made rolling motions with her hands. “Details.”
Grace pulled the cork free and filled their glasses. “I had a shitty day at work. Richard was being his typical asshole self, went a little further than normal, and Dameon invited me over to his place.”
“In LA?”
“No. The house in the canyon.” She sipped her wine. “I get there and he has a fire going and a cute little Christmas tree in the corner. He bought dinner from The Backwoods and was keeping it warm in the oven.”
“Sounds like he’s working it.”
“We talked and laughed. He gave me pointers on how to deal with Richard. We ended up sitting on this god-awful sofa the previous owners left behind. Did I mention the fire?”
Parker was ear-to-ear smiles.
“Next thing I know, we’re making out on the couch like teenagers trying to get to the next base.” She stopped and closed her eyes at the memories. “It was so amazing. Like the best sex I’ve ever had amazing. Do you know what I mean?” Grace opened her eyes to find both women staring at her and nodding.
“I thought I knew what good sex was . . . and then I met Colin and realized I didn’t know jack shit,” Parker said.
Erin shook her head. “I forgot what an orgasm felt like without a battery-operated toy before Matt.”
Much as Grace never wanted to hear about her brothers’ sex lives, she couldn’t exactly deny Parker and Erin their time to talk.
“It’s more than sex, though. It was everything. I find myself wanting to talk to him at the end of my day to tell him about work. I want to hear about his mom and know if he made it to Target to buy kitchen towels and dishwasher detergent.”
Each of them grabbed a plate of food and moved into the living room.
“It sounds like you really like him,” Parker said.
“I do.”
Erin kicked off her shoes and tucked her legs under her on the sofa. “What about your work? Aren’t you concerned Richard is going to find this relationship a conflict of interest?”
“I’ve been so mad at my boss, I don’t know if I care what he thinks. The worst he can do is pull the project away from me. Which is fine.”
“You’re not worried about getting fired?”
“He’d have to find some kind of foul play, and that isn’t happening. I’m an honest employee and I do my job well. Dameon’s project is barely off the ground. And I certainly haven’t used city time or money to see him privately.”
Parker lifted a piece of cheese to her mouth. “You might consider telling your boss before he finds out. Tell him if he doesn’t approve, he needs to pull you now.”
Grace saw the wisdom in Parker’s words. “Maybe.”
“So, when are you going to bring him around? Matt is dying to meet him.”
“I don’t know.”
“Have you met any of his friends?” Parker asked.
“No. We’re going out for New Year’s Eve. Something fancy downtown. My guess is he knows someone we’re going to see.”
“Friends always shed light on a man’s personality that he doesn’t always want to share when you’re first going out,” Erin said. “At least that’s what my therapist says. Everyone loves Matt, and most of the people who knew Desmond only tolerated him.”
Grace sighed. “How is therapy going?”
Erin lost her smile briefly. “I have good days and bad. I still see him when I close my eyes. Have nightmares. Matt is so patient with me. Careful.”
Grace placed a hand on Erin’s knee. “Matt loves you.”
“I know.”
“Have you guys talked about marriage?” Parker asked.
She nodded. “A little here and there. It’s what we both want, but we don’t want any clouds of this last year anywhere around us.”
“Take your time getting married, but that shouldn’t stop him from putting a ring on your finger,” Grace said.
Erin smiled. “I don’t need a ring to be committed to your brother. He has my heart and he knows that.”
Yeah, but Grace didn’t see Matt waiting too long to stake his claim. Her brothers were territorial like that.
“I already consider you my sister-in-law. Matt just needs to make it official.”
“Yes, please. And get your aunt off my empty uterus,” Parker
said.
“Isn’t it crazy how life is constantly changing?” Grace asked. “I didn’t even know you guys two years ago and now we’re all family.”
“Everything changes,” Erin said. “And then you meet the right guy who changes everything.”
Grace smiled into the thought. Dameon was doing exactly that for her.
She unfolded from the sofa. “Time for a fashion show. I need help picking out what to wear for New Year’s.”
Dameon walked into his condo for the first time in five days.
The place felt cold, partially because the heater had been turned down, but more because it was starting to lose its appeal.
When had that happened? He liked living in the city. Enjoyed the closeness of restaurants and bars, nightlife, and energy the city afforded him.
But there weren’t as many stars in the sky and certainly a lack of yipping coyotes and rabbits avoiding his truck as he drove away.
He’d always looked at his home in the city as temporary. Having grown up in the suburbs in a traditional home with a yard and neighbors who shared a fence instead of a wall and hallway, he knew he’d one day return to a more rural lifestyle.
Granted, the house he was in now was pretty far off his spectrum. His closest neighbor was half a mile away, and he could throw a small Woodstock and not bother anyone. But that, too, would change once his development went in and the homes started going up.
He had spent quite a bit of time reflecting on the neighborhood, just as he intended. But he found himself thinking about it like a man with a family. Not a single developer turning raw land into a moneymaking machine.
And that was entirely Grace’s fault. Or caused by her entering Dameon’s life. He told his head to slow down, but his heart wasn’t listening.
He liked her . . . a lot.
He cranked his heater up and turned on his sound system. The simple comforts of his home that he was living without when he was in Santa Clarita. He opened his refrigerator and cracked open a beer. He tossed several items in the trash that had spoiled or otherwise wouldn’t be eaten. He moved a bottle of good champagne from a storage rack to the fridge so he had some on hand when he brought Grace back after the New Year’s Eve party. Here, she couldn’t giggle about an outdated couch or lack of a coffee table. He appointed his home with only his tastes in mind. He wasn’t one for clutter, so the tables and walls were minimally decorated. Contemporary furnishings in dark colors. His TV and sound system were state of the art and lacked nothing. He paid a housekeeper to come in twice a month to keep the dust down.
He looked out the large bay window at the city below. It was late, and the lights glistened against the small droplets of rain that fell from the sky.
This might be where he lived, but it no longer felt like home. And that reality was a little unsettling.
He set about doing laundry and gathering several items he wanted to take with him the next time he went to the canyon house.
When his phone rang, he saw Grace’s name pop up on his screen.
He turned his music down and answered. “Good evening.”
“Hi.”
“How is ladies’ night?”
“Already over,” she said. “But it was fun. Were your ears burning?”
He grinned. “I guess that means you were talking about me.”
“That’s okay, isn’t it?”
He walked away from the window and sat on his leather sofa. “I would be more concerned if you weren’t.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
Grace was silent for a second. “Dameon, I need to ask you something. A favor.”
“Consider it done.”
She laughed. “I’m serious.”
His brain buzzed with questions. “I’m listening.”
“I’ve been dating since I was fifteen. Well, my parents thought I was sixteen, but in all reality, I was fifteen.”
He laughed.
“Anyway, I’ve found the more interested I was in someone, the less interested they were in me. I’ve been stood up, ghosted, and even left in a restaurant halfway through a meal. I’ve had more than my share of catfishers when I subscribed to the online dating racket. And the last guy I was on a date with . . .” Her words trailed off.
“The last guy what?” He knew what she was about to say because Colin had filled him in. But since she hadn’t shared the information willingly, he tried to pull it out of her.
“Never mind.”
“No, Grace . . . the last guy what?”
“I don’t want you to think I’m being overdramatic or looking for sympathy. Or want you to feel sorry for me enough to pretend that we’re on the same page here.”
“The only thing I feel sorry for is the guys who didn’t see you for how amazing you are. But I’m glad they didn’t so I have a chance.”
“Do you always say the right things?” she asked with a nervous laugh.
“Talk to me, Grace.”
“The last guy . . . was Erin’s late husband. He pretended to be someone he wasn’t online and asked me to meet him at a bar. When I got there, the guy, or the picture of the guy I thought I’d been talking to, never showed up. But Erin’s ex did. I didn’t know anything about him. I’d never seen a picture, had no way of knowing who he was. I thought it was organic. That I’d met someone not through friends or a stupid dating app.”
Dameon felt his hand gripping his phone too tight as he waited for her to tell him the whole story.
“He said his wife was dead. That he hadn’t dated. I believed every lie he told me. I almost went back to the hotel with him, Dameon. I remember him putting his hands on my neck and squeezing just a little too hard when he kissed me.” Her voice cracked.
He closed his eyes. “God, Grace.”
“I don’t know what he planned to do that night. We were by the mall and one of my dad’s friends from the sheriff’s department saw us. Desmond was noticeably shook.”
“His name was Desmond?” Oh, damn . . . that’s not good.
“Yeah. But that wasn’t the name he was using. Anyway . . . he backed off. Told me he was still married and his wife was trying to leave him. I was pissed. It wasn’t until later that I realized who he was. He was completely crazy. Tried to kill Erin instead of letting her leave him. I was lucky. You hear about things on the news, disappearing people, and I realized I was one bad choice away from being that woman.”
“I can’t imagine what you were feeling.”
“You don’t have to, I’ll tell you. I felt stupid. Like how the hell did I fall for his lines and believe him when there were red flags? I stopped trusting my instincts. Stopped trusting myself.”
“I’m sorry.” And he was.
“I don’t want your sympathy, Dameon. I want your word.”
“On what?”
“That if this isn’t working for you, or you get bored, or anything . . . that you’ll be honest with me. You won’t just stop talking to me, or pretend you’re happy when you’re not.”
The words he’d used describing his relationship with Lena flew back at him. He wished he could take them back. “You have my word.”
“Even if it’s painful.”
“Even if it’s painful, Grace. I respect you too much to consider any of those things.”
The line was silent.
“Thank you,” she finally said.
“No . . . thank you. For trusting me with that story.”
“It feels good to say all of that out loud.”
“Is this the first time you did?”
“My family knows what happened, but yeah. I don’t talk about it with them. Erin could have died. She was in the ICU for days. Seemed my brush with her ex was nothing in comparison.”
Dameon rubbed the tension settling in his shoulders. He wished he was there, holding Grace as she told her story. “I’m not a therapist, but I’m guessing they might point out that watching someone get shot and being the one who is shot can have long-las
ting effects on both people.”
“I-I never thought about it like that.”
“I do.” And since Dameon had an insane desire to lift Grace’s mood, he told her something he thought she’d want to hear. “I told my mother about you.”
“You what?”
“Yeah. Right after we met. You hadn’t agreed to date me, but I told my mom that we already were.”
“You were that sure I’d cave?”
“I was that sure I wasn’t going to let you slip away without trying everything I could to give me a shot.”
“Really?”
“Really. Now that we have that out of the way . . . What the hell is a catfisher?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
New Year’s Eve was meant for sequins and sparkle and dresses that hugged your curves and high heels that made a man take you in from the tip of your head to the bottom of your toes.
So when Dameon showed up at her condo to pick her up, she opened the door to a bouquet of white roses and a man who couldn’t find his tongue.
He blew out a slow whistle. “Whoa.”
“Is that approval?” She knew it was, but asked anyway.
Dameon held the flowers to the side and walked through her door. “We can pretend we went and just stay home instead.” He slid a hand around her waist and wiggled his eyebrows.
“It took me forever to get ready.”
“It will take me less than ten minutes to mess it all up,” he teased.
She ran her hands up his suit and fiddled with his perfect tie. “Hi,” she whispered before reaching up for a kiss.
He kissed her thoroughly and moaned when she moved away.
Grace wiped the red lipstick off his mouth. “This isn’t your color.”
He licked his lips and smiled.
She glanced at the flowers in his hand while he stared at her. “Are those for me?”
Dameon lifted the roses toward her. “You make me forget my own name.”
“They’re beautiful.”
“You’re stunning.”
Yeah, that didn’t suck to hear.
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