Twice as Tempting

by Susan Coventry

  “You wanted space for your clothes, and I want space for all my toys,” Damian said as he walked around the interior of the barn. The pole barn was large enough to house a car and some additional “toys,” such as Ray’s riding lawnmower, a motorcycle, and a snowmobile. Shelves lined the walls, and they were filled with tools and gadgets that Kelly could only guess at the use of. To her, it was just an oversized garage, but to Damian, it was obviously much, much more.

  “But you don’t have any toys right now,” Kelly ventured.

  “That’s because I don’t have any place to put them. If I had this space, it would be filled in no time!”

  After Damian was done peeking around at things that Kelly didn’t understand that had to do with electrical outlets and wiring, they walked back up to the house and stood on the front porch.

  “Well, what do you think?” Damian asked expectantly.

  Kelly’s head was spinning, and she even felt a little light-headed. “Can we talk about this over lunch? I’m starving.”

  “Of course,” he said.

  They ended up at their favorite Mexican restaurant, where they dug into the chips and salsa right away. After they placed their orders, Damian leaned across the table and said, “Kell? Are you ok? You haven’t said much this entire time. If you don’t like the house, just say so.”

  “No, Damian. It’s not that. I actually like the house—a lot. I’m just…this is so sudden. I’m not sure what to make of it all.”

  “I’m planning for our future, Kell. I love you, and I want to be with you, and I’m trying to make things good for us.”

  “Things are good for us. You don’t have to do this just for me.”

  Damian sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you honestly think that I would be content to live in that tiny apartment forever? To creep in an out of your place like a thief in the night? If you know me at all, you would understand how much I would love to have a place of my own, with room to move and a garage to putter around in. A place where I could invite the whole family over for dinner, where Gracie and Ava could run around and play, and eventually my own kids too.”

  At the start of his soliloquy, Kelly had taken a bite of a tortilla chip loaded with salsa, and now it stuck sideways in her throat. She hurriedly grabbed her glass of water and chugged it down while Damian stared at her with an amused expression.

  “What? You don’t want kids someday?”

  “Well, yes, I do, but…”

  The waitress came over and set down their plates, and seeing that Kelly’s water glass was empty, she offered to come back with a refill. After she had left the second time, Kelly started over from a different angle.

  “About us living together…your lease is up in the spring, but mine isn’t up until one year from right now. What do you propose we do in the interim?”

  “I would move in and get the house ready. In case you didn’t notice, it could use a few updates. The structure is sound, but I don’t really care for the cranberry-colored carpet in the bedrooms, do you?”

  Kelly giggled. “I noticed that too, but I didn’t want to complain.”

  “Never stopped you before,” Damian teased.

  “What else would you change?”

  “The wood floor in the kitchen and foyer needs to be refinished, and the whole place could use a fresh coat of paint. Maybe some new window treatments too.”

  “Wow. Sounds like a lot of work.”

  “I don’t mind hard work.”

  Kelly smiled, feeling more relaxed already. “I know that.”

  “Besides, I’ll recruit Zack and my dad to help me. Jim would probably pitch in too.”

  “So, by the time I moved in…”

  “The place would be ready and waiting for you.”

  The idea was starting to take shape, but there was one small detail niggling at the back of her mind. She decided to shelve her reservation for now and simply enjoy the moment. “So, you think we would do ok, living together?”

  Damian swallowed a bite of his enchilada and beamed at her across the table. “I think we’d do just fine. Don’t you?”

  Kelly tried to drum up some of his annoying habits, but she was having difficulty coming up with one. Truthfully, she probably had more annoying habits than him. Their verbal sparring was mostly over trivial things, and their arguments could usually be resolved with a good, healthy dose of…

  “Of course, our sex life will probably go through the roof,” Damian said with that wicked gleam in his eyes.

  “How so?”

  “We won’t have to worry about anyone hearing us, kind of like how it was at the cabin.”

  Kelly glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention to them. Satisfied that no one was listening, she leaned across the table. “And think of all that we could do in front of those windows along the back of the house.”

  Damian had been eating with his Carhartt on, and now he shoved it off and dabbed his face with a napkin. “Is it me, or did it just get really hot in here?”

  Kelly laughed and then turned her attention back to her plate. They had been so busy talking and planning that she hadn’t eaten much. Once they were finished and the waitress had cleared the table, Kelly felt much better about everything, but she had to ask, “Have you shared this idea with anyone else yet?”

  Damian eyed her suspiciously. “I took Zack to see the house last week. Why?”

  “It’s just that Emma mentioned something to me on ladies’ night, but she didn’t know any of the details.”

  Damian looked at her with a thunderous expression, but she knew it wasn’t really meant for her. “I’m going to kill him. I swear it. I should have known that he couldn’t keep his big mouth shut.”

  Kelly tried to suppress her smile. “I’m sure he was just excited for you, Damian, and he tells Emma everything, and then…”

  “She tells you. Yes, I know how it works.”

  “Don’t worry. There are lots of things between us that I would never tell.”

  That seemed to placate him for the time being. “So, what’s the verdict? Should I tell Ray that we’re interested?”

  “There are still some things that we need to talk about, but yes, tell him we’re interested.”

  Damian’s smile couldn’t get any wider. “I love you, Kell.”

  She leaned across the table and kissed him. “I love you too.”

  Chapter 31

  Kelly could hardly believe it. She and Damian were seated on the airplane that would take her home for Thanksgiving, and they would get to spend the next four days in the warm Florida sunshine. Damian had graciously offered her the window seat, while he got settled in the aisle seat. Kelly figured that he had wanted the aisle seat so that it would be easier for him to stretch out his long legs, but she was mistaken.

  When the plane was speeding down the runway, Kelly glanced over and saw Damian’s hands clutching the armrests so tightly that she feared he might leave imprints. “Are you ok?” she asked.

  His eyes were closed, and he didn’t so much as move a muscle. “Don’t talk to me until we’re in the air.”

  Kelly placed her hand over his and didn’t speak again, until they had reached a “comfortable cruising altitude.” When the flight attendant’s voice came over the speaker, announcing that drinks would be served shortly, Damian finally opened his eyes.

  “I’m good now,” he said and offered her a weak smile.

  “Damian, are you afraid to fly?”

  “I wouldn’t say that I’m afraid. I would just say that I don’t particularly like it.”

  The man is chock full of surprises! “I would have guessed that you’d love to fly, since you love cars so much.”

  He raised his brows at her. “What does one have to do with the other?”

  “Duh. They’re both machines, they can both go fast, they both have engines, and all that other stuff.”

  Damian chuckled. “There’s one very distinct difference. Cars remain on the groun
d, and if I’m the driver, I trust myself to be in control. I don’t know anything about the guy operating this plane.”

  Kelly giggled. “I’m sure he’s highly qualified.”

  “That may be, but who knows what his personal life is like. He might have gone to a class reunion last night and had too much to drink. His wife could have left him, and now he’s bitter and angry. We just don’t know!”

  Kelly broke out in full-on hysterics, which she tried to contain when she saw the lady across the aisle glare at her. “Say the pilot did have a rough night. Isn’t that what the co-pilot is there for?”

  “But we don’t know anything about that guy either! He could have an inferiority complex, and feel like he has something to prove. You know the saying, always the bridesmaid and never…”

  “The bride. Yes, I know it well.” Kelly blanched a little at the implication.

  Damian quickly covered up his error. “I wasn’t talking about you, Kell.”

  “Oh, I know,” she said, waving her hand in the air like his comment meant nothing. Thankfully, right then, the flight attendant came by with the drink cart, and their conversation was cut short.

  After they’d consumed their drinks and snacks, Kelly reached down into her tote bag and pulled out two books. “Here. I have something to distract you from your fear of flying.”

  “I never said I was afraid,” Damian growled.

  “Well, in any case, you need to start reading this book for our book club meeting. It’s only a few weeks away.”

  Damian accepted the book from her and stared at the cover. “Wallbanger?”

  The poor lady across the aisle was getting quite the earful! “Shhh…not so loud,” Kelly hissed.

  “I’m supposed to read this here?”

  “Well, you don’t have to, but you might want to get started on it. It’s a romantic comedy. I think you’ll like it.”

  “But, is there sex?”

  “Yes, of course,” Kelly replied, trying to ignore the woman across the aisle, who was blatantly staring at them now.

  “Ok, then,” Damian said, and he cracked open the book.

  He got more than a few inquisitive stares from passengers who moved up and down the aisles to stretch their legs or use the restroom, but Damian never noticed. He quickly became engrossed in the story, and since Kelly had already read it, she cracked open a new book.

  Occasionally, she’d glance over at Damian, who was either grinning or, at times, chuckling to himself.

  My sweet man. Tough on the outside, but a real marshmallow inside!

  They got lost in their fictional worlds until the pilot made an announcement for the flight attendants to prepare the cabin for landing. Damian started to bend over the page he was on, but Kelly stopped him. “Oh no you don’t,” she scolded. “I have a bookmark you can use.”

  “Seriously? What’s wrong with bending the page?”

  “Never say that to someone who works at a bookstore! Here you go.” She handed him a bookmark with A New Chapter printed on it, along with a picture of the storefront and their hours.

  He stuck the bookmark inside and carefully handed the book to her as if he were handing her a rare diamond. “I’ll leave it with you for safekeeping.”

  “Good idea,” she said.

  Just then, the plane began its descent, and Damian went back to gripping the armrests. This time, Kelly didn’t tease. She simply placed her hand over his and gave it a squeeze. His eyes closed, and she leaned over and whispered in his ear. “Before you know it, we’ll be at the hotel pool, and I’ll be wearing my red bikini.”

  Damian didn’t respond, but his mouth twitched, and his eyelids fluttered. Kelly kissed his cheek and continued to hold his hand until they were safely back on the ground.

  A short time later, they were driving down the highway in their rented Chevy Tahoe, en route to the Naples Beach Hotel. Kelly’s parents had offered for her and Damian to stay at their condo, but Damian had balked at it. His exact words were “I don’t mind spending time with your parents, but I need my privacy too.”

  When Kelly told her mom that they wanted to stay at a hotel on the beach, Maria accepted the decision with her usual grace. “I remember those days, when your father and I first fell in love. I can understand why you’d want some alone time,” her mother had said.

  Now they were on the expressway, and Kelly requested that they drive with the windows down so she could feel the warm air against her skin. “Isn’t this awesome?” Kelly said as the balmy wind whipped through the windows.

  Damian wiped the sweat off his brow and said, “It would be more awesome if I could turn on the air conditioner.”

  “Are we going to start this already? We just got here.”

  “Sorry, Kell. While I enjoy the warm weather, it also makes me sweat, and I don’t want to stink when I meet your parents.”

  Kelly glanced over at him and wondered if he was nervous about meeting her parents. He would find out soon enough that Frank and Maria were the most easygoing, fun-loving parents on the planet. At least, that’s the way all her friends had described them when she was growing up. Hers was the house that everyone wanted to hang out at, for various reasons. Her mother, Maria, loved to bake, and there was always a variety of cakes and cookies available. Frank, her father, was a prankster who loved to make people laugh, and both excelled at putting people at ease.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll have time to change before they meet us for lunch,” she said.

  For their first meeting, Maria had suggested that they have lunch right at the hotel restaurant. “It’s hard to be nervous when you’re looking out at the ocean,” she had said, and Kelly agreed.

  Damian seemed relieved the minute they stepped into the air-conditioned hotel lobby, and even more so when they entered their hotel room. “How long until they’ll be here?”

  “Twenty minutes,” she said, already rifling through her suitcase.

  “Good. I have time for a quick shower. Be right out.”

  Kelly noticed that he hadn’t asked her to join him, but it was probably for the best. They might not be on time for lunch if she did. While Damian was in the shower, she changed into a bright pink tank dress and strappy white sandals. She fluffed up her hair a bit, touched up her blush, and called it good. Then she slipped out onto the balcony to take in the magnificent ocean view. It didn’t matter how many times she had been there; she was always drawn in by the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, the squawk of seagulls swirling overhead, and the warm, salty breezes. She was leaning over the balcony rail, watching a group of children build a sandcastle, when Damian came out to join her.

  He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck, and now Kelly breathed in his fresh, masculine scent along with the salty air. “You smell good,” she said and turned into his arms.

  “And you look beautiful,” he said, gazing down at her.

  “So do you.” Damian had changed from his standard jeans and a t-shirt into a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a collared navy blue polo shirt. For him, this was dressing up, and she appreciated the extra effort that he had gone to.

  “They’re going to love you,” she said, smoothing down the collar of his shirt. “Just like I do.”

  “I hope so,” he said and bent down to gently kiss her lips.

  Kelly was anxious to see her parents, but with Damian standing before her, looking so gorgeous, she was tempted to delay the visit.

  He smirked at her as if he read her mind and said, “We need to get going, princess. There will be plenty of time for other activities later.”

  Shortly after, they walked into the hotel restaurant hand in hand, and Kelly spotted her parents right away. “There they are,” she said, pointing to a table in front of the large plate-glass window where her parents were waiting. As Kelly and Damian approached the table, her parents stood up and held out their arms to their daughter. The three of them embraced for a long moment while Damian waited patiently.

 
; Frank was the first one to disengage from the hug, and he extended his hand to Damian. “I’m the old man. Frank. How do you do?”

  “Damian Kostas. Nice to meet you, sir.”

  “Sir? Wow, I haven’t been called that in…geez, I don’t think I’ve ever been called that!” Frank laughed heartily, which broke up the reunion between the women.

  “Frank, are you teasing him already? Just ignore him, Damian. I’m Maria, the proud mother. It’s so wonderful to meet you.” She walked right up to Damian and hugged him, and he visibly relaxed given the warm welcome.

  They settled around the table, with Damian seated between Frank and Kelly, and Maria on Kelly’s other side.

  “So, how was the flight down? Ok?” Frank asked.

  Damian shifted in his seat, and Kelly placed a hand on his thigh as reassurance that she wouldn’t share his secret. “It was fine, Dad. Smooth as silk.”

  “Kelly tells us that you’re into cars. What is it that you do exactly?” Frank asked, looking genuinely interested.

  “Well, sir…I mean, Frank, come January first, I’m going to be the owner of a custom auto shop. I’m taking it over for a buddy of mine who’s retiring.”

  “Custom huh? Are we talking sports cars?’

  “All kinds, really. From Cadillacs to Corvettes, and everything in between.”

  “I’d imagine that’s a pretty big business, especially in the Motor City.”

  “True, but it’s big everywhere.”

  “A few of my golf buddies are into cars. In fact, one guy, Gary, just had a ’57 Chevy truck restored. She’s a real beauty.”

  Kelly watched the interaction between her father and her boyfriend and smiled. The more they talked about cars, the more comfortable Damian became, and by the end of the meal, they had planned an outing to check out Gary’s restored truck.

  After that, Maria smoothly switched topics and asked Damian about his family, another topic near and dear to his heart. Even with the teasing comments that he made about Zack, Kelly was certain that her parents could tell how much his family meant to him.