He wasn’t leaving Dallas until she gave in to him.
He enjoyed the drive to the ranch because it afforded views of the Texas countryside. The ranch sat on hundreds of acres that Duke Hart had held in his reins for decades. The house itself was a sprawling estate with four wings and an indoor solarium with a pool along with hundreds of acres of land. Damian didn’t know how many bedrooms it held, but it looked massive. He wondered what it must have been like for Jada growing up here surrounded by all this luxury and beauty, but most importantly, with family.
When he pulled up, several vehicles were already parked outside. He reached across their seats to stroke Jada’s cheek. She jumped and glanced around. Realizing where she was, she wasted no time climbing out of the Range Rover. Damian watched as she closed her eyes and breathed in the Texas air. She was happy to be home.
The front door opened, and Duke walked along the wooden porch to look down at them. “Well, don’t just stand there, baby girl. Come on in so we can get to know this man of yours.”
Damian sucked in a deep breath. Things were about to get real.
Jada walked inside her family home a bit uneasily. Never in a million years would she have imagined that she would be introducing Damian to her family—and certainly not in this situation with all of them, all at once. She stood in the foyer, twisting her hands.
“Is there a problem?” Amusement danced on Damian’s face. He might be amused now, but she wondered how long he’d feel that way when her family roasted him over the coals.
“Apparently not.” She rolled her eyes and walked ahead of him into the main living room, where her family was congregated. Her parents were sitting on a sofa together, which Jada was happy to see. They were well on their way to a reconciliation. Addison and Caleb were snug on a loveseat while London sat in a chair and watched them. London had it much easier because her husband, Chase, hadn’t met the entire clan until their relationship was a done deal.
“Do I need to make another round of introductions?” Jada asked as she found an empty seat on the sofa opposite her parents.
“No, I think we all remember Damian,” Abigail said softly. “Please have a seat.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Hart.” Damian slid beside Jada on the couch. It was impossible not to feel the heat emanating from him. “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you. I’m sorry it’s under such trying circumstances.”
“We’re hopeful that it’s behind us,” Abigail said with a small smile. “Bree is a fighter, and she will keep our grandchild safe. But in the meantime, we’d like to make sure our youngest is safe as well.”
Damian sat upright. “Of course.” He glanced in Jada’s direction. “I want the same.”
“If that’s true, then you won’t mind telling us about yourself.” Duke folded one leg across the other. “And before you go giving me some song and dance, I’d like to hear something I can’t find in the press.”
“How about getting the man a drink first before you interrogate him, Daddy,” London said with a chuckle. Jada shot her big sister a grateful smile.
“Sounds like a mighty fine idea,” said Caleb as he rose. “What can I get you, Damian?”
“A whiskey if you don’t mind, and a bourbon for Jada.”
While Caleb took care of the drinks, Jada watched her father stare Damian down. But Damian held his own, returning her father’s hard stare with equal ferocity. Caleb returned moments later with a bourbon for her and a whiskey for Damian. Jada quickly took a sip, desperate for something to alleviate the tension and butterflies swarming in her stomach.
Damian took a liberal drink and then dove right in. “Many people know that I grew up in shelters and was taken in by a kind older couple who helped me during those critical teenage years before I eventually went to college.”
“Yes, I read that,” Duke said. “I believe they’ve passed on.”
“Yes, sir,” Damian answered and put his drink on the coffee table. “Mr. and Mrs. Lockett were the closest thing I had to parents. They took me in when most folks would have passed me by. You see, I was an angry young man with behavior problems, and most foster families wanted no part of that, but the Locketts saw beyond it.”
“Sounds like they were great people,” Abigail said.
Damian smiled fondly, and his eyes became wistful as he stared off into the distance before looking back at Jada’s parents. “They were, and I will forever be grateful for the opportunities they gave me, but what most people don’t understand …” He paused for several beats before he said, “Well, they don’t know that my mother was a drug addict. She was always on the hunt for her next fix, and a young child was a hindrance to her getting high.”
“That’s awful,” London said.
But she couldn’t be anymore horrified than Jada, who, while she had researched Damian, had not uncovered the severity of his experience growing up. Damian had never shared his backstory with her, and she was shocked he was doing so now and laying himself bare in front of her entire family.
“I grew up not knowing when or where my next meal would be. I had to scrape food together to make a meal most nights and that’s when my mother remembered to shop for groceries. I never knew when we might be put out of our apartment because she’d spent our rent money on her habit.”
“How did you survive it, Damian?” Abigail asked.
Damian shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“He was resilient, Abigail,” Duke interjected. “It takes fortitude to withstand life’s adversities and still come out on the other side.”
“How did you end up with the Locketts?” Caleb asked.
“Eventually the day came that the sheriff came and put our things out on the street. We lived out of my mother’s car for a while until she sold it for drugs. I wasn’t surprised when she forgot to pick me up from school one day and never came back.”
Jada reached across the small distance between them and grasped Damian’s hand. She was thankful he felt he could share his story with her family without being judged.
“I was put in the foster care system in the hopes I’d get adopted. When I was nine, I thought the day had come because I was with a family of educators. But once they got pregnant, I got put back in the system. It’s where I stayed for years. The last foster home I was in, the father was a drunk who didn’t mind beating the children. I was older and wouldn’t be pushed around, so I was told to get out.”
“Omigod!” Abigail said. “What did you do?”
“I lived on the streets for a few weeks, but I was a sophomore in high school and made sure I went to class each and every day. I stayed at the odd shelter until one day an elderly woman—Mrs. Lockett—saw me sifting through the trash for some leftovers at the local neighborhood diner. She took me home for a hot meal. One day turned into two, then a week, then months. Mr. Lockett wasn’t too happy when she brought me into their home, but he came to love me and teach me how to be a man. I wouldn’t be where I am today if they hadn’t taken me in and shown me I could be more than my mother’s son.”
“That’s quite a story of survival,” said Duke. “Thank you for your honesty and candor. It takes a man of integrity to be comfortable in his own skin and tell his truth. I respect you for that. It shows me you just might be good enough for my daughter.”
Caleb coughed loudly, and Abigail hit Duke’s knee.
He shrugged. “What? Damian understands a father’s love. Don’t you, son?” He returned his dark eyes on Damian.
“Yes, sir.”
“Good, then why don’t we retire for a bite to eat because,” Duke said, glancing up at the doorway to see the housekeeper, Miriam, standing there, “it looks like dinner is ready.”
Everyone took their leave and headed for the dining room. Damian rose as well, but Jada held back. “Damian?”
“Hmm.” He glanced at her quizzically.
“
Why didn’t you ever tell me about your past?”
“I just did.” He started toward the door, but she touched his arm.
“I know, but—”
He placed his index finger on her lips. “No buts. Your father wanted to know what kind of man I am.”
“He knows now.”
“Yeah, he does. C’mon,” he said, inclining his head toward the door. “Let’s go eat. I’m starved.”
The rest of the evening went swimmingly in Jada’s opinion. Damian’s forthright nature served him well with the Hart family, and he fit right in as if he had been a part of it his entire life. Now that her father understood his roots, his questions were more conversational in nature rather than Spanish Inquisition style. Jada found herself relaxing and enjoying the evening with Damian at her side.
She didn’t miss the smile and glances London and Addison lobbed her way throughout the evening, so when they asked for her help to make coffee, she took the hint. They wanted to chat, and once the three women were alone in the kitchen, London and Addison went in for the kill.
“Where have you been hiding him?” Addison asked.
“And why is this the first time any of us are hearing about him?” London added.
“I wasn’t hiding him,” Jada said as she leaned against the counter. “Our relationship, if you can call it that, is still very new. Matter of fact,” she said as she grasped both their arms and pulled them deeper into the room, “we just became intimate last night. We didn’t have time to figure out what it all meant when I got the call about Bree.”
“Yet, he flew all the way from San Francisco to be with you,” London said. “That tells me that he’s way more invested than just wanting to hit it and quit it.”
Jada chuckled. “I know, which is why this is all so confusing. I don’t know what it means.”
“It means he’s into you,” Addison said. “Trust me, I see it in his eyes. That man is sprung, so whatever you did last night worked. Keep it up.” She gave Jada a little smack on the behind.
“Addison!”
“What? Just because I’m a happily married woman doesn’t mean I don’t remember what it was like during those early days with Caleb. The man was insatiable. Hell, he still is.”
“I hear you, girl,” London added, and the two women high-fived. “Now that we’re married, Chase is even more into me.”
“I’m glad to hear you both have active sex lives,” Jada said. “So, what am I supposed to do with him?”
“Well, if I were you, I’d hop on him and—”
“London!” Jada blushed. She couldn’t believe her older sister. “I’m going back inside.”
London and Addison followed behind her sans coffee, and no one said a word.
“Well, it’s late,” Duke said, smothering a yawn. “Your mother and I are going to retire upstairs. Damian, do you have accommodations for the night?”
“Yes, I do. I have a room in town.”
“That’s much too far,” Abigail said. “We have plenty of room here, don’t we, Jada?” Her mother gave her a conspiratorial wink. “Why don’t you show him to one of the guest rooms.”
Jada watched her parents disappear, followed in quick succession by Caleb and Addison, then London. “Well, I guess that just leaves us,” Jada said. “Whatever are we going to do?”
“Oh, I can think of a few things.” Damian’s voice was husky with desire, and his words stirred Jada’s blood and had her imagining all sorts of things they could get into.
Damian walked behind Jada as she led him up the stairs of the Harts’ ranch-style home after he’d returned to the Range Rover for his overnight suitcase. He’d been honest and forthright with the Hart family, and they hadn’t smarted over his background. Instead, Duke respected the fact that he’d talked about his mother’s drug addiction. Usually, Damian hated revealing anything about his past, but something told him he could confide in these warm, kind people who looked after their own. He envied them. He had always wished he could be part of a large family instead of a fractured one. Tonight was the closest he’d ever come to feeling like he was part of one, though he believed Duke Hart wasn’t done with him yet; he had a feeling he was just warming up.
As he suspected, the home was quite massive and had several wings that went in various directions. When they stopped in front of a large oak door, Jada opened it and Damian stepped inside. The room was the size of his penthouse in San Francisco. It held a massive four-poster bed done in grays and blues. He watched as Jada came to another door: behind it was an en suite bathroom.
“You’ll find everything you need in here,” she said as she pointed to the room. “Towels, toiletries, and such.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s the least we can do since you flew all this way.” He could sense she felt uncomfortable being alone in the room with a massive bed just waiting for them to enjoy it. “Anyway, I should go.”
Jada headed toward the door, but Damian was quicker and caught her hand on the doorknob. She glanced down at it then up at him. His eyes took in her frozen expression. She didn’t know what he was going to do. Tension had been rising inside him since last night, all pent up … until this moment.
He sandwiched Jada between himself and the door. Then he slid his hands around her neck and let his fingers glide through the silky mass of her dark hair. It felt soft to his touch, so he leaned in and took a whiff. Then he curled his fingers around a strand and tugged, forcing her to tilt her head so he could finally do what he wanted to do since his arrival in Dallas—kiss her long, hard, and deep. He did that until he felt her arms circle around him and she responded to his fervor. He pressed her backward into the door, shifting his hips to come into contact with hers. She released a soft moan, and he felt her surrender.
With strength he didn’t know he had, Damian levered himself away from Jada slightly to look down into her eyes and the whole of her face. Her lips were red and plump from his kisses. “You have no idea how much I want you right now, but you’ve been through an ordeal. So, I will let you go tonight, but don’t expect me to do it again.”
Chapter 10
Jada woke up Saturday morning feeling well-rested. It had taken awhile for her to fall asleep knowing Damian was just down the hall. It would be so easy to tip-toe into his bedroom, slide between the covers, and let him make love to her all night long, but she couldn’t do that. She’d already made a mistake by having sex with him, and doing it again would only compound the problem. Yet, Jada couldn’t deny that she wanted the man. After that soul-stirring kiss, she literally ached between her thighs. She had become slick—from just a kiss.
Suddenly, a knock sounded on her door, interrupting her musings. “Come in.”
She was patting down her bed hair when Abigail walked in carrying a mug of what Jada hoped was coffee. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” her mother said as she approached her. She extended the cup, which Jada happily accepted. She took a few sips.
“Have I been sleeping long?” Jada glanced at the clock. “Omigod, is it really nine a.m.?”
“Yes, ma’am. Though I have to say I’m surprised to find you alone.”
Jada blushed. “Mom—”
“What?” Abigail bunched her shoulders. “I’m not blind. I saw the way that young man was looking at you.”
“How was he looking at me?”
“Like a man who has it bad for my daughter. And from the looks of it,” her mother said as she stared into her brown eyes, “the feeling is mutual.”
Jada shook her head. “It’s not like that. We barely know each other and—”
“Who are you trying to fool, young lady? Me or yourself? It’s obvious Damian McKnight cares for you or he wouldn’t have come all this way.”
“He just doesn’t like to lose or to be told no.”
“And is that what you did? You told him no? He doesn
’t strike me as the stalker type.”
Jada chuckled. “He’s not stalking me.”
“Are you sure about that? Because if you need your father and Caleb to run him out of town, you know they’d have no problem with that.”
“Yes, I’m sure. Damian and I just need to talk is all, clear the air.”
“I see I’m not the only early riser,” Duke Hart said to his daughter’s paramour as the young man stood outside on the porch and watched the ranch come alive.
“I’m a morning person,” Damian said. He didn’t turn around but felt Jada’s father join him at his side.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” Duke asked.
“Yes, sir. You have quite an operation here,” Damian said between sips of his coffee. “I never realized just how many people it takes to have a working ranch.”
“A helluva lot. But I’ve been fortunate to have more than one generation of ranch hands working for me.”
“Says a lot about the boss.” Damian gave him a sideward glance. He noticed Duke was in much the same outfit as the day before: Wrangler jeans with a large cowboy belt buckle, plaid shirt, a cowboy hat, and some seriously worn cowboy boots. Do all cowboys dress the same? Damian had opted for jeans and a black T-shirt.
“A man has to stand for something, ya know. Have integrity in everything he does.”
“Yes, sir. I agree.”
“If yesterday was anything to go by, it appears you could be the same kind of man,” Duke said, turning to face him.
“Why would you say that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the way you looked after my daughter—cared for her. I saw her leaning on you for support, and you gave it unconditionally. She hasn’t done that in a long time.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
“Is that the only reason you came?”
“I don’t follow.”
“Exactly what are your intentions where my daughter is concerned, Damian? I’d like to know, man to man.”
“Well, sir.” Damian turned to find Duke’s midnight eyes laser focused on him. He was surprised to find him glaring. The man was protective of his daughter, and he had every right to be. “I’m interested in Jada.”
Captivated Hearts Page 10