by Mays, Nikki
"You get that this is really weird right? You go from never speaking to me, to having multiple conversations with me in one night. You walk me to my car on more than one occasion and you somehow know the code for the alarm. And if I think back, you knew where I lived the night that you took me home after our grand opening, without me saying a word."
She's leaning her hip against her car while staring up at me. I can see in her eyes how weary she is of this whole situation. It sucks to see it there when she's looking at me but I obviously can't blame her. I'd be cautious as hell too.
"I get that and I'll give you time to get right with it in your head."
"And what exactly will I be getting right with?"
"That you're mine." She raises her eyebrow at that and pushes off her car. She gets close enough to whisper to me in a sassy little voice.
"And who says that I'll ever agree to be your Damon?" I bend down so that I'm looking into her eyes. What I say next very well may be one of the most important things that I will ever say to her.
"You've been mine from the start Doll. You've been mine for the last two years that I've practically stalked you." Her eyes get big with that admission but I don't pause. " You became mine when I realized that you were the most perfect creature ever created. You'll always be mine. Just like I'm yours, always. All you have to do is realize it."
I watch her eyes widen. She looks scared. I know that it's a lot to process for her. I'm a patient man, I have no problem waiting for her to come to terms with it. So, before I lose all self-control, I kiss her cheek and help her into her car. I watch her pull out of the lot before I get into my truck.
Chapter 4
Michelle
"It's been a week. Don't you think that you're taking this to an extreme? Did he kind of ignore you for a few years? Sure. But he's trying really hard now. Shouldn't you cut him some slack."
My glassy-eyed best friend slightly slurs. It's Saturday night and we've been imbibing on a little, okay lotta wine. We both decided that we would always be off Sundays and the shop is closed on Mondays. We decided to start our weekend off right, much to the amusement of Morris and Marc.
Seriously Mellie's right, does Sasquatch ever go home? We really need to step up those plans of setting him up on a dating site. The two of them have been playing some shooting game for hours. The boneheads even have on headsets and talk to other people, which we found out were Rocco and Declan. Why all 4 of them don't just play at one house I'll never know.
I start to sit up in the chair. Hmmm, when did this thing get so wobbly? I'm in one of the huge leather chairs and this is swallowing me whole. No matter how much I twist I can't seem to get free. Marc finally takes pity on me and yanks me up.
"Geez, these things are dangerous!" I exclaim to everyone.
"Right, it's the chair that's dangerous. It has nothing to do with the little drunk blonde sitting in it." Marc replies with more snark than necessary.
"I'm tipsy, not drunk." I defend.
"You girls have gone through 3 bottles, which means that each of you has drunk at least a bottle and a half. You two aren't tipsy, you're both smashed." Morris decides to inform us. Huh, no wonder each glass has gone down easier than the one before it.
"Okay maybe a teensy bit drunk, but I've had a very confusing week." I pout at no one in particular.
"What's so confusing. I've listened to everything that you've said tonight. He told you exactly what he wants. How is that in anyway confusing?" Marc asks.
"Because why now? Why out of the blue has he decided that he likes me and wants a shot? Why not two years ago when I would've more than welcomed this? I just don't trust this. And really I feel like it may just be too little too late." All three of them snort at the last part. Okay fine we all know that I'm full of shit but they could at least be polite and play along. Fluffing traitors.
"It isn't just a recent development Shell. He's been fighting this for years. I guess he's just decided to finally stop fighting it. You may think that he's been ignoring you but I can guarantee that he's paid attention to everything that you've said and done." Morris tells me.
"Oh yeah! That's another thing!" I screech out. Maybe I should cut back on the wine a bit. "What the hell was with his stalking comment?" I'm waving my arms around like a crazy person which prompts Marc to take my wine glass out of my hand. Bye bye merlot, I'll miss you.
"She's right. What was with that comment? Has he really been stalking her for two years?" Marc & Morris share a look that thankfully we don't miss. " I don't know whether that's creepy or cute." Mel chimes in.
"What do you mean cute? How is he stalking me even in the realm of cute? Puppies are cute Mel, stalkers, not so much." Seriously, this chick. She should be the one who is totally against me getting stalked.
"It's cute because it's Damon. It's not like it's some random crazy person." She defends herself while tipping her glass up trying to suck every last bit of wine that she can. Lucky! I give Marc a withering glare that he just smiles at. Stupid Sasquatch looking a jerk.
"But he is crazy...obviously," I tell her.
"How so?" She's licking the damn rim. Way to stay classy.
"Because normal, sane people do not stalk the woman that they claim is theirs. And that's another thing! Who the hell just tells someone that they're MINE! What the hell does he think it is...1950?" I say with a ton of flourish and see the guys smirking at me.
"Well in my defense, you look the part most days." I hear from a gravelly growly voice behind me. Can't I catch a break this week? He is fluffing everywhere!
I turn my head and see him leaning against the entrance of the room with one shoulder. He has his arms crossed and his damn t-shirt looks like it's about to split from trying to contain all that muscle. He's wearing his favorite color...black. Black shirt, blue jeans, and black boots. A simple outfit has never looked so good. I wonder if I could get him to walk around shirtless.
"What are you doing here?" That's what I mean to say. Unfortunately, the wine has definitely caught up with me and it came out sounding like "wadre youff doin heere?"
"I came to hang out and watch the entertainment the guys told me about," Damon says.
"What entertainment?" Trying to sound sober is so hard! Just as I finish asking that question, the ever so graceful Mellie falls out of the chair that she was sitting in. Damon just raises his eyebrow and tilts his head towards Mellie. I get it...we're the entertainment.
"I think I hurt myself." She whines while laying on the floor looking at the ceiling. She's such a disaster right now. I'm not much better, but luckily I haven't fallen out of my chair...yet. I'm sure that's coming just to make sure that I make a complete ass out of myself in front of all that grumpy hotness.
"Why do you let her get so drunk man?" Marc asks Morris while laughing his ass off at his inebriated sister.
"For reasons that I can guarantee you do not want to know about," Morris says with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
"Jesus man," Marc replies in disgust.
"You asked," Morris states while walking over and picking Mel up off the floor. "Alright honey, time to get you to bed."
"Yay! I read a book the other day and now I have a ton of ideas. We just need to stop and get your handcuffs before we get to our room." She says with a ton of excitement. Someone is going to have a fun night I laugh to myself.
"WHAT THE FUCK MEL! I’m standing right here! I can never hear this bullshit!" He says while gagging.
I look over and see Damon trying to smother a laugh behind his hand. His eyes meet mine and they're dancing with mirth. Only Mellie would announce to an entire room of people that they need her mans handcuffs tonight. She is going to want to hide under a rock tomorrow morning, that's for damn sure.
"Alright, you can all lock up when you leave. Have a good night." Morris says while rushing out of the room with
"I can't believe that he just did that," Marc says astonished. We hear a snort behind us and turn to look at Damon.
>
"You can't believe that he took his ass to his bedroom with his drunk woman as quickly as possible? I'd be more surprised if he didn't." Damon says while looking me over with a gleam in his eyes. Hmmm, I'm equal parts intrigued and terrified of that look.
"Whatever, I really don't want to think about this. Let's go. I still have a key, so we can lock up for them." He says while walking to the door. He seems intent on getting out of here as quickly as humanly possible. The three of us walk out and Marc locks the door.
"Okay, I'm out of here. See you guys later." Marc says while he starts walking to his car.
"Umm, why are you saying goodbye to me? You're my ride." I say not getting a good feeling that he's trying to leave so quickly.
"Shit. I completely forgot. I have a date and she lives on the opposite side of town from you." He says while trying to look apologetic but that look in his eyes says differently.
"You're leaving me here to go pick up your latest bad decision whose name you probably don't even remember?" I question with thinly veiled anger. "How am I supposed to get home? You know that I don't like taking an Uber by myself, especially if I've been drinking."
"I'll take you home," Damon says from right behind me. I can feel his breath on the back of my neck and I shiver. Please don't let him have caught that. But judging by his smirk, I don't think that I'm that lucky.
"See that worked out. Well, I'm out of here." Marc rushes out while racing to his car wearing an annoying smile. I cannot believe that jerk just left me here!
"Ah, you don't have to take me home. I'm sure that it's out of your way. I'll just order an Uber or just go in and sleep on Mel's couch." I say all flustered. He raises his eyebrow while taking my elbow and ushering me to his truck. Not good not good!
"You just said that you don't like taking an Uber when you've been drinking. Plus, I live close by, so it's not out of my way." He says while helping me into his truck. He grips my hips and lifts me up and into the seat. He leans in and buckles my seatbelt for me. Where face to face and so close that I can smell cinnamon on his breath. Most likely from the Big Red gum that he likes to chew. Not that I take notice of what gum he likes. Nope, not this girl.
"Thanks," I whisper to him.
"Your welcome Doll." He says right before his kisses my lips with a barely-there kiss. It was so light and quick that if I hadn't been completely focused on him, I would've thought that I'd imagined it. But I didn’t.
Damon
I look over at the tiny blonde who has ensnared me. She's not overly tiny but compared to my 6'3 frame she might as well be minuscule. She's not wearing her rockabilly garb today. Nope, she's in those stretchy pants that make her ass look like a dream. A big pink sweatshirt that's falling off of one shoulder with a white tank top underneath. She's decided to finish this look with pink converses. I can't seem to decide whether she looks sexy or cute as hell. She's sitting there looking all flustered and it gives me some satisfaction to finally see some emotion. Thank God for alcohol. I put the truck in drive and start heading to her place.
"You ever going to actually talk to me?" I ask her. I get an extremely adorable snort to that question.
"Like you've been talking to me for the past couple of years?" She asks with a whole lot of sass. I'm going to enjoy spanking that sass right out of her someday. Ya know, if she doesn't decide to kill me first.
"I'm trying my best to make up for that," I say trying to keep my tone even. This is frustrating as hell but I don't need to give her any more reason to be on the defensive. I've done a bang-up job of that the past couple of years already.
"See that's what I don't get." She says as she turns in her seat towards me. She has her arms crossed and is trying her best to give me a glare. It would work better if she wasn't so drunk that she had to close one eye to focus. It would probably piss her off more to tell her that she's adorable. "Why after all this time have you decided that "I'm yours"? Hmmm?"
"I know damn well that I have already explained this more than once," I say getting frustrated. It's like beating a dead horse, that's been dead for decades. I have explained "why now" more than once already. I scrub my hand down my face asking myself why the more infuriating woman on the planet is the only one that I want. But I'm too damn hooked on her to give up now. I wonder if they have rehab for us poor suckers who are addicted to a woman that they haven't even had yet? That really has to be some sort of a record.
"Oh no, I've heard all that fluffing b.s. I just really don't get it. I'm too good for you blah blah blah. Your too cold blah blah blah. Yeah, I caught the original viewing, I don't need a rerun." She says as sarcastically as possible. I wonder if beating my head against the steering wheel would be better than this conversation?
"Do you ever curse properly?" I ask because I'm curious. Also, I need to change this topic before I do something stupid like duck-tape her mouth shut. I'm pretty sure that would screw up my plans for good. She looks momentarily dazed before she answers.
"I try not to say actual curse words as much as possible. Fluffing just sounds better to me. I have no need to be crass all the time. My mama would still beat my butt to this day if she ever heard me curse. I can barely get away with hell and damn as a grown woman. Plus, I grew up with Marc and Mel. That girl curses more than a drunk sailor. One of us needs to have some decorum." She tells me.
"I can't believe that you were able to say all of that," I tell her seriously. Was not expecting that.
"Why? Because I look like a blonde bimbo all the time? That because I like having my hair and makeup did that I'm just a dumb blonde? That the way I dress brings down my IQ because I love cute form-fitting clothes? That I should be stupid and not capable of using big words?" She asks heatedly. WHAT THE FUCK?
"Stop right there!" I say in a harsh voice. "Don't go putting words in my mouth. I in no way shape or form have ever thought of you as anything other than a sweet, sexy and brilliant woman. I know damn well how smart you and Mel have to be to be able to run your own business. Not everyone could pull that off and you did. You even did it by yourself before you combined the two. I have a hell of a lot of respect for how fucking smart you are."
She's sitting there staring at me with her mouth wide open. She looks like I've stunned her into silence. I would enjoy this moment if I wasn’t so fucking pissed off. When I find out whoever said all this bullshit to her I'm going to fucking kill them. I tried to reign in my anger
"The only thing that I meant when I said that I was surprised with you being able to say all that was that you're so drunk that have to keep only one eye open. You said all of that without slurring or falling over. I was just surprised with you being drunk is all." I say trying to calm myself down. Yelling at her isn't going help.
"Oh." She says looking sheepish. "And I'm not drunk. I'm just a little tipsy." She says with a delicate sniff.
"Doll, if you're just tipsy, then I'm fucking Mary Poppin," I say with a small smirk. She scrunches up her nose at me.
"Why in the world would you want to Fluff Mary Poppins?" Christ. I just can't. I hear another snort while I'm trying to look anywhere but at her. "Nevermind, I got it. You're not fluffing her! You're just cursing! See! I got that. A drunk me would not have gotten that!" She says proudly. I'm starting to get whiplash from these conversations. And people wonder by I'm not big into talking. But I have a few questions that she needs to answer.
"Baby, who the hell ever told you any of that bullshit that just spilled out of your mouth?" I ask her. Her cheeks turn pink and she looks down at her hands.
"No one." She says in a quiet voice. "It's just something I'm sure a lot of people think when they look at me." She's speaking so low that it's almost hard to hear her and the hurt in voice. Almost but not quite. I wish that I wasn't driving so that I could get her to lift her chin and look me in the eyes. I have a feeling that whoever said this to her, said it frequently. That's the only way that someone as magnificent as her would ever believe this crap. Note to self: ask Marc who
I'll be talking to with my fists later.
"Baby, you've got to know that all that shit that you just said is completely untrue. I don't know anyone who would ever think of you that way." I say trying to keep my voice as gentle as possible. It's like she's a deer right now and any loud noise will spook her.
"Umm, yeah, of course. I know that." She says while looking anywhere but at me. I pull into her complex and park my truck next to her car in one of her designated spots. "Well, thanks for the ride Dam. I'll, ahh, see you later." She says in a rush and tries to get out of my truck.
I get out and walk around to her side to help her down. I've never been so happy for her shorter stature. It allows me to pick her up and lower her down to the ground. Do I accidentally make sure that she rubs down the length of my entire body as I'm lowering her? Maybe. I'll take every opportunity I get to turn this in my favor. And judging by the little gulp I hear and how her eyes dilate, it's working. I'm going to hell anyway, might as well enjoy the ride.
"Okay, well, thanks again." She says while trying to walk away. I just grab onto her elbow and start leading her to her door. She lives in a nice condo complex. It's right in the heart of town. Pretty much walking distance from everything. This is a place that a lot of singles, as well as couples without kids, live. From what I've heard about this place, she must have paid a whack. The good thing is the security though. Cameras are everywhere. Some seen and some unseen. The front has a metal gate and a code unique to each tenant. Meaning that a tenant from one building, couldn't use their code to gain access to the other two buildings. Not gonna lie. I was extremely excited to learn about that.
"I'm just gonna walk you to your door to make sure that you get in okay," I say while standing in front of the gate with her. She looks like she's about to argue but going by the look on my face she seems to think better of it and just punches in the code.