AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Damian it was.
“Do you want it to be a date?” she countered. Truthfully, she didn’t know how she felt.
She’d had a brief talk with Katrina before Damian had knocked on her door and declared he was taking her out to dinner, and her bestie had been oddly supportive. Emily didn’t know if she’d be as supportive if it was her dad… but on the other hand, her dad sucked. Still, if she had a good dad, she wasn’t sure how she would feel.
Katrina did confess that a lot of her understanding came from her current relationship. She was dating a man who was over a decade older than her, and she hadn’t told Emily because she’d been worried about being judged, especially since he was her former professor.
It wasn’t as if Emily had any room to judge now.
Before Damian could answer, their food arrived at the table, and both of them went silent while their plates were put down. Emily picked up her fork and knife to start cutting her chicken while she waited for him to answer.
If he was going to answer.
Damian cleared his throat. “I… I haven’t dated in a very long time. Before today, I didn’t really believe that was an option. But I talked to Katrina and…” His voice trailed off.
One side of Emily’s lips curved upward. “And she was oddly okay with everything? Yeah, it made me feel like maybe…” Her turn for her voice to trail off.
This was somehow just as difficult as putting her virginity up for auction. Maybe even more so. Being vulnerable physically somehow wasn’t as scary as being vulnerable emotionally. She’d spent most of her life protecting herself from being hurt by her father’s actions and words, from the pain of being separated from her mother after she was arrested, and the thought of taking down any of those walls was terrifying.
“I know it sounds crazy, but yes, I would like this to be a date.”
Unlike her, Damian didn’t have any trouble meeting her gaze as he very firmly stated his wishes. Sure, it had taken him a bit to get there, but she felt like it was more because he’d been trying to figure out how she felt and how to phrase everything. Not like her, who was just trying to figure out how to avoid rejection in case she was misreading signals.
I’m such a wuss.
“Okay. I’d like that, too.” She smiled shyly at him.
“If you’d like, there’s a place I’d like to take you after this date.” He lowered his voice. “Somewhere we could… play if you wanted to.”
“Wait, like a club?” Emily clapped her hand over her mouth as the words came out much louder than she’d intended, looking around to see if anyone had overheard her. No one was looking at her.
Right.
She hadn’t said what kind of club she suspected.
“Yes, the club that runs the… event we did.” Unlike her, Damian kept his tone normal, but he was keeping the same close watch on his choice of words as she was.
“Oh… I’m not sure I realized it was run through a club.”
Damian frowned, lowering his hands on either side of his plate, the silverware gently clinking against the glass.
“How did you find out about the event?”
“Oh, um… heard about it when I was applying for jobs. So, it’s run through a club? I’ve always wanted to go to one. I’ve read about them.” She would have never known how to go about finding one, though.
Somehow, it didn’t surprise her that Damian knew about it. She hadn’t thought to ask how he’d found the auction. Now she had her answer.
“You can come as my guest. And meet my brother.”
“Your brother?” Emily blinked in surprise. Even though she’d grown up with Katrina as her best friend, she’d never actually seen either of Damian’s brothers, though she knew they existed because Katrina would sometimes reference her uncles in passing. It didn’t seem like the family was very close, though.
“He runs the club.”
Wow. Okay. Well, no wonder Damian had known how to find it.
“I… yes. I would like that. Did you mean for… tonight?” It had been a bit of a long day, and she’d been looking forward to going to bed early. Resting. Recovering. Wrapping her head around everything.
“Let’s go tomorrow,” he said, easily switching gears. That sounded better.
