Page 46 of Insatiable


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As that realization crossed his mind, he forced himself not to tense up as she had. Because the realization was such a new, shocking one. But as he evaluated it, Damien realized he had to admit it was true. He cared about Viv Callahan as he’d never cared about another woman in his entire life.

He hadn’t expected it, hadn’t ever really supposed it would happen, but his emotions were getting involved here. What that might mean for the future, he couldn’t say. They lived a thousand miles apart, their jobs supposedly excluded them from being together, his family was pretty psycho, neither of them had a great romantic track record. So what chance did they have for something real?

Probably none.

But maybe...maybe more than he’d ever dreamed of.

8

OVER THE NEXT few days, Viv kept waiting for Damien to tell her he had to return to Miami, to his real life. But the days slipped by, each better than the last. They were inseparable when she wasn’t working, and he swore he kept busy during the day, too. She noticed he’d set up an office in the spare room of the penthouse, and she supposed it was possible an international hotel magnate could run his empire from one of his own hotels.

Their relationship had begun with sex. Wild, fabulous, amazing, never-to-be-forgotten-as-long-as-she-lived sex. And she’d told herself that was all she wanted, because, even though she knew nothing could come of it and that there was no future for them, he was worth it. What they had together was worth it.

Now, though, she had begun to suspect it wasn’t just about sex. Something had changed. Since Friday night in her apartment, when he’d held her close and they’d watched a movie, eating popcorn, kissing and cuddling, she’d begun to accept the possibility that he wasn’t just sticking around because they were so good together in bed.

Damien required nothing from her, had no reason to be with her other than sex. And yet when they couldn’t have sex, he’d stayed. He’d held her, teased her, done normal things and seemed perfectly happy about it.

This was becoming more than a sexual affair.

That should have scared her to death. The truth was, however, that when she thought about how he made her feel, not physically, but emotionally, she was incredibly happy instead. Seriously, down-to-her-toes, never-more-elated-than-this happy.

Because she was falling in love with the man.

She wouldn’t tell him, of course. No matter how he acted, being confronted with a woman’s emotions was enough to scare off any guy.

Part of her worried it wouldn’t matter, that his rich, jet-setting life, into which she so didn’t fit, would pull him away sooner or later. She’d be left alone with nothing but memories.

But even that fear didn’t make her want to close up her heart, to build her defenses against that possible day. Instead, she wanted to grab what she could get, certain any future moments of sadness or loneliness would never outweigh the sheer joy she got from being with him now.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked her early one morning. “You have a big smile on your face.”

She stretched and curled up next to him, having relented and spent last night in the penthouse. It had been their first night in bed together since the movie night, and she hadn’t been able to drag herself away after their incredibly erotic, but still somehow tender, lovemaking. “Just, uh...”

“I know, I know. You’re thinking about me,” he said, sounding self-satisfied.

“Not at all.” He was right, but no woman wanted a man to be too sure of her.

She scrambled to come up with something to hide the fact that she had been lying here, soaking in the sunshine and his body heat, building castles in her mind constructed of his smiles and his laughter and his touch.

“Um, I was just thinking about my parents.”

A groan. “Not what a guy wants to hear when he’s in bed with a beautiful naked woman.”

He sounded so disgruntled, she had to laugh. “Their thirty-fifth anniversary is next month. My brothers and I are planning a party.” Rolling her eyes, she added, “Since it’s two weeks from Halloween, my younger brother, Aidan, wants to make it a costume party and have everyone come dressed as their favorite Grease character. That was the movie my parents went to see on their first date.”

“Oh, God.”

“You saying I couldn’t totally rock black leather and a chick fro?”

“I have no doubt you could,” he said with a leer.

“We’re having the party at the Blue Mountain Lodge. Too bad there’s no Black Star location in Gerryville, Pennsylvania.”

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