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It was a heartfelt thing to say, and of course, it meant a lot to me, but I decided to respond like a jerk. “I love you too, asshole.”
With his laptop and folder under his arm, he stared at me. The sarcasm from my lips seemed to calm him down. “Are you gonna tell her what happened?”
I didn’t want to spend my evenings talking about her ex-husband. I wanted her to kiss me again, kiss me everywhere, do more things. Talking about Liam would only slow down the process. It was time for us to be together. I could worry about Liam, but she didn’t need to. “No. I’m the only man I want her to think about.”
Twelve
Annabella
My clothes and other belongings were in my bedroom next door, but I spent my days in Damien’s bedroom. That was where Patricia brought me lunch. That was where I watched TV in the afternoon. He allowed me to be in his personal space where I could violate his privacy all I wanted, but he trusted me, and I wanted to be where his presence infected the air. Not in the room next door that was so sterile, it felt like a hotel room.
The sun was out much longer now that summer had arrived, so he didn’t come home when it was dark. The sun was still up, a few hours before sunset. The bedroom door opened, and he stepped inside. He looked like a sexy powerhouse in that gray suit, but what I noticed the most was the pizza box in his hand. I got off the couch and walked toward him. “Is that what I think it is?”
He’d worn a hard expression when he’d first walked into the door, but now there was a playful smile on his lips, a subtle joy that reached all the way to his eyes. “I told you I had a surprise.” He carried it to the table and set it on top.
“Patricia won’t be happy…”
“She gets a night off. That sounds nice to me.”
I knew Patricia enjoyed serving Damien and anyone else in the house. She lived for it, thrived on it. That was why she was such a good housekeeper, because she cared about her employer so much. How could she not? He was such a beautiful man, on the inside as well as the outside. I opened the lid and took a peek inside. “The last time I had takeout pizza like this was with you…”
He stripped off his jacket and set it on the back of the chair. “And I only eat pizza when I’m with you.” His hands worked his tie, and he got it loose within a few seconds. Then he unbuttoned his collared shirt, the white fabric slowly opening and revealing beautiful, tanned skin.
I stared for a few seconds, admiring that olive-toned shine that was part of his Italian heritage. His jaw was free of shadow because he’d shaved before he went to work that morning. I liked seeing every single groove along his mouth, but I also liked it when it was hidden under his stubble. Sometimes, I stared at him with infatuation, a powerful lustful feeling I could barely control. But other times, I looked at him like he was the most special man in the world…because he was.
His shirt fell from his shoulders, and he let it slide down his arms until he caught it and placed it on top of his jacket. He did all of his undressing with his eyes locked on mine. His smile was gone, just a distant memory at this point, and he gave me such a powerfully intense look that it was paralyzing. He looked at me as if I was a muse and he was the artist. His eyes were so focused on mine there was nothing else in the room that mattered. It was suddenly much quieter, our breathing much louder. My heartbeat was audible in my ears, and I swore I could hear his too…somehow.
Whenever these heated moments happened, I couldn’t really think about anything concrete. I didn’t think about Liam, if it was too soon after my divorce to be so intimately attracted to another man. Those thoughts were frozen, and all I could do was feel…feel everything. In that moment, I knew I wanted to kiss this man. I wanted to greet him with my lips when he walked in the door. My fingers wanted to feel those large arms, feel the heartbeat in the vein of his neck as I cupped his face in an embrace.
Damien could probably read every thought in my eyes like they were words on a page, but he didn’t reach for me like he used to. He was patient enough to give me the power to decide when and how it happened. He didn’t want to rush me because he only wanted what I wanted to give.
