AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He clears his throat and part of me wonders,is he nervous?“I had a busy start to my early twenties.”
“Ugh.” I scoff, hearing the underlying meaning. “You men are all the same.”
“Don’t.” He glowers at me and grips my face.
“You’d be about ready to lose your shit if my number was any higher than two before you. Don’t be a hypocrite.”
“I’m not a hypocrite. I’m a caveman. There’s a difference. And for the record, since meeting you my number is much closer to yours.”
“Oh?”
“Since Simone and I broke up, the number is far less.” I blink my eyes as if to say,well?He sighs. “Five.”
“Including me?” He nods. “Well, that’s not bad.”
“Glad I have your approval,” he says sarcastically.
“Don’t be like that, I just mean I’m glad you’re not a manwhore,” I tease. I tilt my head to the side. “Was it bad, when you and Simone broke up?”
“I don’t think break-ups are ever really good.”
“I just mean was it amicable?”
He sighs in a way that alerts me that maybe it wasn’t amicable and he doesn’t want to talk about it. “I guess. Like I said, she wanted kids and when I told her I wasn’t open to them right then, it didn’t go over that well. She felt like she was wasting her time and that I was too intense. I worried too much about her safety, especially while I was away. It was just not the right time for me to have a girlfriend.”
I frown, thinking about what we decided just minutes ago. “And now?” I ask and I hate that I did. Hate that I sound like the needy girl who needs a man to tell hershe’sdifferent andthisis different from the woman that came before her, buthow is this different?
Other than the fact that he’s on my payroll.I internally cringe at the thought.
“Now what?”
“You said it wasn’t the right time to have a girlfriend then but now…? You’re doing the same thing you were doing then.” I’m still in his lap and I try to move while we continue what seems to be turning into an uncomfortable conversation, but he squeezes my hips to keep me in place.
“How do you want me to answer that?” He narrows his eyes but they’re still soft like he knows what I’m asking and he doesn’t want to say the wrong thing. He lets out a breath when I don’t respond. “I don’t know what this is between us. I like the way it feels. Howwefeel.” His hand reaches up to my cheek and rubs it gently. “I won’t hurt you, Shay.” He’s quiet for a moment before he speaks again. “Do you trust me?”
I nod, instantly because frankly, I do. Even if there comes a time that he and I aren’t here, I know he won’t hurt me. I know it will be because the timing isn’t right oritjust couldn’t work not becausewecouldn’t work.
“Can that be enough for now?” he asks and I can hear the unsaid question lurking beneath.I don’t know where this can go but can we just figure it out as we go?
“Yes.” A smile pulls at his lips and then they are on mine kissing me like he wants a round two of what we did in the bathtub despite the fact that he said I needed to rest.
“For what it’s worth,” he says as he pulls away from my lips, “my feelings for you are different than I’ve had for anyone else and I admit that what Paxton said has crossed my mind. I mean look at you.” He gives me a sad smile and I know where this is going and I hate that he’s about to put me on this pedestal that makes him feel like he’s not good enough for me. “He’s not completely wrong. There are plenty of times when I haven’t felt good enough,” he shrugs. “Plenty of times where I feel like I failed someone. I would hate if I failed you or couldn’t give you what you needed.”
I hear the self-loathing in his words and I can’t believe anyone has made him feel this way. I climb onto his lap and hold his face in my hands forcing him to look at me. “Look, I know it can be tough to be with someone like me. I know I can be a little high maintenance and a little spoiled. But at the end of the day, I’m stilljusta woman and what people see out there isn’t the same person you see. You’ve never failed me before and I don’t think you will now. You are good enough for me Damian. You might even be the best person for me.”
Damian followed me closely for the next few days. I had a fitting, where he sat literally outside the room while I tried on clothes from every designer under the sun as we planned out what I was going to wear all season.I even tried to entice him more than once to join me in the dressing room. But discretion or whatever.
I had an afternoon at the spa with Veronica because I desperately needed a massage after what happened, a meeting with my trainer, a spin class all with him no more than a few feet away. I’ll admit even I think he’s overdoing it a little and maybe being a little intense, but whenever we get back to my house, he fucks me so long and just as intensely that I haven’t broached the subject. I know what happened really shook him up.Hell, it shook me up.And he’s just being extra vigilant. I’m sure once he realizes that it really was just an accident and no one is out to hurt me, he’ll relax. For now, I’m enjoying all the extra attentionparticularly on my pussy.
“Are you listening to me?” I blink out of the daze I’m in by staring at the man in question behind my dark Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses and turn my focus to Veronica who’s sitting on the other side of the table. Veronica and I are having a boozy lunch after a meeting this morning with the producers. She dragged me out after and ordered us a bottle of our favorite rosé the second we sat down.
Veronica pushes her sunglasses into her hair and tucks a strand behind her ears before taking another sip of her drink. “I’ve never seen you like this.” She turns her head slightly to look over her shoulder at the man she’s about to talk about. He’s not close enough to hear us, but I assume she’s checking to see if he’s moved closer. “Even with Paxton, you weren’t this…” she looks up in the air as if she’s looking for the word, “sprung.”
“Sprung? Come on.” I don’t remove my sunglasses because one look in my eyes will confirm Veronica’s theory.
I’m falling for Damian really fast and really hard.
I pick up my fork and begin picking through my salad in hopes I can avoid more of her questions but I doubt it when I see the huge smile that makes her eyes sparkle with mischief. “It’s good seeing you happy.” She leans back in her chair and crosses her legs.
