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“O-okay.” Damon’s shaky hands push his glasses up and I grab and kiss the back of his hand quickly before he can drop it. I’m not really sure what compelled me since Damon is skittish. I’m not sure how he’ll receive that brief show of affection. Or it could show him how much I like him orhowI like him.
His eyes widen and his lips part. His eyes dart to my lips then he shakes himself. “On second thought, if it’s okay, I want to walk. And think.”
A little dejected, I drop my things beside the door and nod. I won’t try to force him to let me drive him. He’ll be fine. It’s not dark out and there are plenty of cameras between the hotel and Velli Corp. I can always ask Quin to review the footage to make sure he arrived safely.
Damon turns to the door, then stops. Turning to face me, his deep, innocent eyes seem to see right through me to my emotions. He bites his bottom lip and asks, “Can I … hug you?”
Instead of answering, I open my arms and Damon takes a step to sink into them. He wraps his arms around my waist and melts into my chest. I put my arms around him, breathing him in, not wanting to let him go.
We talked a lot in this hour. Enough to where I know that Damon is who I want. Everything about him makes me want more. His shy smiles, his sudden laughs, his faint blush. His radiant grins, his trembling hands, and his demure words. Everything about Damon speaks to me, making me want to hold him and cherish him until the end of my life. Then try like hell to do it from beyond the grave.
“You smell good,” Damon whispers against my chest. It’s not even sexual and his words have my dick thickening behind my zipper. I’m thankful I have jeans on, so it’ll be harder for him to feel my erection. Still, I move my hips back a fraction so I’m not rubbing against him.
Breathing in one more time, Damon steps back and smiles at me. I can’t help it. I rub a thumb over his cheeks, gently brushing the blush that’s still there. I feel the heat under my finger and I want to feel it under my lips. But that would be too much, too soon, so I give him a few more gentle strokes before I drop my hand. “Thank you. Think about what I said please. I can keep you safe. I promise.”
He murmurs, “I know.” Stepping away from me, he reaches back and fumbles with the doorknob, but doesn’t take his eyes off me. I don’t mind his fumbling. I like how he doesn’t seem to want to stop looking at me, just as I don’t want to stop looking at him. “I’ll let you know before you leave tomorrow. What time is your flight?”
“Eight a.m.”
“I’ll let you know by six.” Before we can say more, he slips out of the door and I’m left standing there, looking where he just stood and holding the scent of his cologne in my lungs.
After a few seconds, I force myself to move. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I grab my phone and FaceTime Savage and Quin. I’m sure Abel and Red will be with them, so there’s no reason to call either one of them so they can be a part of this conversation.
I need to talk to my family. Figure out what I can do if Damon decides he wants to be brave and go to Nevada alone. While I want to be there for him more than I care to say, I want him to feel like he can do things like that on his own. Damon is braver than he thinks. He just has to put himself out there.
But I want to go with him. More than anything. While I’m here, I won’t be able to do more than sneak around until I head home. Then I’ll wait for calls or texts from him while being on different coasts. I’d rather be out of this town, where no one knows Michael Prince or Damon Reed. Where we can be different people if we want. Where we won’t be spotted doing … anything. We could do what we want.
“Earth to Michael,” Savage’s gruff voice says, and I snap back in to see him waving a hand in front of the camera. I almost forgot I called them. “Where did you go there?”
I shrug. “Just thinking.”
“Ooh! About Damon?” Abel’s voice drifts over and Savage cants his phone to include him.
Smiling, I say, “Yeah, thinking about Damon.”
“Who’s Damon?” Red asks. He and Quin are in the bottom square on my phone, Red in his ever-present spot on Quin’s lap.
Quickly, Abel tells Red about Damon and I see his eyes soften when he hears how Abel talks about his friend. Red really is the best person for Quin. He couldn’t have found a better boy.
Red smiles and says, “So I’ll get to meet him one day?”
“Yeah,” I answer. “He wants to come visit Abel and see Canada.”
Abel gives me a dry look. “That’s not what Red means and you know it. What were you thinking about?” He lowers his voice and I see the gleam in his eyes. “Is it not suitable for work?”
An unexpected laugh drifts from my throat. “It’s suitable, you weirdo.”
“Don’t tease him,” Savage growls and I put my hand up. “Anyway, I take it everything went well at the ball? You take care of things?”
Red and Abel know all about our pasts, but we try to keep them as separate as possible from everything. Quin took Red along a few months back when Quin went to avenge Red, but other than that, Red has nothing to do with anything.
“I did,” I answer Savage. “I want to stay, to be with Damon. He has an assignment out of town, and he’s never been away for long. Says he’s afraid. But I don’t want to force anything on him.”
Quin shifts, moving Red into a different position on his lap. “Nothing wrong with that.” I frown, making Quin add, “Unless he said no.”
“He didn’t say anything. He said he’ll let me know before my flight leaves in the morning.”
I check the time on my phone screen and see that Damon’s lunch break is over and he should have gotten back to work by now. I curse, upset with myself that I didn’t ask him to text me when he got there. Guess I’ll have to ask Quin to check those cameras after all.
