“She knows.”
“How do you know she knows?” I swear it felt like we were having a Three Stooges conversation.
No answer, so I answered for him, “Your job to know.”
Poor timing, but the way his big, hard body dwarfed mine and how he had to curl his spine to look me in the eyes made me feel not just delicate, but seriously turned on by the power of him. Those hands could kill without mercy, but I knew they could roam over his lover’s body with finesse.
He moved in, his mouth only inches from mine. “Flirting with another man…” He bit my lower lip. “Definitely a trigger.”
Before I could respond a ruckus broke out and caveman Damian morphed into warrior Damian. “Stay here.” Then he was gone.
“How did you meet him?” I hadn’t heard anyone approach so was surprised to see Janice standing there. It wasn’t any of her damn business so I lied.
“Through a friend.”
“He’s something.”
What a bitch. She didn’t know the truth about Damian and me, but she did believe we were married, so her comment was completely out of line. “Yes, he is.”
“I can’t imagine it’s easy holding onto a man like that. He seems quite virile, must be exhausting keeping him satisfied.”
Motherfuc…There was a challenge in her statement, but she was trying to goad me and I wasn’t taking the bait.
“Excuse me.” Damian was just coming in through the back door. I walked over to him and he tracked me from across the room.
“I just had words with Janice. She’s a fucking bitch. I’ll help you bury the body.”
He had no reaction at first and then he tilted his head back and howled with laughter. And if I thought that was glorious it didn’t hold a candle to him grabbing my upper arms, lifting me to my tiptoes and kissing me senseless to the whistles and catcalls of Janice’s patrons. When he released me I was a bit unsteady on my legs. The smile he gave me didn’t help with my balance.
“I think I need to splash my face with water.”
He touched my shoulders and turned me in the direction of the restroom. “It’s that way, babe.”
On the way to the restroom, I spotted a man hanging just outside of it. I didn’t like the look of him. He looked like someone on the prowl. Two girls came out and the way he stared at them gave me the creeps. They seemed to sense it too and hurried it along. I decided against the restroom and walked to the bar.
“That dude is creepy,” I said to Mic as I set down my tray.
“How so?”
“It’s like he’s hunting.”
Mic’s voice went hard even as he turned his attention on the guy. “I’ll keep my eye on him. Might help to tell Damian to do the same, that is if you can get a word in with all that kissing.” He ended that suggestion with a grin.
I grinned back because I really liked all that kissing.
It was a beautiful fall day and I was enjoying it while sitting out back with a blanket, a cup of hot chocolate and my sketchpad. Damian and I did not kiss more after we returned home from work. Instead I took a very cold shower then slept like a dead person. He was off running when I woke, so I retreated to the backyard to draw. My focus was the garden, but the beds were covered in leaves. I had never raked a yard and it was such a fall thing to do. From the garage, I retrieved not only the rake and the garden bags, but some gloves I spotted on the potting shed.
Two hours into the backbreaking work, I had to stop. I never appreciated how much work it was to rake leaves. I had callouses on my hands, my back hurt but there was a sense of pride in seeing what I had accomplished. And it was while I pulled the leaves from the garden beds that I made a discovery. There was a hollowed out tree trunk in the garden that was tucked under a bush. It looked like Plexiglas covering the opening to keep the elements out. I got down on my stomach. Amelia had had a whimsical soul because it was the most elaborate fairy garden I had ever seen. Fairies having a tea party around a small fire pit, little houses and shepherds’ hooks with lanterns, flowers and a stream made from blue stones, fences and benches. It was beautiful, enchanting and charming. I wondered if Damian knew this was here. He had returned from his run and was in the living room, on the phone talking business. He saw me and abruptly ended the call, probably because I looked slightly wild.
“What’s wrong?”
I was so excited, I didn’t answer with words but grabbed his hand and pulled him from the room.
We reached the spot and I immediately resumed my position of lying down on my stomach. I looked up at him, but he just stared down at me with that blank look of his.