“Damon, this is silly,” I insisted as he dragged me back to one of the curtained dressing rooms. “I can’t try all of this on.”
“Come on, it gets boring just shopping for myself all the time. If you don’t like something, you can say so and we’ll throw it right back. But if you do...let me indulge both of us here.”
I had never had a man act so willing to blow money on me...especially not this much. But to actually want to pick things out for me on top of that? It was a whole new world. And the man had damn good taste at that.
“Are you sure about all of this?” I called out from the fitting room while he ordered the employees around outside, always very politely of course. Which I was grateful for, given my own line of work in the service industry.
“Positive,” he replied. “You know, back in New York, I’d make a point to spoil any woman I was involved with. I wanted to treat them like a queen. But I haven’t had the chance to get into all of that since we moved here. Like I said. It gets boring just shopping for myself.”
I tried to piece together what he was saying. Was I a woman he considered himself to be involved with? Or was this just all for entertainment purposes?
“How does it look?” he asked, trailing his fingers along the curtain’s edge.
I pulled it back, revealing the blush pink number I had originally laid eyes on. I didn’t know if it was me or just the expensive dress that inspired the look on his face. But he raised his brows and parted his lips, looking impressed and stunned all at once.
“Damn,” he muttered.
“Good?” I twirled and studied myself again in the mirror.
“Very...very good,” he smirked, staring me up and down before turning to the employee with an affirmative, “We’ll take it.”
That wasn’t the only thing I let Damon buy for me that day. I didn’t know what part of the universe had opened up for me all at once to have Del and the others giving me a free makeover, and then getting a free shopping spree on top of that. I never thought I cared much about money or material things, but as Damon handed the cashier his prestigious black card to pay, I felt a thrill I had never known before. Not only did I love everything he bought for me, but something about him treating me was a major turn-on.
“I can’t thank you enough,” I said for the fiftieth time as we left the store. “This is really too much.”
“The pleasure’s all mine,” he replied, grabbing me by the hand. “Spin for me one more time.”
I had walked out in a black pantsuit that made my butt look amazing, with a top that gave me the perfect cleavage. I felt sexier than ever, which was a hard thing to top from earlier that day. He held my hand high up above my head as I twirled in the middle of the sidewalk. But when I came to a stop, I felt him tug me forward. I landed directly against his chest, with his arms ready to catch me.
Our eyes locked as I stared up at him, and I was even more confused about what the whole day had meant. I knew I had made him jealous, but I hadn’t known it was enough to inspire him to spoil me followed by us ending up in the street, seemingly seconds away from kissing.
His line of sight dropped to my bottom lip while he bit his own. My eyelids grew heavy and my head tilted in anticipation. I was breathless and waiting. Our first encounter was fueled by alcohol and the memory of it was a blur. An exquisite blur, but still hazy. This, however, was in the sober light of day and crystal clear. There was no mistake about the look in his eye and the heat between our bodies.
“Hey, Lizzy,” he said suddenly, killing the moment.
“Yeah?” I inhaled sharply, wondering if I had been completely delusional about whatever was just happening between us.
“One of my favorite restaurants is right over there. Want to come to dinner with me?”
“Umm...sure. Yeah,” I said with a nod, feeling more confused than ever.
Was this dinner a date thing? Or his way of keeping us from having a repeat of last time? A sort of cold shower after the incredibly hot kiss we would have just shared if he would have just given into it. I couldn’t know for sure, but I was more than willing to be around him a little longer to find out.
11
Damon
Lizzy was glowing even more in the dim light of the restaurant as we waited for our drinks and appetizers. Her reddish-brown hair cascaded in waves over her shoulders, framing her porcelain skin as she studied me with questioning eyes and a persistent grin. She looked at me like she was trying to figure me out, and it made me uneasy. Because I couldn’t even figure me out. I didn’t have any answers.
The smart thing to do would have been to let her get in her car and go on about her day, anticipating her next date with Jeff the doctor. He was probably emotionally available and ready to settle down into a relationship. He knew what he wanted, and part of that might have been Lizzy. I hadn’t known what I wanted from her since the first night we stumbled into bed together. I had just been tunneling forward without a plan, dreading the inevitable heartache every step of the way.
Yet here we were again… Shopping had turned into dinner and drinks. The only thing I knew for certain was that I didn’t want the day to end. I wanted to stay around her and see what might happen next.
“You never explained anything about your club,” she said after a while, sipping the straw of her drink. “How did all of that come about?”
My leg bounced under the table. The club. It was my window to explain yet another reason why I was no good for her.
“I had my eye on a building that I saw a lot of potential for,” I replied. “Ben had some guys look into it, and everything just sort of fell into place.”
“That’s amazing. I’m happy for you.” A sweet and genuine smile, slow and warm, spread across her lips.
“Once this one is up and running, I’d like to expand. Open a chain of them around the country...and then maybe the world.”
She nodded and listened carefully. I wondered if she could read between the lines, but if she could...her expression didn’t show any disappointment. I was trying to say that I would be busy and unavailable. That this was the worst time for me to be getting into...whatever this was between us. I felt a tug inside, begging me to be more direct about it, but we were having too good of a time. I didn’t want to spoil it.
“You never told me more about you and your life,” I said instead. “What do you hope Cherry Falls holds for you in the future? Are you planning to try and capitalize on all of the growth in some way?”
She laughed a little under her breath. “I’m not a business-minded person like you. My dreams in life were a little more...conventional. I guess I’m still just a small-town girl at heart.”
“But?” I prompted. She blinked and stared at me, her posture growing tense. “You said your dreams were… As in past tense. What happened?”
“Life didn’t turn out the way I expected.” Her shoulders rose and fell, as if it was no big deal. But I could see the masked hurt on her face.
On the outside, Lizzy was sweet-natured. Bubbly and optimistic. But something inside of her was hurting, and I felt the urge to dive into it all and see what pained her. I knew better than that. The deepest parts of herself should have been reserved for someone who knew what to do with them...for someone who had the time and energy to kiss her wounds one by one until she was whole again.