Part 18 (1/2)

”Now that we've concluded no one is driving you anywhere but me, are you ready to go?” His lip twitched in amus.e.m.e.nt.

The c.o.c.ky b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

”You are taking me home-to my apartment,” I clarified before striding off.

I made it ten steps before I felt his hand on the small of my back, navigating me through the throng of people.

By the time my feet hit the pavement outside and the fresh air invaded my nose, I was a ticking time bomb ready to detonate at the slightest irritation.

Damien wasted no time in leading me through the parking lot to his car where he guided me inside and then came around to the driver's side. ”Are you going to tell me what is the matter?” he snapped impatiently, slamming his door. ”Or do I have to pry it out of you with a crowbar?”

I detested his metaphor of my inability to express myself, but then I thought of how fitting it truly was. In addition, he wasn't one to talk.

I was achy and tired, and I longed for the security of my own bed. So, I pushed my head into the back of the seat.

”A crowbar isn't strong enough to pierce steel,” I whispered to myself.

Damien's eyes burned into mine before I let my own heavy ones fall shut.

”We'll see,” Damien told me before he started the vehicle and began to drive off.

I stirred when I felt my body being lifted. The sound of a door closing startled me, and I threw my arms around Damien's neck to hang on to him. My body was weak with exhaustion.

”It's okay. I got you,” he soothed before kissing my hair.

Blinking rapidly, I took in my surroundings. We were in his garage.

I was wide-awake now. ”I asked you to take me home, Damien.”

”I wasn't going to leave you by yourself.” He frowned, appearing lost in his thoughts. ”Especially when you weren't feeling well at the bar.”

He made it into the breezeway connecting the house and the garage before I struggled against him so hard that he had no option but to put me down. I slightly swayed on my feet until I steadied myself.

”Raelyn, you're really testing my f.u.c.king patience, woman,” he breathed, throwing his hands up in the air and letting them fall to his sides with a clear display of irritation on his features. ”Would you please tell me what's wrong before I lose my mind?”

”Your patience? What about mine?” I pointed at my sternum, wanting to scream, but I was too tired. I crossed my arms over my chest, as if needing a thicker protection over my heart. ”I asked you to take me to my apartment,” I repeated.

I was on the verge of crying, not knowing what else to do or say. I didn't want him to see me like this, and I needed to pull myself together, so I stormed past him and didn't give him a chance to respond.

Longing for a reprieve, I went through his house to the patio door where I took off my shoes and chucked them aside before making my way down to the beach.

I stopped several feet in front of the ocean. With my arms still wrapped around my center, I stared out at the water and watched the moonlight reflect off the vast surface. It was truly a magnificent sight.

The wind blew across my face, and it made my hair whip around me. I smelled the salt in the air as I fought for calming breaths. I was so angry over my run-in with Sage and her forthcoming admission about Damien. I had no idea what to make of it, and I was irritated with Damien that he hadn't told me himself about helping her.

I closed my eyes, overwhelmed with my confusion.

Then, I sensed him before I heard him. I didn't need to turn around to know that Damien was standing behind me.

”You're the only woman I've ever let into my life, Raelyn.” His voice was soft. ”Yet, every time I ask you to talk to me, you push me away.”

He took another step, and I turned my head a fraction to see his white s.h.i.+rt from the corner of my eye. My pulse increased at his proximity. I refrained from leaning back into him even though I was drawn to him.

He continued, ”Who hurt you so deeply to make you feel this way?”

My heart recoiled at his invasive question, so I focused on the middle of his statement, the part that was the most operative here. ”You want to talk?” My voice was dripping with sarcasm as I pivoted to look into his eyes. ”Fine, let's talk. How about we start with restroom chats?” I wasn't proud of my tone, but I couldn't seem to rein it in.

”Or we could start with why you were in there again?” he challenged.

I didn't owe him an explanation, and I wouldn't allow him to distract me, so I ignored him and said, ”You know, you had some nerve, asking me if I was f.u.c.king Cale when, clearly, I should have been asking if you were f.u.c.king his wife!”

I was overly fueled with anger and betrayal as my arm lifted and launched toward his face, preparing to slap him. He caught my wrist before my palm had the chance to connect with his cheek. Emotions ruled his features-terror, hurt, rage-all promptly filling me with a profound sense of guilt by my hasty actions.

”Don't ever hit me, Raelyn.” His jaw clenched and released with each word and deliberate breath. He slowly lowered our arms to our sides while twining his fingers tightly around mine, refusing to let me go. ”You can scream at me, curse me to h.e.l.l, do whatever in the f.u.c.k you like to me.” Those pleading gray eyes of his penetrated the depths of my wounded soul. ”But I beg you, don't ever lay a hand on me.”

My remorse multiplied by thousands. Tears streamed down my face. He didn't need to explain. I knew this had something to do with his painful past, his scars.

Solemnly ashamed with myself and my heartlessness, my gaze dropped to the ground. ”I'm so sorry.” My lower lip trembled. ”I don't know what I was thinking.”

He wiped at the wetness dripping down my face with a tender touch I didn't deserve and told me, ”You didn't know, Raelyn.”

The floodgates opened, and my tears rushed harder. ”Please, don't try to make me feel better about my disgraceful actions.”

He tipped my face up. His soft expression was full of an astounding compa.s.sion I was unworthy of. ”Too bad because I've already forgiven you.” His voice was unwavering. ”Sit down, and I'll do the talking.”

I did as he'd said. Damien lowered to the ground behind me, opened his legs, and pulled me along his warm body. I draped my legs over his right thigh and twisted my upper body, so I could see his face.

He briefly glanced out at the ocean while his thumb stroked soothing circles in the center of my palm before looking back at me. ”Sage came to me when she filed for her divorce from Cale. He'd left her with fourteen dollars in their joint savings account and a checking account that was overdrawn by more than six hundred. Her home with him had already been three months into foreclosure proceedings.” He sighed. ”That's where it all began. I found out from Sage that Cale was having money issues. From that point, it didn't take me long to find out that he was embezzling from me.”

I winced, genuinely sad for Sage and what she must have endured. And Cale...I didn't even know where to start with him. It proved that it was possible to be close friends with a person for years without knowing who they truly were. It was times like these that their true character would make an appearance.

Damien continued without delay, ”Sage was my friend long before Cale. She and I are the same age. We went to college together.”

I quirked an inquisitive brow at him, wondering if he would answer me this time around. ”And that is?”

He released a small laugh and snuck in a quick kiss before releasing a deliberately slow grin. ”I'm thirty.”

A five-year age gap was nothing to me, but I would definitely be teasing him about this later during a better time.

When he gave me an expectant look, I said, ”I was close.”

”You were close after three tries,” he teased.

”No need to be picky about it.” I rolled my eyes, feeling lighter inside even though we had more to discuss.

He was talking, and I would take it.

We both laughed.

Then, he spoke again, ”Anyway, so when Cale left Sage broke and virtually homeless, I offered to let her stay in one of my vacant rental homes here in Sarasota for free until she was able to get back on her feet. Cale might have been my best friend, but I still felt as though I owed it to Sage to make sure she was okay.”