Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Mandy breathed in the warm night air from Damien’s balcony and gave a lusty sigh of contentment.
“Do you want something to drink? I’m going to raid the minibar.” Damien stood in the doorway, wearing his pants and a sardonic smile.
Damn, he was really quite fabulous. Mandy was feeling pleased with the whole world, but especially with Damien.
He had no idea how much it meant to her that now, when she was feeling scared and lonely and vulnerable, he had chosen her to end his celibacy.
And he’d done such a nice job of it, too, my goodness.
Her body still felt flushed and relaxed from that second orgasm, and she crossed her ankles as she leaned over the railing, in her dress but with nothing underneath it.
“I am thirsty, but minibars are notoriously expensive, Damien. I’d feel guilty drinking an ten-dollar bottle of water, even if work is paying for it. ”
“The minibar is free, Mandy. The trip is all-inclusive, which includes the minibar.”
That got her attention. “You must be joking.”
“No.”
“Damn, I’ve been ignoring that bag of chocies then for no reason. You’d better bring them to me, quick.”
“Chocies?”
“The chocolates.” Mandy pulled back a little, away from the railing bar pressing her stomach.
She knew the baby was nicely cushioned, but she still rubbed a protective hand over the bump.
“I’ve been eyeing them for two days, telling myself that since they probably cost an insane amount of money and I don’t need chocolate anyway, I should resist them. But forget it now, I want them.”
She was on holiday and entitled to indulge.
Damien reappeared with water and the chocolates. She was definitely indulging, and in more than the chocolates.
Strange, she didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty or concerned on either account. She trusted Damien, which was fascinating. It was good to know that she still could, after Ben had let her down so gloriously.
He sat down on the plastic deck chair and popped the top off one of the waters. He handed it to her, then opened the little box of chocolates and held them out for her to make a selection.
She took one that looked like a caramel filled and settled into the chair next to him, scooting it closer so she could rest her feet on his thighs. “Do you mind?” she asked, licking the edge of the chocolate.
Shaking his head, he dropped his hand on her ankle, caressing her bare skin. Making sure her dress was tucked under her so she wasn’t flashing Damien or anyone walking by on the path below, she sighed and relaxed back into her chair.
“Comfy?” he asked. His pants were still cuffed a little from their walk on the beach, and he looked sexy and rumpled, his bare chest gleaming a bit in the muted shadows of the balcony.
“Very comfy. I feel boneless.” She popped the whole candy in her mouth and closed her eyes in appreciation. “Oh, that’s good.”
He was massaging the bottom of her foot, and Mandy decided nothing could get better than this.
A half-naked, gorgeous man rubbing her feet while she floated in chocolate and post-orgasm endorphins.
“How about you? Are you comfy?” she murmured, her voice sounding throaty and sensual even to her own ears.
“Very.” His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were serious. “I haven’t been this relaxed in a long time.”
She was about to ask him to tell her, to let her share that burden, to confess what caused those deep shadows in his eyes, what drew him to work so hard all the time.
But he startled her by asking, “When’s the baby due?”
His fingers roamed up her leg as if he were going to touch her stomach, but he stopped at her knee. Mandy wished he would touch her belly and wasn’t sure why. But she seemed to be feeling a lot of strange things and wasn’t sure why.
“October eighteenth. Give or take.” It seemed so far away, yet just around the corner, and she was so unprepared, so nervous.
“And everything’s okay? The doctor did one of those ultrasound things?”
Taking a sip of water, she reached for the box of chocolates resting in his lap.
She wanted—no, needed—another one. “It’s a bit early for an ultrasound.
If a woman is healthy, they only like to do one at about eighteen to twenty weeks so I haven’t had mine yet.
But the doctor has reassured me every step of the way that I’m healthy and the baby is progressing normally. ”
He stroked lightly across her kneecap. “I’m glad to hear it.” His voice was thoughtful, his head turned away from her as he watched the ocean. “I think it would terrify me to know I had a kid on the way, but you seem really in control.”
God, if he only knew. She actually laughed.
“Damien, I am absolutely terrified, trust me. I never expected to be having a baby this soon in life, and there are all these books and manuals and rules about how to do this. I have a literal textbook sitting in my beach bag that I’m trying to convince myself to read, but whenever I pick it up I have a panic attack. It’s overwhelming.”
He smiled. “If you approach motherhood the way you do your job, you’ll have that kid whipped into shape in no time.”
The laugh she knew he wanted stuck in her throat. She hated the way she felt so uncertain, so needy, but she couldn’t stop herself from asking, “Am I good at my job? Truly?”
The water bottle he’d had poised at his lips descended back into his lap. “Are you serious? You’re awesome at it. You’re my ASS, remember? Asshole’s awesome assistant, that’s you.”
“Thank you.” She nibbled at a nut in the center of the nugget she held.
“It seems I have some self-esteem issues I was never aware of. I always thought I hadn’t got into an office job because that’s what my father did and I didn’t want to lose myself in a career the way he did.
That I wanted to be free to be creative, pursue my own interests, set my hours, and live according to my own terms.”
Mandy sighed, realizing something she should have a long time ago.
“But I’m just a hypocrite. If I really disapproved of my parents’ lifestyle, of their focus on money, I would have cut myself off from their bank account.
But I haven’t. I’ve been living off of them all these years while I proved that I didn’t need a high-powered job to be happy.
It’s silly, really. All I’ve proved is that I do need my parents and that I was afraid to follow in Daddy’s footsteps because I was afraid to fail. I’m twenty-six years old and I’m lazy.”
A snort wasn’t exactly the response she expected to that heartfelt confession.
“What a bunch of bullshit, Mandy. You aren’t lazy at all.
You ran your own toy store for three years.
How many hours did you put into that business?
Sixty hours a week, minimum, would be my guess, when you add in ordering stock, managing payroll, and scheduling and handling the taxes. ”
She chewed her lip. “Maybe, but I never turned a profit.”
“Not for lack of effort. Maybe it was just the wrong business. But that doesn’t mean that you’re a leech.”
“But now I’m having a baby and I have to be responsible, go for security over what interests me.”
“And you are.”
That was true. She was. She’d given up the shop, and it didn’t even bother her. She’d do whatever was needed to ensure her baby was happy and healthy and well provided for.
“And you made the incredibly brilliant decision to work for me.” He winked at her.
That pulled a laugh out of her. Damien looked wicked beautiful winking.
She shifted a little in the chair. Her thighs had started to feel warm.
“You’ll never get rid of me, you know. I like this job and I’m keeping it, and you can be as insufferable and demanding and bossy as you like and I won’t quit. ”
“Damn. I’ll have to cross ‘be insufferable to Mandy’ off my calendar for next week.”
“Beast.” She slapped at his arm and laughed. “Don’t be absurd.”
“That’s one adjective no one has ever applied to me.”
While he sipped his drink, she stared at him, wanting to ask, but knowing she shouldn’t. If he wanted to tell her, he would. But his tattoo was dark on his skin, and she couldn’t help but say, “So, what happened? To Jess?”
There had to be a compelling reason for a man as sensual as Damien to go three years without sex, and to bury himself in his work.
For a long moment, she thought he wouldn’t answer her. Then he turned and met her gaze. “She died.”
“Oh!” Somehow that possibility had never occurred to her. She’d thought maybe Jess had been unfaithful or something, but this was far, far worse. “Oh, Damien, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have pried.”
But Damien patted her leg like she was a child he was comforting.
“You know, it should matter. It always has before. But right here, right now, with you, it’s okay.
Really. But I don’t want to talk about Jessica, if you don’t mind.
She’s always in my head, my thoughts, my heart, all the time, and I don’t want her here with us. ”
Fine by her. Mandy really wasn’t interested in a mental threesome either.
But she was burning with curiosity and maybe, deep inside, where she was loathe to admit it, a seed of jealousy.
This woman, Damien had loved her, with a passion so deep that he still suffered over her death three years later and had chosen not to take another woman to his bed.
But Mandy brushed the ungracious feelings aside.
She wasn’t looking for love. And she was the one who had inspired Damien to break his celibacy.
For now, that was enough. Though part of her was pleased to know that she had been right about Damien.
No matter the rough edges, he was a good man, just a wounded one.
She nodded. “Thank you, by the way. I’ve been feeling a bit sorry for myself, you know.
Ben dumped me so soundly, and I haven’t exactly been glowing with this pregnancy, and any future relationships look doubtful.
I’m not the kind of woman who will be parading men through my child’s life.
I don’t plan on being a nun, of course, but I’m going to be very, very cautious once this child is born with who I date.
I can’t afford to make any mistakes when it will affect my baby, too. ”
Mandy rolled a chocolate between her thumb and forefinger and stared at him, hoping he would understand, really, truly understand. “But you’ve made me feel very attractive and quite sexual.”
“You are attractive. Inside and out. And sexual is an understatement. You were incredible.” He shook his head ruefully. “You have no idea how much...”
She thought he’d planned to say something else, but he clamped his lips shut.
Stuffing the chocolate in her mouth, she glanced at the half-eaten box.
“I’m going to regret eating all these when my sugar rush crashes, aren’t I?
And come next week I’m probably going to regret sleeping with my boss, too. ”
Damien set her feet off of him and onto the floor. “Don’t ever regret that. I don’t plan to.”
He shot her a look so hot, she glanced down to see if her clothes had burst into flames. The chocolate melted in her mouth and her nipples puckered.
Damien scooted forward in his chair. “In fact, I was thinking of leaning over and licking that chocolate off the corner of your lip. Then I’m going to take your dress off and touch you all over again, making you come again and again, and trust me, I don’t plan on ever regretting that.”
Her breath hitched and her hands pressed into her thighs. Somehow she thought this night was going to be worth any sort of regrets she might have later.
Damien moved forward, and with unnerving accuracy, his tongue flicked out and grabbed a piece of chocolate from the corner of her mouth. “Delicious,” he said.
No, she wasn’t going to regret any of this.