Chapter 21

Damon

"Wait. You what?" Kendal's eyes widened as he sat across the table from Damon the next day. "What the hell were you thinking? It's been, what, three weeks?"

Damon shrugged and pulled the black napkin down into his lap, ignoring his closest friend's concerns. Beth was the woman for him, and there wasn't any going back from that decision. He'd measured her attitude, her drive, her hunger in the office and the bedroom and seen the signs of success in all areas.

She was going to be his forever, whether that started now or in five years. She’d spent the night wrapped around him after the long-ass flight back to the States. She fit – perfectly beside him.

"Just know sometimes." He nodded to the waiter who hovered beside them, the poor idiot looking like he'd just swallowed something poisonous. "Pour."

"Of course, Sir." The guy picked up the open bottle of red wine on the table and tipped it up to fill Damon's glass.

"No, you don't just know. You've never had a solid relationship in your life, Damon." Kendal ran his fingers through his messy brown hair.

"Who has?" He brushed his fingers over the rim of the glass as he glanced up at the bar. The gaggle of well-cared-for women had their eyes focused on either Damon or Kendal. Perhaps both. Funny how none of them even stirred him. Beth had to have sold her soul to the devil for the power she had over him. It was almost unfair, and yet he didn't believe in fate or fairness. A man made himself by his actions and choices, nothing else. The woman he'd fallen for was wickedly sensual, intensely intimate and willing to bow her knee to him alone.

She was all he needed.

"Lots of people." Kendal's voice rose in volume.

Damon gave him a look to warn him. He'd always been the alpha out of the two of them, Damon having led their fraternity as president his full five years at University of Texas in Dallas. Everyone respected him, and he expected it.

"That's bullshit. Just because you're wavering on the fence about dating some girl doesn't allow you the right to judge the timing of my proposal to Beth." Damon shrugged and lifted his glass to his lips.

One of the women from the bar seemed to have gained her courage. She walked over and pressed her well-manicured hands to the empty seat across from Damon and smiled.

"Hi. I couldn't help but notice you. Have we met before?" She smiled with a false sense of shy. It was almost cute. Almost.

"No, I don't think we've met." Damon motioned toward Kendal. "This is my good friend, Dr. Kendal Tarrington. I'm Damon Bryant."

"Your name is familiar." She pressed her fingers to her lips.

Damon couldn't help but chuckle under his breath at the way Kendal tensed up. He was forever lost to being confident around women after all the shit he'd been through. Funny enough, he was the biggest playboy outside of Damon back in school.

"Maybe we fucked in college?" Damon tilted his head and lifted his shoulders.

She laughed and glanced over her shoulder before returning her stare to Damon. "Maybe, but I think I would have remembered. I'm Terri."

"Nice to meet you, Terri. I'm a taken man, so this conversation is over before it's even begun, but Kendal here is-"

"Taken too. Thanks." Kendal smiled and waved at the woman.

"I wasn't hitting on you." She snorted as if her actions had nothing to do with bedding one of them for the afternoon. "I just thought you were familiar."

"Well, now you know our names." Damon shooed her away as her smile dropped. "If you'll run along... Thanks."

Her face fell as she turned and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Asshole."

"Damon. Shit." Kendal picked up his glass and emptied it. "Anyway, back to the conversation on Bethany. She seems like a nice girl. I think you should take it slow. She's been through a lot with her friend getting stabbed. My understanding is that they're going to subpoena her to come testify against the girl who did it."

"The one that was her roommate?" Damon finished his wine too and pushed his plate away. Meeting Kendal for a short lunch to catch up seemed like a good idea until the guy decided to shit on Damon's good news. Was everyone so fucking careful in life? Where was the risk-taker Damon remembered the good professor to be?

Life kicked him in the nuts too many times.

"You're diverting and doing a horrible job of it." Kendal picked up a fry from his half-empty plate. "Tell me you'll be careful with her."

"What are you, her daddy?" Damon picked up his napkin, wiped his mouth and stood. "I gotta get back to the office. She's in good hands, old man. Stop worrying about me and find yourself a woman that makes you crazy, like Beth makes me."

"Right. See you sometime soon, buddy." Kendal lifted his hand, and Damon shook it before walking to the bathroom.

He didn't get to the door before a leggy brunette with pretty eyes and ruby-red lips stepped in front of him. She was one of the women with the scout that was sent over to the table moments ago.

"Hi. I'm Lisa." She put her hand in the middle of his chest and pressed her teeth to her bottom lip.

Damon moved her hand off his chest with little to no emotion. "Hi, Lisa. Like I told your friend back there, I'm a taken man. I'm not interested in being accosted by the gaggle of you. Find another chump to spread your legs for."

"What?" Her distressed expression was good, but not quite convincing.

"Right. Excuse me." He moved around her and pushed the door to the bathroom open as a growl rumbled deep in his chest. Women like the ones at the bar were a dime a dozen and always seemed to think that flashing a pretty smile was going to win them something. How many times had he refused someone in the last month? Too many times to count, and yet it was nothing to brag about. It was exhausting.

He stopped in front of the mirror and washed his hands as his eyes moved along his face. Dark circles sat under his eyes, not enough for most to notice, but he could see them without trying. Touching the soft skin, he shook his head.

"Fuck, maybe Kendal was right." Maybe he had moved too fast. She was just the full package and would understand him if she could work past his unwillingness to share. She came from a broken past like he did. It didn't matter that it was a different set of circumstances. They were still both fucked up, and something about that gave him peace.

He pulled out his phone and flipped through a few of the pictures they'd taken on their vacation as he let out a long breath.

Long brown hair and green eyes that captivated him. A small waist and huge tits that took up most of his palm. He closed his eyes and dropped his phone back into his pocket as his body woke up. He didn't care how fast things had gone. He'd give anything to hang on to the feeling she left him with - pay any price.

They could get to know each other over the next year and figure things out slowly, but no one unwrapped a package they didn't first purchase. That was Bethany. He'd put himself into wanting to try something more than a fuck-buddy relationship with her, and now it was time to be deliberate in learning about her, figuring out what made her tick.

He opened his eyes and pursed his lips as his pulse spiked. He'd popped the question simply because he didn't want to lose her. She was beyond worried about them being siblings, but it was an invalid concern, or at least it seemed to be.

He hadn't thought too much about it.

After wiping off his hands, he walked out of the restroom and through the center of the restaurant. Kendal was gone, but the girls at the bar weren't. He winked at them as he moved past them, teasing the whorish idiots.

Why women weren't more dedicated to their men was a mystery. It almost seemed as if all the stories that populated the water cooler were about the bastard executives cheating on their wives, and yet Damon had seen the flip-side more times than he cared to admit.

He pulled out his phone as he handed the valet his ticket. Bethany answered on the second ring.

"Hey. Where are you?" Her voice was soft and sweet, like the innocent girl she wasn't.

"Leaving lunch. Where are you is the question? You get unpacked this morning?" Their flight back the night before from Jamaica had worn the poor girl down. He'd given her the day off but almost lamented doing it. Seeing her back in their normal surroundings would have helped to settle his unease. His father hadn't been too thrilled about him proposing so early either, but it wasn't anyone's fucking decision but his.

"I'm doing it now. I came back out to my apartment and decided to spend some of the day cleaning things up. I had a message from Krista's dad that he would be by sometime today to get her stuff." She sighed softly as if trying to hide just how hard the situation between Jake and Krista had been on her. Having her closest friend go off her rocker and stab their other friend over being rejected by him was over the top.

Damon shook his head at the thought of anyone dropping off the deep end that bad.

"You need me to come over there to help you out when he gets there?" Damon nodded at the valet as he got into his black Mercedes and buckled up.

"No. I'm fine. He's a good guy. A lawyer, actually. He and Krista used to get along great, so hearing that they're not speaking, or haven't been..."

"Things change, right? People change." He knew the minute he said it he shouldn't have.

"Oh yeah? You changing over there, Mr. Bryant?" She was trying to be cheeky and failing miserably at it.

"Nope. I'm fully dressed, you naughty vixen." He smiled and pulled out into the mid-afternoon traffic.

"I'm only naughty for you."

"This better be true." He glanced over his shoulder and held back the information about having lunch with Kendal. Bethany was TA'ing for him over the next semester and already seemed to be a little too interested in Damon's old friend. He was being overly protective, but couldn't help it. There hadn't been too much in his life he'd wanted to hang on to, but Beth seemed to make the cut.

"Are you coming to Kent's now?"

He was grateful she didn't refer to his father as hers. It was an odd situation, but ignoring it seemed to be the best way to deal with it, at least in his mind.

"No. I'm going back to the office, but I'll try and come out there later tonight. We have a lot of shit to sort through over several large projects."

"You want me to come in?"

"Nope. I would have told you if I did." He turned on his blinker and jerked in front of someone. "I gotta go, baby. See you later."

He dropped the call and tossed the phone in the seat next to him as Kendal's words rushed across his mind. Maybe three weeks was too fast. His mother and father had gotten married after a few months of dating, and that had been fine for a few years.

Pain laced the center of his chest as the sound of her moaning for another man filled his ears. He reached up and rubbed his chest as he growled.

"Stop it. Leave that shit in the past where it belongs." He pressed harder on the muscle above his heart and made the last turn that would lead him to the office. His mother's infidelities shouldn't have fucked up his love life so much, but they had. He almost expected to find every woman he dated in bed with another man. It was a sick thought, and one he hadn't been able to shake until Beth.

Something about the way she spoke to him, looked up to him, respected him. She was in it for the long haul, or so he hoped. She had a ring on her finger that should have made the promise more firm than it was.

"As long as I don't fuck it up," he mumbled and pulled into the large garage next to their building. "Or she doesn't."

The former seemed more likely.