VEGAS follows you home (23 page)

"So, have you thought about a proper wedding now that you have
things
handled?"

At Damon Senior’s question, I look at him with wide eyes.

"I'm afraid we won't be having any more ceremonies," I respond quickly, hoping to deter the conversation.

Damon's hand comes to my thigh, lightly squeezing.
I wish his touch didn't affect my body.

His father cocks an eyebrow.

"Really?" His attention turns to his son. "I would think you’d want to include your family in this, Damon."

Opening my mouth to speak again, a stronger squeeze to my thigh silences me. The rougher touch sends fiery sparks between my legs and I begin trying to peel his fingers off.

"Olivia isn't one for large ceremonies or being the center of attention. So, I'm afraid we've decided against the idea of another wedding."

"That's a shame. It would have been nice to get all of the family together again. We rarely have everyone in same place." His father shrugs and extends his empty wine glass to Heidi. Without batting a perfectly curled lash, she pours him more wine.

After lunch, we retire to a large sitting room. Heidi returns Alex to me and hurries out of the room. Just as I'm about to ask if she is okay, she returns with boxes.

"We picked up some things for Alex." Heidi places the silver wrapped gifts on the floor.

Alex slips from my lap onto the floor with her.

"You didn't have to do that," I say, trying not to sound unappreciative.

"Of course we did!" Heidi exclaims cheerfully. "He is our only grandchild…" She quickly stops and glances to Damon, apologetically.

Damon tenses for just a moment before giving her a genuine smile. His eyes move to Alex and the rest of the tension melts from his body.

"It's our job to spoil him." She offers Alex one of the gifts.

He eyes the shiny paper before pawing at the box.

"Mine?" he asks, sitting down to tear into it.

"They are all yours." Heidi scoots next to him and helps peel away the wrapping paper.

The boxes are stuffed with clothes, toys, and books. Of course, Alex seems to find the empty boxes more amusing than the gifts inside. Heidi, Damon, and Damon Senior all laugh, enjoying my little boy.

"You used to do the same thing," Damon's father announces with a broad smile.

I swallow the large lump of emotion forming in my throat.

We chat a bit longer, mostly about Alex, before Alex is fast asleep in Heidi's lap.

Damon leans over, bringing his lips to the shell of my ear.

"He seems to truly like Heidi. Don't you think?"

I grind my teeth and nod, darn well knowing what he's getting at with the comment.

"That should put you at ease about our date tomorrow." The warmth of his breathy words caresses my skin, causing a shiver.

He moves away, returning to his seated position. I look up at him, taking in his smug smile.

After visiting for a few hours, Damon and I give our thanks and head back to his apartment. Alex, worn out from his day of introductions and playing with Heidi, sleeps for the duration of the ride, waking in Damon's arms while riding up the elevator.

"Idee," he yawns, looking around.

His inquiry only cements the fact that I cannot back out on date nights.

"You will see her tomorrow, buddy," Damon answers, rubbing Alex's back. His smugness doesn't go unnoticed.

Clearly, I need another way out of this marriage. I see no sign of Damon fulfilling his end of this agreement.

Once in the apartment, Alex wiggles, wanting down. Damon sets him on his feet and he walks around the apartment, exploring and rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"You hungry?" I run my fingers through his sleep-mussed hair.

"Yep," he responds, more energetically.

"What do you want to eat?" Damon asks, squatting down to his level.

Alex scrunches his face in concentration and then looks up at me.

"What if I surprise you?" Damon pats his shoulder, stands, and walks toward the kitchen.

Alex watches him walk away for a moment before following after Damon.

The sound of cabinets and pans breaks my attention from Alex. My eyes shift to Damon, who is moving around the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

Looking over his left shoulder, he answers, "I'm going to make dinner for you two."

"You don't have to do that. I can cook dinner."

I step further into the kitchen and he practically shoves me out.

"It's fine. Take Alex up so he can play."

Hesitating for a moment, torn between helping or letting Damon cook for us, I finally take Alex by the hand and lead him to the living room.

Digging out a couple of his new toys and turning on cartoons, I set Alex up on the living room rug to play. While he's distracted, I make calls to both Mercedes and Felicity to check in on things.

Mercedes is more interested in what Damon's place looks like, how his family reacted, whether we were humping good and properly, and if he has any single brothers. Felicity, on the other hand, focuses on whether he’s being nice, if his family was accepting, if there are any signs of psychotic tendencies or mental illness in any of them, and whether I need money for an escape.

While Felicity's offer of escape is tempting, I knew he would only follow me wherever I went. And when I tell Felicity about Damon Senior's behavior with his wife, the conversation turns into a feminist rant, which only ends because Damon announces dinner is finished.

Damon made spaghetti, meat sauce, and salad, which tastes amazing. His ability to cook a meal both surprises and impresses me.

After dinner, he plays with Alex and helps to bathe and dress him for bed. While Alex had been shockingly easy to put down the night before, tonight he’s giving me some trouble. I end up sitting in a rocking chair with him until he calms, and then stay in the chair after lying him down, just to be safe. It isn't until Damon lifts me from the chair that I realize I’d fallen asleep.

"I should stay with him tonight," I yawn.

"He will be fine," Damon argues, cradling me closer to his body.

"What if he wakes up and—"

"Then we will go to him." Damon sits me on the bed.

After taking a moment to orient myself, I grab some pajamas from a bag and go to the bathroom to change.

Mid tooth brushing, Damon walks in wearing only boxer briefs. In the large, full-wall mirror behind the sink, I can see how the cotton caresses his toned body. Amidst my ogling, Damon drops the briefs to the floor, giving me full viewing access to his sculpted back and ass.

Before climbing into the shower, he glances toward me. Our eyes meet in the mirror and he grins.

I quickly look away, spit the minty foam from my mouth, toss my toothbrush on the counter, and exit the room as fast as possible. One more moment with him in the confines of the bathroom and I would be a soaking wet mess. And not just because of the urge to get in the shower with him.

Wrapped in the highest thread count sheets I've ever experienced, I’m about to drift off when the bed dips next to me. The smell of his freshly washed skin surrounds me, causing me to bite back a moan. The realization of how much he’s affecting me and how much I am enjoying his scent has my eyes blinking open. His eyes are looking into mine as he grins, knowingly.

I curse my decision to lie facing away from the bathroom door, furrow my brow, and roll away from him.

His arm drapes over my side and his chest presses tightly to my back. My muscles lock up tightly.

"Relax," he whispers.

The scent of his fresh, minty breath crosses my cheek. I lick my lips because they are dry, not because I want to taste his whisper.

"I think we should discuss Rebecca and DJ," I state firmly, not giving away my nervousness.

It's his turn to stiffen. "Why?"

"You know why," I answer.

With a loud sigh, he rolls away from me.

"What did my meddling brother tell you?"

Rolling to my back, I try to summarize as much as possible, but end up giving him everything Scarlett and Hugh discussed.

"Damon, we are not a
cure
for your pain and loss." I stare at the ceiling after the words leave my lips.

"I know that, Olivia," he barks, but then his tone softens. "You make me feel better. I can't deny that, but there is so much more to all of this. More than I realized would be involved when I came looking for you."

"Why would you look for us? You had to know it would cause problems. What if I'd been married or had more children? What if I'd lost—?"

"There are a lot of what ifs, but I needed it. I know it's hard for you to understand, because you don't know what it's like to lose everything and feel so empty. It's as if a piece of you is carved out and nothing can fill it. It's just a bottomless pit."

I lock my jaw tight and will myself not to think about Isaac or his baby. Damon would be surprised if knew just how closely I could relate. A part of me wanted to sympathize with him, but the selfish part didn't want to share our common bond in sorrow and loss.

"Then this letter appears and there is confirmation that I may have a child out there in the world. There is a part of me, living and breathing, but I don't know what they look like, what their name is, if they are well. How could I not try to find you?"

He takes a deep breath before continuing.

"You think I'm using you both as a replacement. I understand why you think that, but it's not true. Not anymore."

Damon pauses and I open my mouth to speak, but he continues.

"At first, I was being selfish. I wanted to feel like a whole person again. I wanted to get back what I lost and fix all the mistakes I made. So, when I started looking for you and Alex…for anyone who conceived my child, it was in hopes to make me human once more — to feel alive."

He shifts, rolling onto his side. Bending his arm at the elbow, he props his head on his fist.

"I died with them in that car, but felt resurrected the moment I saw
him
." Damon's eyes blaze with intensity. The fingers of his left hand start a slow trace over my cheek and jaw. "And then, there was you. You were unexpected."

Furrowing my brow, I ask, "What do you mean?"

"The moment we were together in Vegas, the connection began. I know you feel it. I'm not blind."

I try to look away from him, but his hand turns my face back.

"How much I want you scares me and fills me with so much guilt."

"Guilt?" I whisper.

With our eyes locked on each other's, he nods.

"I never wanted Rebecca the way I want you."

I open my mouth to object, but he doesn't let me.

"I loved her, but I didn't know I could feel like this with someone — the way I feel with you. Pieces that were missing between Rebecca and I, things we couldn't quite do for each other, are not an issue with you. You are absolute, everything I never knew I needed, even when I knew I needed Alex."

Frozen silent with my lips parted and held hostage by his gaze, I can't process what he’s saying. The moment his lips press to mine, the undeniable connection sizzles. The one I deny on a daily basis.

Terrified by both the physical and emotional feelings, I pull my lips away and turn my head.

His hand cups my neck as he rests his forehead on my left shoulder. No other words are said and neither of us moves. And when his breathing evens, I know he is asleep. It takes me much longer to fall asleep with the feeling of his body against mine, the words he just spoke circling in my head, and the lingering sizzle he left on my lips.

"Momma!" Alex wakes me with a shout.

I try to stretch, but Damon's body restricts the action.

"Momma!"

"Damon," I say while shoving at the restraining arm across me.

"Olivia," he groans in a husky whisper, causing heat to shoot straight between my legs.

He cuddles in closer, reflexively pressing his morning hardness against my leg. I shove at him again.

"Momma!" Alex's yell is more panicked.

"I'm coming, buddy," I yell back, shoving hard enough to move Damon off me.

"What's wrong?" Damon gasps, sitting up.

"Alex is awake," I answer without looking back as I exit the bedroom.