Page 11 of Needing Happily Ever After

It was obvious he was trying for humor, but something else laced through his voice as well. Katie stiffened in his embrace and pulled away.

“Anything else you need to tell me?” Damon’s eyes were serious.

Yes. There was definitely something going on.

She swallowed hard and glared at him. “You have no—”

“Not here.” He glanced around. They stood in the middle of the busy Main Street. And although no one was watching them yet, or at least not obviously because surely they’d attracted some attention with Jeremy, there was no doubt that if they had a public argument, word would get out.

Katie swallowed hard and nodded her understanding.

Damon slipped his hand in hers and led her the short distance to the Big Rock Inn.

The moment they were behind closed doors in his room, he dropped her hand and spun around to face her. “Jeremy?” It was less of a question and more of an accusation. “You’re sleeping with Jeremy? I thought the two of you had been over since high school.”

She shrugged and walked across the room to the desk where he had a laptop and a pad of paper. “It started up again.”

She wasn’t looking at him, but she could hear Damon sigh. No doubt the lack of details was driving him crazy. Damon was always detail oriented. It’s what made him so damn good at design…and faking engagements.

“Why didn’t you tell me about him?”

“There was nothing to tell.” That was a lie. Obviously there was something to tell.

“So are you guys dating?”

Katie shook her head. “No. Not really.”

“Not really?”

Finally, she turned around. “No, Damon. Not really. We tried it a few years ago, but we’re better as friends.”

“Friends who fuck?”

The force of the word had Katie taking a step back, as if she’d been physically pushed. “Pardon me?” There was no way she’d heard him correctly. Was he really judging her for sleeping with Jeremy? The thought angered her, and she crossed the room so she was right in front of him.

He shrugged, but there was nothing casual about him. “I guess I just thought you weren’t the type to sleep around, is—”

She cut him off with a hard slap across his cheek. “Don’t you ever speak to me that way again. I don’t care who you are or how long I’ve known you. Nothing gives you the right to try to slut shame me.” Damon’s hand flew to his cheek, his eyes wide in shock, but she didn’t care. Her entire body shook. “I am a grown ass woman, Damon Banks. I can choose who I want to sleep with and when. There is nothing shameful about being a consenting adult in charge of her own sexuality. I do not sleep around. And even if I did,” she continued, working hard to keep her voice from shaking, “it’s none of your goddammed business.”

Finally, Katie stepped back to give him space, and mostly to keep herself from hitting him again.

“Katie, I…” Damon dropped his hand to his side. “I didn’t mean that the way it came out.”

She tipped her head and opened her eyes in faux surprise. “And in what way did you mean it, Damon?”

He shook his head. “Okay, I get that it doesn’t sound good.” He inhaled deeply and rubbed his hands through his hair, leaving it sticking up at wild angles.

For the first time, Katie noticed that he was dressed in running shorts and a tight T-shirt that showed off every one of his muscles. And dammed if he didn’t have a lot of them. She forced herself to look away. She was mad at him. Not attracted to him.

“I’m sorry, Katie,” Damon tried again. “I really am. I didn’t mean to be an asshole, because you’re right. You’re a grown woman. It’s none of my business who you sleep with because I know that you are fully capable of making your own decisions and there’s nothing wrong with them.”

She waited to see whether he might add something else to dig himself deeper, but all he said was, “Katie, I’m so sorry.”

She exhaled slowly and nodded but before she could accept his apology, he added, “I don’t know what came over me. I just saw you standing there with Jeremy, and then when he said…well…I got jealous, Katie. Really jealous at the thought of you with him and…well…it doesn’t matter.” He looked her in the eye. “I really am sorry.”

Jealous? Damon was jealous? Of Jeremy? With her?

What the actual hell?

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