I thought of Shanda’s family and her mom forcing her to live with an abusive stepfather and drug user. Then I thought of Frankie and her family. Some kids were dealt such awful hands when it came to their parents and family.
That evening, Olivia and I finally agreed to watch an episode ofThe Witchertogether since she wanted a horror movie, and I wanted a foreign film. We made margaritas and ended up binge-watching four episodes. The characters had fantastic chemistry together. Their chemistry was so good in fact, I was crawling out of my skin with sexual frustration by the end of the night.
The next morning, Damien walked out of the gym as I pulled into the parking lot. He waited for me to park and climb out, then he plastered his sweaty body against mine and kissed me, long and deep. I mindlessly glided my hands around his shoulders, then pulled him into me. He finally ended the long, wet kiss and leaned back to look at me.
“Legs, you’re killing me. This weekend you’re coming over. I don’t care if it’s for two hours, or two minutes at this point.”
“I need more than two minutes.” I held him to me one more time before letting go. “Olivia’s going to stay with Ava on Christmas Eve, and we’ll probably have dinner together, but after that I’m free.”
He sighed. “I’m driving to my dad’s house in Carlsbad with Brock to spend Christmas Eve. But we’ll be home late in the morning.”
“Okay.” I gave him a hard kiss and bit his lower lip then tried to pull back.
He chased my lips and grabbed my face to hold me in place while he thrust his tongue inside my mouth again. I wrapped my arms around his waist and smashed my breasts against his sweaty torso. Damien pushed me up against my Sequoia again, then glided his hand down the back of my thigh. He started to pull my leg up when his cell rang. He sighed and stepped back.
“I have to go. So do you. And this isn’t exactly the best spot to be making out,” he admitted.
“Get your phone call. Christmas Day.” I squeezed his hand.
“Yeah. It’ll be the best fucking Christmas present ever.”
Later that afternoon as I walked into my office, I noticed I had several texts. One was from a client letting me know she’d paid off her court fines. The other two were from Olivia and Ava telling me they were going to drive out to Desert Palms for the evening and go shopping then see a movie. Olivia told me not to wait up.
“Thank you, God,” I muttered and pulled up Damien’s number, then shot him a text.
Me: Are you free tonight? Olivia and Ava are going out for the evening.
He texted back two minutes later.
Damien: A Xmas miracle. Hell yes—come over when u get off work. Plan to spend the night.
He sent another text with the code to his house if I arrived first. When I got to my office, I ruthlessly culled what wasn’t urgent and sent out a few emails then headed home to grab an overnight bag.
Gary had been enjoying having Olivia home all the time, and she’d already taken him out for a hike that afternoon. He gave me a little tail wag, and I gave him a belly rub then fed him dinner.
I quickly showered, shaved everywhere, and changed into my favorite little purple wraparound dress with a soft cream cardigan over it. I even had on a new matching underwear set. After packing an overnight bag and my work clothes for the next day, I scribbled a note to Olivia telling her I wouldn’t be home until tomorrow. On impulse, I grabbed a bottle of wine and a few treats. Anticipation and anxiety coursed through me. I hoped having sex was like riding a bike, and I remembered how everything worked.
Chapter 25
Itwasaftersixby the time I made it to Damien’s house. He didn’t answer the door and there weren’t any lights on, so I plugged in the front door code he’d texted me and let myself inside.
I wandered into the living room. “Hello?” I called.
His house was dark and quiet. I went into the kitchen and put the wine and treats in the fridge then looked around a little bit. His house didn’t have a bachelor pad feel to it, and there were even a couple of healthy succulents on his kitchen windowsill. His décor was contemporary and comfortable.
Resisting the urge to snoop through his bedroom, I sat at his kitchen bar and reviewed emails on my phone while I waited for him to come home. I was about five emails in when I heard his garage door open. My heart sped up and anxiety and something else drifted through me. We’d fooled around, but I hadn’t had sex in a long time, and I was a little anxious.
He walked in and stared at me sitting there at his kitchen bar. Damien had two bags of takeout food with him, and he put them in the fridge, then threw his keys on the counter. He walked over to me and swiveled my stool, so I faced him, then he spread my thighs and stepped between my legs.
“You have two choices. We can fuck now and eat later—then fuck some more, or we can eat now and fuck later.”
“There are a lot of fucks in that sentence, Dimples.”
“I know.” He grazed my cheek with his mouth and ran a hand up my leg, pushing my dress up as he went.
“I like your dress, sweetheart. It gives me fast access to some of my favorite parts.” His hand at the back of my waist pushed me closer to him, spreading my legs even wider.
“I vote for number one.”