Page 78 of Lumi
CHAPTER 15
Body Language
Lumi
“This salmon is delicious,” Jolene said with a smile. “And so is the white wine. We weren’t expecting a home-cooked meal, but I take it as a testament that you two have found a way to work together despite the handcuffs.”
“The first two days were tough, but now we sort of have a system,” Damian said, and it occurred to me how great he was at putting on a façade. We had been in an argument when Jolene and Atlas arrived, but the moment the doorbell rang, Damian had taken on the role of the host and been as jovial and fun as I knew he could be.
“I think Lumi and I could develop telepathic abilities if we stayed cuffed long enough. It’s like we’re Siamese twins with two brains in one body with three arms.”
“Interesting. Are you saying that you’re developing a shared sense of awareness?” Atlas asked.
Damian and I glanced at each other before I answered. “Not quite, but there are elements of it.”
Jolene had been taking notes during lunch whenever we mentioned something interesting. Now she picked up her pen again. “Can you give us an example?”
“Ehh.” Damian thought about it. “On the first mornin’, it was hard tryin’ to figure out how to get into my car without takin’ off the handcuffs and I wasn’t happy about leavin’ the drivin’ to Lumi. All week we’ve shared driving depending on which hand the cuffs were on. Today, we didn’t even exchange a word, I opened the door, Lumi crawled in, and I followed as if we’d done it a million times. I’d say we’ve become a thousand percent better at operatin’ as one unit, but it’s still annoyin’ when we have to sleep. I wake up when she moves and vice versa, but at least we’ve found some tolerable positions.”
While Damian spoke about positions to sleep in, my mind went back to last night when I’d woken up sick with jealousy because of his conversation by the pool with Nathan.
The thought that Damian might take Nathan’s suggestion to go out and scratch his itch with a stranger had made me spontaneously initiate sex. I couldn’t explain why I hadn’t brought up protection, but to see him freak out over the possibility of my being pregnant had been a blow when I knew how much he longed to be a father.
Damian said that he didn’t want to hurt me again, but hearing him say that he preferred to find a woman who already had children had hurt my feelings.
Six years ago, when Damian made his drunken declarations of love for me, my pride and mistrust had caused me to turn him away, and I’d been right to do so because he had never repeated his offer.
“Lumi.”
I blinked my eyes. “Yes?”
Jolene sat with her head tilted. “You zoned out for a moment. Are you okay?”
“Yes. Uh-huh. I’m good.”
“Can we talk about your daily discussions with Damian?” Jolene asked and brought us back on track. “How honest would you say that you are with each other?”
“Completely honest,” Damian answered without hesitation. “Lumi and I know almost everything about each other. We’ve been friends for more than ten years.”
Jolene looked to me. “Do you agree, Lumi?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek but gave a single nod.
Jolene leaned back in her chair and watched us. “Well, I disagree.”
“You think we lied?” I asked a bit offended.
“I don’t think so. I know so. Would you like to see why?” She lifted her bag and pulled out a pad. “Give me a second to find a few clips to illustrate when you weren’t genuine with each other. Okay, we’ll start with this one where you’re discussing Damian’s need to sleep closest to the door.”
Damian and I exchanged another glance before focusing in on the video clip from Friday.
“What about Spencer? Didn’t he do those things?” Damian asked in the video.
“It’s been too long. I don’t remember what side of the bed he slept on.”
“So, he did sleep with ye?”
“He was my boyfriend for eleven months. Why wouldn’t he sleep with me?”
