Page 11 of Twisted Fates
Luckily, when Cary poked his head in to say Damian had requested to see me before he left, I’d cleared about two-thirds of the paperwork off my desk—not that all of it wouldn’t be replaced with another pile by the end of the day.
Secretly, I hoped Shadow would get back to me and that her contract would be lucrative enough for me to graduate from doing legal assistant stuff to actually doing attorney work. I’d checked my email less than an hour ago, though, and she hadn’t responded. Who knew, maybe she wouldn’t. Our meeting was bizarre, after all.
I went out to meet Damian standing in the lobby talking to Cary. “Hey, you wanted to see me?” I asked.
“Um, yeah, are you going to take a lunch break?”
I looked at my watch and smiled. “Yeah, I can do lunch. Cary, I’ll be back in an hour,” I said, and the receptionist just smiled and waved me off. He was so going to give me so much shit when I got back.
This time, I chose the little deli down the street from the office. I’d eaten there often enough since I’d gotten my job. I loved their Italian meatball sandwich, but I always made a mess eating it, so I decided to go with something less embarrassing. Damian was ridiculously handsome, after all. If there was a chance…
“So, my treat, now I know this is real. Like, really real,” he said, causing me to chuckle.
“What’re you going to do? I mean, this is a lot to take in on such short notice.”
“Probably figure out how to deal with the ghost first, but then, you know, maybe school?”
“Really? That’s cool. What do you want to study?” I asked.
Damian shrugged. “I don’t know. I was thinking about being a teacher before my father got sick. Then, I don’t know. I talked to some teachers, and they shared how horrible it was, so I’m not sure now. What made you wanna be an attorney?” he asked.
I smiled. “I grew up in a law office, not much different than the one I work in now. My mother is an attorney. Then, she became our circuit judge. I guess it’s always just been who I am.”
“Wow, your mom is a judge?” he asked.
“Was. She’s semi-retired now.”
“Why don’t you work for her?” Damian asked.
I moved the chips around my plate and sighed. “I… I dated a guy. Football player, small-town hero type. Eric Strange was his name. He got his law degree a few years before me, and Mom hired him. He basically took over her firm. Long story short, I found out he was playing me to get a way in. He screwed most of the gay guys in Central Illinois before I finally figured out what was going on.”
I stared at my plate for a few moments before I looked up. “I was humiliated, and the saddest part was so was my mother. She threatened to fire him, but to do that would’ve cost her so much money. The son of a bitch was bringing in so much cash I decided it was best to move on and leave him to it.”
“Wow, what did your mother say?” he asked.
I laughed, the bitterness coating the humor, before I could pull it back. “My mother is a pragmatist. When I left, she accepted that as my defeat. I have to admit, though, I got the better end of it. I left the small town on the prairie and now live in one of America’s most amazing cities. I don’t have to deal with homophobia. In fact, I could lean over the table and kiss you right now, and I doubt anyone would look twice.”
When I looked up, Damian was smiling. "Do you want to kiss me?” he asked, and my face instantly flushed bright red.
“I-I didn’t mean that.”
“I know, but the question still begs to be answered: Do you want to kiss me?”
I swallowed hard but nodded. “I-I wouldn’t pass up the chance if you’re offering.”
Damian leaned his tall body toward me, not even needing to stand to reach. I didn’t hesitate. Instead, I leaned forward and took his incredible mouth with mine. He tasted of lunch and something darker, more masculine. I wanted more…wanted so much more, but I suddenly remembered we were in the middle of a public restaurant during the lunch hour.
I pulled back, blushing even deeper. My instinct was to look around to see if anyone had seen us, but with Damian’s piercing blue eyes focused on me, I couldn’t look away. “So, that was nice,” he said.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you have dinner with me tonight? I’d like to do more of the kissing thing, but my friend Molly has already texted me eleven times about going to the house this evening. Wanna join us?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I mean, yes, I’d like to do both, um, you know, the kissing and the ghost hunting.”
Damian laughed out loud. “That’s totally what they want to do.”
I glanced at my watch and swore when I saw it was already past my lunch hour. “I have to go, but you know, text me about where you want to meet for dinner,” I said, then stopped when I realized I hadn’t given himmy number.
