Page 31 of Origins
Yes, I might have suspected. It was obvious, despite the exterior of Damen’s home. But I still couldn’t help but feel like a burden.
“If it makes you feel better, we’ll put you to work. That way you can earn your phone,” Miles stated, the corners of his mouth upturning slightly. “You can help me carry equipment, and assist Titus with set-up and monitoring.”
Titus—the Mafia lumberjack? He was thetechie? I thought that security guys were supposed to be brainless muscle.
Even though, he was terrifying, hot muscle. But still…
Plus, that meant I’d have to hang around him. My heart thudded in my chest from trepidation. It was unlikely, but I still couldn’t get over my unexplainable terror of being eaten alive.
Then, something else occurred to me, and I glanced at Damen in shock. “You actually have ghost-hunting equipment?”
Chapter Ten
Element
I glanced around the dimly-lit restaurant. The crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, inlaid gold on the walls, and what appeared to be expensive linen on the tables—everything drew my gaze. After all, there was nothing else for me to do, since the three of us were waiting for the fourth party to arrive.
The atmosphere made me nervous, but Miles and Damen appeared to be perfectly at home—as if they came here all the time.
And they probably did.
Miles sat next to me—our backs to the entrance—and Damen took the open seat across from him. I was hardly going to protest having my back to incoming traffic. I was still trying to come to terms with being a guest in such an elegant place.
When we first arrived, I protested, saying it was too expensive. I felt out of place and wasn’t dressed appropriately. But Damen brushed off my concerns, stating that he’d add the meal to my tab. I had a feeling that my debt to them would grow indefinitely at this rate, and I suspected that they would not be keeping an accurate accounting going forward. I would have to find a way to secretly keep track…
But I’d have to start off fairly high from the onset. No matter what I order from this restaurant, my meal was going to be extremely pricy.
My focus drifted, as I noticed the number of open tables in the spacious dining area. Although there were only a few patrons, Damen and Miles were unfazed and seemed very comfortable in this environment.
Damen was the picture of sophistication. The shirt he wore under his opened jacket visibly stretched over his chest as he lounged in his seat. His legs were crossed, and—for the first time—I noticed a gold chain around his neck. There was a charm on the end, but I couldn’t make out the symbol on it.
As we waited for our fourth, Damen browsed the menu as he sipped on some hard-to-pronounce wine — even though it was only mid-afternoon.
Occasionally he’d glance up and grin at me, causing me to blush every time. But other than that, his main focus was entirely on the menu. Which was weird, because if he had been here before why was he studying it so intensely?
Miles, in the meantime, was a presence of rugged sexiness beside me. He managed to remain mannerly even as he savagely ripped a breadstick in half and savored it with almost too much enthusiasm to be polite. It appeared as though Miles’ weakness was food—something I mentally filed away for later.
They both avoided conversation, and refused to tell me who we were meeting. At the same time, they radiated nervous energy as time passed.
Because of this, I began to have a sneaking suspicion who our lunch-date might be.
I brazenly stared at Damen—hoping that the power of my gaze would make him talk. In response, however, he merely glanced up at me and winked again.
“Would you like to try some, baby girl?” He held out his half-empty wine glass in my direction.
My spine straightened as I reddened in disbelief. And there was something else that I didn’t quite know how to take.
He was offering me hisusedglass? That wasalmostlike kissing!
“N- No, thanks…” I managed to choke out the words. “I can’t drink. I’m not twenty-one yet.”
“That’s alright.” Miles’ arm shot out and he snatched the glass from Damen’s hand. “I’m not either—not for another two months,” he said, sipping the drink. “Not bad. This would be better if it were a Riesling, but I can’t complain,” he stated matter-of-factly before finishing the entire glass in two huge gulps.
“That was rude.” Damen frowned slightly as he glared at Miles in irritation. But he didn’t appear to be too surprised by his behavior.
Meanwhile, I was shocked that Damen would permit under-aged drinking—so overtly and in public view. Didn’t he work for the police? How could he condone illegal activity? In fact, he was actuallyencouragingit! We could be arrested at any moment.
“I offered it to Bianca, not you,” Damen chided Miles. “If you want wine that badly, order it yourself.” He accepted his emptied glass with a sigh, as Miles handed in back to him.
