Page 2 of Twice as Tempting

Damian’s shoulders slumped, and he shook his head from side to side. “I made a mistake.”

“No, Damian. I did.” Kelly turned on her very expensive heels and stalked off, unwilling and unable to look back lest Damian see the tears that streamed down her face.

Kelly was so rattled from her run-in with Damian that she almost cancelled her date with Ken, but then she decided not to let Damian ruin her evening.

For a few months after Damian had left, she lost her mojo. She hadn’t even been able to look at another man without thinking about him, and she’d fallen off her game. Well, now she was back, and Damian could just take his place at the end of the line!

Kelly changed from her work clothes into her date night clothes, which, on that particular night, consisted of her most form-fitting jeans, a white off-the-shoulder peasant top, and strappy heels. She layered on a few silver bangle bracelets, added some dangly earrings, and fluffed up her hair. Kelly had been blessed, or cursed as she thought of it sometimes, with a curvy body, and she liked to show it off. Her chestnut brown hair was long and wavy, and she often wore it up in a high ponytail, but tonight, she kept it long and loose. Thanks to her Latin American heritage, she had caramel-colored skin and golden brown eyes that were large and expressive. Kelly had learned how to use her assets to her advantage back in high school, and she wasn’t above using them still, at age thirty.

She waited for Ken in the living room of her small apartment on the third floor of the building. This would be their third date, but he hadn’t been up to her loft yet. She had met him at the bookstore where she worked and where she had met most of the men she’d dated in the past few years. Ken was a graphic designer who had come into the store several weeks ago and bought several books on health and fitness. He had recently embraced a new, healthier lifestyle, and he’d bought books about eating “clean” and becoming your “best self.” Ken was of medium height and build, with sandy blonde hair and light blue eyes—not her usual type, but handsome in a wholesome sort of way.

He wasn’t anything like Damian, who had a rough-and-tumble appearance, with his jet black hair, stubbled jaw, and piercing dark brown eyes. Damian was tall and muscled, with strong, calloused hands from working on cars and a gruff voice to match. And then there was the tattoo of a lightning bolt on his right upper arm…

The sound of Ken’s car horn broke through her thoughts, and she took a deep breath to steady herself. “Damn you, Damian Kostas. I will not let you ruin my date!” Kelly slung her purse over her shoulder and raced out the door.

They walked into the crowded new bar/restaurant that was currently all the rage in the small community of Clarkston, Michigan. It was Friday night, and the place was loud and full of people looking to have a good time. Kelly was no exception. After the day she’d had, she was ready to cut loose. Who knows—maybe I’ll invite Ken up to my apartment tonight.

The hostess sat them at a high-top table for two, across from the square-shaped bar in the center of the room. Ken immediately buried his head in the menu, and Kelly had just opened hers when she heard something that made her freeze. No way. It can’t be.

She lifted her head up, and her fear was confirmed. Damian sat at the bar facing in her direction, alongside an older gentleman with gray hair and a full gray beard. The sound that she had heard was Damian’s laughter, which had carried across the room and wormed its way under her skin. She watched him smile and laugh with the older man until…

He looked up and locked eyes with her, and his face lit up with a slow, easy smile.

“What sounds good to you, Kelly?” Ken asked, his head still bent over the menu.

A buff Greek God to go, please! “Um…I’m not sure. What are you having?”

“I’ll probably have a salad with grilled chicken and vinaigrette dressing.”

Yawn. How boring! If Kelly were eating with Damian, she would have probably ordered a fully loaded cheeseburger and fries. But that wouldn’t go over well with Mr. Health and Fitness. “I guess I’ll have the same,” she said and closed her menu. She purposely kept her eyes down and slowly unrolled her silverware from the white cloth napkin.

The waitress came over and took their orders, and while Ken was placing his, Kelly snuck a peek in Damian’s direction. The cad was still staring right at her, and this time, he raised his beer glass in a mock salute.

Kelly resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him and turned her attention back to Ken, who was asking her a question.

“Kelly? Are you ok? You seem a little…distracted.”

“Sorry, Ken. I was just thinking about a run-in I had with a disgruntled customer earlier today, and it kind of got to me, but I’m sure I’ll feel better after we eat.” She gave him her best smile and hoped that he would buy the lie. Disgruntled customer? Really? That’s the best you could come up with?

Ken reached his hand across the table and placed it on top of hers. “I hope it won’t only be the food that makes you feel better. I’d like to make you feel better too.”

There was no mistaking the intention in his eyes or his words, and Kelly slipped her hand out from under his. She gave him a weak smile and then excused herself to go to the ladies’ room. She went the long way around to avoid direct contact with Damian, but she felt his eyes upon her as she sashayed across the floor. She might have purposely swung her hips and flipped her hair back for good measure.

Kelly didn’t really need to use the facilities, so she primped instead. She teased her hair at the top to give it added volume and applied a fresh coat of lip gloss. Silly, since she would be eating soon, but it gave her something to do. When she opened the door of the restroom, she bumped right into a solid wall of muscle!

“Damian! What are you doing here?” she hissed, and she pushed on his chest to back him further down the hallway.

“It’s a free country, Kell. I can eat wherever I want to.”

She wanted to wipe that smug look right off of his exotic Greek face! “Did you know that I would be here tonight?”

“Nope.”

“Are you sure that Emma didn’t happen to mention it?”

“Positive. I came here to meet a buddy of mine about a business deal, not to spy on you.”

“Huh. Well, then why don’t you concentrate on your business deal and stop staring at me while I’m on a date!”

“Doesn’t look like a date to me. And how would you know that I was staring unless you were looking at me too?”

Arrogant, egotistical, infuriating man!

Before she could form a response, he continued. “Instead of standing here talking to me, you should get back to your date.”With that, he turned and walked away, leaving her tongue-tied in the middle of the empty hallway.

Thankfully, Damian left the restaurant shortly after their confrontation, so Kelly was able to eat her salad in peace. Well, relative peace. Her stomach was churning, and her head hurt, and it was difficult to concentrate on Ken when all she could see was the anger on Damian’s face when he told her to get back to her date.

The date that she had been looking forward to had quickly turned into a disaster thanks to Damian. Kelly had no choice but to cut her losses, and after they finished eating, she asked Ken to take her home. He obliged and didn’t even bother asking her if he could come up to her apartment. The poor guy! He was probably wondering what had gone wrong, but there was no way that Kelly could tell him the truth.

Instead, she gave Ken a chaste kiss on the cheek and thanked him for dinner. “Call me?” she said as she stepped out of his car, but she wouldn’t be surprised at all if he didn’t. Thanks a lot, Damian, she hissed on her way up the stairs.

Once inside her apartment, Kelly plunked down on her cushiony sofa, kicked off her heels, and laid back with her hand on her forehead. She would have liked to lament to her best friend, but Emma was still in the hospital, having just given birth to a beautiful baby girl. She could have called one of her other girlfriends, but none of them knew about Damian. He had only been in town for six weeks, several months ago, so she’d never had the chance to introduce him to anyone else.

A few short, glorious weeks. Just long enough for the gorgeous Greek to get under her skin and ruin her for any other man.