Page 40 of Twice as Tempting

Chapter 14

When Kelly pulled into her apartment complex, she was humming the Backstreet Boys song that was still stuck in her head from earlier, and she was feeling optimistic about her life. She had a job that she loved, great friends, and she was dating her hot neighbor. Life was good. Until a few minutes later when her heart sank like a stone.

She had rounded the corner where Damian’s building came into sight when she saw him, and she quickly stepped on the brake so that he wouldn’t see her. He stood in the doorway of his apartment with his arms around a woman—a very attractive, leggy blonde, from what Kelly could see of her. They hugged each other for a minute, but to Kelly, it felt like forever, and then Damian backed into his apartment and closed the door.

Kelly sat frozen in her car, scowling at the stranger, who walked confidently and gracefully down the stairs in her short skirt and heels and then strode to the Mercedes that was parked two spaces away from Damian’s truck. The woman was even more attractive from the front—the kind of woman Kelly would have been jealous of in her younger days, before she had learned to embrace her ethnicity. All that long, straight blonde hair that framed the woman’s lightly tanned face, those expressive blue eyes, and that smile full of perfectly aligned white teeth. Yes, the woman was smiling as she unlocked the door to her Mercedes and slid inside.

Kelly managed to pull off to the side of the road so that the woman could get by, and they made eye contact as she drove past. The floozy even had the audacity to give Kelly a friendly wave, which Kelly did not return. Her blood was boiling when she pulled into her parking space and shut off the engine. She considered barging into Damian’s apartment and demanding an explanation, but she decided that she should probably try to simmer down first. Instead, she marched up the stairs to her apartment and slammed the door behind her. If Damian had been peeking out his window, he might have seen her display of aggression and realize that he’d been caught.

“UGH!” Kelly yelled and threw her purse at the couch. “You idiot!” She wasn’t sure if she meant him or her, but she decided to focus her anger on him for the moment. She was just about to let loose with a stream of swear words when her phone rang from inside her purse. Kelly dug it out, and when she saw Damian’s name on the display, she tossed the phone back on the couch.

“Oh no you don’t, mister! You don’t get to cheat with Blondie and then turn around and call me up like nothing happened! You can just go to…”

The sound indicating that a voicemail message had been left interrupted her rant. She picked up her phone and pressed the button to listen to his message.

Hey, Kell. I can see your car, so why won’t you pick up? I have something to ask you, so give me a call.

“In your dreams!” she yelled and stomped off to her bedroom to change clothes. It was the perfect time to don her MSU sweats, since she planned on staying in—alone. She gathered her hair up in a messy ponytail and scrubbed off her makeup. When she was finished, she realized that she might have scrubbed too hard, because she had ugly red streaks on her cheeks and forehead. Oh well. Nobody’s going to see me tonight anyway!

Kelly was still riled up when she realized that she hadn’t eaten dinner yet. She shuffled into the kitchen and had stuck her head in the refrigerator when the doorbell rang.

“Shit.” There was a small kitchen window above her sink that looked out on the front doorstep. Kelly stuck her head up just enough to peer outside, and sure enough, it was him. She stood there quietly, hoping that Damian would give up and go away, but the doorbell rang again, and it sounded more insistent that time.

Kelly waited a few beats and then stuck her head up again, but this time, Damian’s face stared right back at her. She was so startled that she let out a little screech and was met with Damian’s hearty laughter.

Kelly scowled at him and turned away from the window. Just great! Now that he had seen her, she felt like she had no choice but to open the door. She unlocked the door and yanked it open, but she immediately turned around and huffed off to the living room.

Damian closed the door behind him and followed her. “Is there a problem?” he asked, sounding genuinely confused.

“Yes. There’s a problem,” she said through gritted teeth, her arms crossed defensively.

“Care to enlighten me?”

Damian looked more concerned than guilty, but that was probably because he didn’t know that he’d been caught. “It didn’t take you very long, did it?” she spat.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“So, did you get tired of waiting for me and decide to have some fun on the side?”

Damian’s eyebrows furrowed, and he took a step toward her. “What exactly are you accusing me of?”

Suddenly Damian loomed very large in her tiny living room, but Kelly stood her ground. “I saw her, Damian. I saw that woman coming out of your apartment, so don’t even try to deny it.”

Damian relaxed his stance immediately and gave a sigh of…relief? “You mean Rachel? Tall, blonde, attractive?”

“OH MY GOD! So, you’re admitting it?”

Damian took another step forward, but Kelly backed up. He threw his hands in the air and said, “Guilty as charged. Rachel was in my apartment because she brought me a housewarming gift.”

Kelly glared at him. “So, you must know her pretty well, huh?”

“Yes, Kelly. I know her very well, because she’s my cousin’s wife!”

While Kelly took time out to digest this, Damian continued. “In my family, people look for any excuse to feed someone. Rachel kindly brought me a homemade cherry pie as a housewarming gift, and I’m sure some of my other family members will follow suit.”

Kelly tried to hold on to her dignity for a smidge longer. “If she’s your relative, then how come I don’t remember meeting her at Thanksgiving or Christmas last year?”

“That’s because they were in Colorado for the holidays. Rachel’s family lives there, and they alternate the holidays each year.”