Page 82 of Twice as Tempting

“Did you try to talk to her about it at the time?”

“I tried calling her a couple of times after the break-up, but she wouldn’t take my calls. It wasn’t long after that that I left for California.”

The puzzle pieces were beginning to fall into place, but she still had a lot of questions. “Didn’t Amanda plan on working after you were married? She went to college. Didn’t she expect to help out financially?”

“We never really discussed the particulars. We were young, we were in love, or so I thought, and I believed that we would figure everything out. Stupid, right?”

Kelly ignored his question because, frankly, she didn’t want to think about Damian being in love with someone else. “So, you were hurt. I get that. But to leave your home and your family? To start over on the opposite side of the country? That, I don’t get.”

“Maybe that’s because you’ve never been in love,” Damian said.

Kelly froze. Not until now, she thought, realizing that he spoke the truth.

“Anyway, it was mostly a matter of pride. I couldn’t face the pitying stares of my family and friends. I didn’t want to have to explain to people why we broke up. What could I say? That she dumped me because I wasn’t good enough? That she didn’t have enough faith in me to make something of myself?”

Kelly reached her hand out to touch him, but he rose from the chair abruptly and started pacing. “You don’t understand, Kell. A man wants to feel like he can provide for his woman, even if he doesn’t really have to. Just like the other day, when you said that you didn’t need to be taken care of. That you make your own money. Even though I know that, it doesn’t stop me from wanting to take care of you. Don’t you see?”

Kelly stood now too, and she started to walk toward him, but he held up his hand to stop her. “Don’t you know that when you love someone, you want to give them everything? Everything that they want and everything that they deserve.”

Her throat caught, but she managed to say, “And don’t you know that when you love someone, you’re willing to work with them to make that happen? Furthermore, when you love someone, what you really want is their heart.”

“You already have that,” he said, right before she flung herself into his arms.

He held her so tight that she thought she would burst, and she was bursting—with love. Damian let her go just long enough to gaze into her watery eyes and to state clearly, “I love you, Kelly. I love you twice as much as when I knew you before. No, twice doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

She smiled so wide that her cheeks hurt. “I love you too, Damian, but I need you to do me a favor.”

“What’s that?” he asked as he scooped her up into his powerful arms.

“Don’t ever run away from me again. If there’s a problem, we stay and work it out. Got it?”

“Got it,” he said and carried her down the short hall to the bedroom. “Right now, I’d like to give you something in addition to my heart…”

“I want that too,” she said.

Damian set her down in the bedroom in front of the window that overlooked the lake, and she looked out while he cleared the bed of his discarded clothes. A few minutes later, he came up behind her and slid his arms around her waist.

“It’s beautiful here,” she whispered.

“You’re beautiful,” he said and dipped his head into her neck.

Kelly tilted her head to one side to give him better access and pushed her backside against his pelvis.

“You’re all that I’ve thought of since I came here,” he said, his voice thick with desire.

She reached her arm back and wound it around his neck. “I missed you,” she said. “I missed us.”

Damian continued ravaging her neck as his hands slid up the front of her sweatshirt and cupped her breasts.

She moaned, and he hadn’t even touched her bare skin yet.

“I want you so much, Kell. I never stop wanting you.”

He moved his hands away from her breasts, and she felt an instant chill as he took a step back. She was about to ask what he was doing, but her head was covered by her sweatshirt as it was being pulled off. Her skin broke out in goosebumps, but she wasn’t sure if it was because of the cold temperature in the room or if it was from the anticipation of what came next. When Damian unhooked her bra and was about to slip it off, she recovered enough to say, “We’re right in front of the window.”

“Who cares? No one can see us, and even if they could…”

Kelly sucked in a breath at his implication. In the past, they’d discussed some of their secret fantasies, and one of hers had to do with being seen having sex. She always thought of it as a fantasy though, and in reality, she wasn’t quite so brave.