My Exception (My Escort #2)

by Kia Carrington-Russell

  She had even hired out a small bouncy castle for the children who were to attend the party. As usual the party didn’t seem to focus around my mother at all, but she never organised them like that. She had arranged a party that catered for everyone in the most homely way. It was what made her happiest, so my sister and I learnt at a young age to let her get on with it and even let her cook for herself. I think the most miserable birthday she ever had was the one where Megan and I catered for everyone. Mom liked to cook, so from there on we knew we were to only be the helping hands. My mother had always been like this. My father use to grumble at the amount of parties we often had. But to keep Mom happy, he would always oblige.

  “I remember coming to one of your mother’s events once, it is as extravagant as ever,” Hayden said with a wicked smile as he came and stood next to me, crossing his arms. Already guests had started arriving and it felt like within minutes children were running all over the place.

  “You look very beautiful today,” Hayden said, looking over the simple knee-length black dress I wore with a feather necklace. I looked over myself. I hadn’t put too much effort into my hair, pinning it up with only a few tendrils framing my face. I didn’t have enough time to straighten it after we prepared for the party.

  “Well, thanks,” I said, nudging him. “You pull up all right yourself.”

  “Always. It is the one thing I am most known for,” Hayden returned with a devilish smile. My sister’s voice interrupted as she came walking over. She was swaying sassily as she always did. Her long flowing orange skirt quickly grabbed admiring glances. It looked great against her white sleeveless shirt and slightly olive skin tone.

  “How did I just know you were talking crap all the way from over there simply by recognising that cocky smile of yours?” Megan directed at Hayden.

  He raised his hands in a defensive manner. “Me, I would never,” he teased, rolling his tongue in his cheek.

  “Clover,” I heard my mother’s voice call. “Someone is here to see you.”

  I frowned, unsure of who would be here to see me. I hadn’t really any friends that I kept in touch with since leaving university.

  My mother walked forward with a very warm smile. I gasped in surprise as I saw who followed. “Damon,” I whispered. I ran up to him giddily and he opened his arms for a hug. I pressed my lips against his, feeling like a happy child.

  “You look so beautiful,” he said, kissing my knuckles. “I’m sorry I am late. Michelle was able to rearrange the date of her business trip to next week, so I came as soon as I could track down this.” He offered me a small bag. “Sorry I didn’t have time to wrap it. I bought this bag at a corner shop up the road.”

  I looked into the bag realising instantly that it was the necklace I had been waiting for. “You got the necklace!” I beamed, wrapping my arms around him again and kissing him. “Thank you so much.”

  I spun around to Megan and my mother, proud and excited. “Mom, Megan, I would like you to meet Damon Brogardt, my boyfriend,” I said with a red glow flushing through my cheeks. I felt as if this were the first boyfriend I had ever brought home.

  “It is lovely to meet you both. I apologise for being late,” Damon said, grabbing my mother’s hand and raising it to his lips. “You look stunning for a woman who has just turned forty.”

  Smooth talker. I wanted to punch him in the arm. He knew it was my mother’s fifty-second birthday, yet his charismatic self could never be tamed. My mother flushed red as she smiled shyly.

  “Wow, aren’t you a charmer!” Megan giggled. She walked up to Damon, surprising him with a hug. “You are a part of the family now so don’t feel awkward, let us know if you need anything during your stay.”

  “I will, thank you so much,” Damon smiled. He grabbed my hand, interlacing our fingers.

  He turned to Hayden. “Thank you for bringing her down, Hayden,” Damon nodded in respect. Hayden nodded in return.

  “Mom, this is yours,” I said, offering her the small birthday bag.

  “You both shouldn’t have,” my mother said with a shy smile, accepting the gift. She opened the bag, pulling out the very fine gold necklace that contained a heart-shaped ruby encased in small diamonds. Her eyes darted to mine. I knew she recognised it. Looking back at the necklace, she smiled emotionally. “Thank you to you both,” she quietly said.

  “Here Mom, let me put it on,” Megan said.

  Ethan’s scream suddenly shattered the heart-warming moment. We all raced around to the bouncy castle. Ethan was on the ground beside it, screaming and holding his arm. My cousin, Paulene, was trying to help him up.

  “Ethan,” Megan panicked, racing to him. His arm was swelling and he was wailing in pain. “It looks like he has broken it.”

  “I‘ll drive you to the hospital,” Hayden offered.

  “Let me help you put him in the car,” Damon said.

  “Mom, you stay here. Clover, look after Mom,” Megan instructed forcefully before leaving through the kitchen behind Hayden and Damon. The guests who had arrived made way for them and minutes later only Damon returned. I rubbed Mom’s arms in reassurance.

  “It’s okay, Mom. Megan had a broken arm too once, remember? He will be okay,” I said. I knew Megan would prefer it to be said in that carefree tone. She would want Mom to enjoy her birthday.

  “He will be alright. They have taken him to the hospital now. Let the doctors do what they do best,” Damon said with a reassuring smile. “I broke my arm once falling off a horse.” I never knew that about him.

  “We don’t know if it is definitely broken yet either, he might have just fallen awkwardly.”

  “It will be okay,” Damon reassured us, his expression so open and warm that in that moment I couldn’t believe anything else.

  Chapter Twenty

  The party eventually picked up again. My mother was able to perk herself up and interact calmly with the guests. That was something my sister and I had learnt from my beautiful mother: even when everything falls apart, you must always entertain the guests and carry on.

  Three hours later, Hayden, Megan, and Ethan returned. Megan put Ethan to bed in her room upstairs and came down after Hayden, who grabbed a drink from the fridge and downed it. He looked rather pale. My sister followed suit and grabbed a glass of wine.

  Damon and I both greeted them in the kitchen as my mother didn’t yet realise that they had returned. “How is he?” I asked worriedly.

  “He will be okay,” Megan said, sounding drained. “I will check up on him again in a minute and stay up there with him. He’s broken his arm. He will be a bit tender for a while.” She looked at Hayden for a moment, a small smile spreading on her lips as she took another sip. “Not as bad as this one though.”

  Hayden gave her a sharp side-glance, taking another sip. He did look rather under the weather; his skin was pasty white.

  “Looks like big shot sports manager over here can’t handle the look of disfigured bones or hospital wards,” Megan teased, nudging him with her shoulder. Hayden looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t.

  “That’s right,” I said, remembering. “You pass out at the smell of blood as well, don’t you?” I mused. Again Hayden said nothing.

  “The doctors at one point were more concerned about him falling on top of me than Ethan’s arm,” Megan said with laughter.

  “It wasn’t even that bad,” Hayden sulked. “I just lost my footing is all.” He looked down at his beer in disappointment. “Yea this isn’t going down too well. I might have to call it quits for today, sorry.”

  “Don’t be a baby,” Megan teased. “Come on, you can check up on Ethan with me and have a rest in there. Mom hasn’t even cut the cake yet, you can recover by then.” Megan grabbed his ear and started pulling him towards the stairs. Much to my surprise, Hayden didn’t argue. Both Damon and I watched on from behind in bewilderment.

  “Has your sister and Hayden always been that close?” Damon asked, wrapping his arms around my wais
t. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, uncertain of where this familiarity between the two had come from.

  “Not that I can remember,” I said honestly. “I’m surprised Hayden is tolerating Megan’s brutality.”

  “Well, maybe brutality runs in the family,” Damon taunted.

  “Ha ha, very funny Mr. Brogardt,” I said, stomping on his foot.

  “You are different here, in a good way. Around your family you’re fully relaxed,” he observed, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear.

  Turning my head enough so I could see him clearly, I gave him a small kiss on the lips. “I suppose I am. I really am glad you came.”

  “So am I.” He held me firmer around my waist as he gave me another kiss. “Now I believe it has been a very long time since you have seen your family. I think some introductions are to be made.”

  “Why, so you can charm the crowd, you peacock?”

  “No, so I can make such an impression on everyone that if you ever consider leaving me, they will all advise you not do it. I can’t help it if I am naturally charming, my diva princess,” he said with a cocky smile.

  I wrinkled my nose. “Diva princess?” I repeated, raising my eyebrow at his inventive pet name.

  “The name just sparkles, doesn’t it?” he teased as we walked towards where some of my family stood.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Damon’s charisma intimidated even me. If I hadn’t seen him flatter everyone around him like that before, I would’ve thought he was hitting on all of them. Damon just simply had that touch and left a lingering impression on everyone he met.

  Already night, a lot of the guests began leaving. The bouncy castle was being packed up. My mother, two bottles of wine down, was having the time of her life. Damon had even made a joke about the similarity between my mother and me when it came to a bottle of wine. I vowed that I could never keep up with her, but perhaps his sister could have if she wasn’t pregnant.

  I walked out my cousin Paulene and her three children and then waved them all goodbye. Megan was still nowhere to be seen. I looked up towards the staircase. Hayden and she had been up there for a few hours now and had missed the cake entirely. Damon raised an eyebrow as well. They were suddenly overly familiar; maybe going up stairs to check on Ethan was just an excuse to get up to some adult play. I had told Hayden that my sister was off limits.

  I lead Damon up the stairs quietly, a few creaks moaning from the carpeted stairs. I made my way to Megan’s room, which was down the hallway and past the guest room. The boys’ room was downstairs, but she had mentioned it would have been too loud for him to get any sleep there.

  Quietly opening her door, a small moan caused us to pause. A snore followed and when I was sure I hadn’t yet been busted, I opened the door more so both Damon and I could peak inside. The ceiling fan swept a cool breeze through the room. On the left, Ethan was sound asleep, his white cast pinning the blanket over him. Megan was sleeping beside him on the floor. There was no room for Megan on the queen-sized bed. Next to Ethan — much to my amusement — was Hayden, who had passed out with his top four buttons unbuttoned. His black suit jacket had been thrown to the floor beside a small bucket.

  I tried not to laugh out loud. He must have been feeling fairly sick if Megan had to get him a bucket. Damon tapped on my shoulder and signalled that we should leave them for a while longer.

  Halfway down the stairs, we saw Mom was waiting at the bottom for a report. Her short blonde hair was now a little shaggy and her cheeks were a rosy color from the wine.

  “They are okay, just sleeping,” I whispered. Behind Mom was Christian, who looked up at us as if lost. In his hand he had a lego truck, which was firmly pressed to his chest.

  “Is that lego?” Damon asked softly. With a look of reassurance from Mom that he could trust Damon, Christian nodded his head.

  “Do you mind if I play lego with you until your brother can play again?” Damon asked with an open smile. I couldn’t help but smile myself as Damon followed him to his room. Damon hadn’t much to do with children, but soon he was to be an uncle. I wondered if this was him trying to get some practice in. He would quickly realise kids weren’t aliens as he seemed to think.

  “He’s a good one, that one,” my mother said, watching them both leave. “You keep him, Clover; you’ve done well.”

  “I still don’t know how,” I mused, hugging my mother. She reeked of wine. “I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too,” she said, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

  “Now go and have a shower and go to bed. You smell like a booze-hound. Don’t worry about the mess, I will clean it up now,” I said with a smile. She pursued her lips, ready for an argument, but her shoulders quickly sagged and she gave in.

  I walked through to the backyard with a large garbage bag and began collecting the rubbish. Shortly after the rubbish was collected, I began putting the leftovers into containers and piling the dishes into the dishwasher.

  Damon soon joined me. “Megan is awake and is putting Christian to sleep,” he explained, curling himself around me and pressing a kiss to my cheek.

  “Did you enjoy your uncle-training?” I asked with a smile. After a small pause I spun around, interested in his reply.

  “Damon, is that red streaking across your cheeks?” I grabbed both of his cheeks, tugging on them.

  “Ow,” he exclaimed, trying to slap my hands away. “It’s a shame we have to leave tomorrow morning. I know my work—”

  I cut him off by pressing my finger to his lips. “I am very proud of all that you are achieving and I support you fully. Have more faith in me. We both have to work hard to make this work. So as long as we are honest and understand one another, work will never get in the way.”

  For a moment he didn’t know how to respond. A sheepish smile spread over his face. I curled my hands through his dark hair. “I am very lucky to have you,” he growled through a kiss. His kiss began to trail down my neck and his hands pressed against my hips. I was backed against the counter. His simple touch and smell intoxicated me. I stopped myself from pushing down on his pants, wanting to rip them off entirely.

  Kissing my lips and biting down on my bottom lip, he cupped my bottom, pressing me closer to him. I was so close to loosing control…

  “Ew, get a room,” Megan said, yawning as she walked in.

  Damon and I pushed one another away in an instant, red flushing across our cheeks. My heart pounded in embarrassment as I had forgotten where I was.

  “Aww, big sister getting embarrassed, is she? You two head to bed. I will finish these. You guys have to get some sleep because you leave early, don’t you?”

  “Um, yea, thank you,” I said, dashing out of the room, Damon not far behind. I bit the bottom of my lip, looking at Damon in utter embarrassment. A small laugh escaped me as Damon also began to chuckle. He groped me as we ran up the stairs, and we both clutched each other as we tried to muffle our laughter. “Ssshhh,” I hushed him, opening the door to our room.

  A sound from down the hallway made us look to where Hayden was standing, surprised. He had obviously just woken up. Perhaps we weren’t as quiet as we thought as we made our way to my bedroom.

  “Sorry,” I apologised. I felt like a teenager all over again: giggling and silly. I grabbed Damon’s tie and pulled him into my room, closing the door behind him. My hands trailed over his shirt, trying to tear it apart. Damon walked me back onto my bed where I fell, hitting my head on the wall.

  “Ow,” I giggled, rubbing my head. Damon only smiled, kissing my lips and claiming them as his.

  “Be quiet, Clover. I don’t want to ruin the good impression I’ve made,” Damon whispered as his hand trailed up my smooth legs and ripped at my panties.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I was sad to have to leave my family once again; the time had flown by far too quickly. The weekend quickly passed over and soon I was sitting back in my office. Hayden hadn’t returned on Sunday as he had to attend some meetin
gs and cover a new contract with a player. However, he would be there for our Fijian trip, which began tomorrow.

  For the first time since, well, I can’t remember when, I spun happily in my leather seat at work, feeling somewhat childish. Returning to my home with Damon brought back an old side to me, or should I say, reminded me of my youth. I bit on the end of my pen, unable to focus. Flashbacks of the night we had spent together writhing on my old bed swept through me, making me hot with desire. The way that Damon pinned me down and took me for himself; the way his eyes locked on my naked body. He loved me and the glisten in his eyes expressed that. I was his. Having him in my old room was a foreign feeling. I don’t think I had ever taken a man there. Damon was the first and it was a special memory I would keep to myself. It was very unprofessional of me, but I just felt then I had to see him. I hadn’t seen him since he had dropped me off after our trip.

  I resisted the urge for a while, until I realised thirty minutes had already passed and I was still considering the same thing. Huffing in agitation, I gave up and found myself walking to the elevator to see him. I just couldn’t contain myself anymore. Maybe after this I would be able to get some work done.

  I walked past Heidi’s desk, but she wasn’t there. Sitting in one of the waiting chairs beside Damon’s office was a very beautiful woman. Her long brunette hair was pinned up very tightly, as tight as the shirt that barely contained her generous breasts.

  My heels clattered noisily on the marble floor as I approached and she looked up expectantly. “Ah,” she exclaimed, uncrossing her legs in her pencil skirt and collecting her purse. “You must be Heidi, Damon’s personal assistant?”