by C. Shell
"I can go out there for you if you like?" Sasha says for the umpteenth time. I think she is secretly craving the thought of letting loose on Daemon. She has always been one who prefers to handle her problems straight on, instead of hiding from them, like I am doing right now.
"No thanks,” I answer politely. I’m still trying to find the courage I seem to be lacking. I am not normally the meek and scared type, and acting so now, is not setting well with me.
I hate the idea of any of my friends getting into an altercation with Daemon over me. This is my problem, and I need to be the one to deal with it. I wanted more time to work out my feelings and figure out my next move, but just like with everything else, the stubborn ass is forcing my hand to act first and think later.
Pushing away my half-drunk cup of coffee, I glance nervously towards Sasha before making my way towards the front door. My feet drag as I walk. They don’t want to move. I can’t blame them. I wish things were different. I wish...I wish I didn’t love him.
Taking a deep breath, I lay my palms against the exterior of the door. Even through the thick layers of the wood, I can feel his heated energy seeping through. My traitorous body reacts to his nearness as goose bumps spread up and down my arms.
Reacting before I have a chance to chicken out, I quickly open the door. I am not sure what I expected to find, but the sight of Daemon disheveled, and looking as though he has literally been to hell and back, is a shock to my system. He’s still wearing his tux from the party last night, except now it is a mass of wrinkles, and his hair is standing up in all directions. Knowing Daemon, he’s probably ran his hands through it near a hundred times since I left him last night. I swallow, trying unsuccessfully, to dislodge the lump in my throat. I don’t think he’s slept at all. His eyes seem glassy and outlined in dark circles that makes him look a bit crazed and desperate. I hate seeing him this way, but his ill state is not enough to break through my petulant anger.
He did this to himself, I silently repeat to myself.
"What do you want, Daemon?"
Wrapping my arms around myself for support, I stare him down with more force than I actually fell. I might feel weak, but I refuse to show it. I stand tall, straighten my shoulders, and act as if I am a warrior standing down an opponent, instead of a broken-hearted woman wanting to hide in her bed all day, and cry herself to sleep.
And the Oscar goes to ...me!
"Oh Tulip," he sighs, staring deep into my eyes. The intensity of the longing and despair staring back at me hits me like a Mack truck. Breaking eye contact, I glance down and silently wish I was wearing something other than my black yoga pants and loose fitted ‘Kiss the Cook’ t-shirt, I won last year at the annual food festival. With my hair tied up in a messy knot on top of my head, I no doubt look like something the cat drug in.
His clothes might be wrinkled, but they still fit him nicely. I try hard not stare at the perfectly shaped abs peeking through his custom-fitted shirt. I absently rub at my mouth, making sure that I’m not visibly drooling.
That would be so embarrassing!
Even wrinkled and messy, he looks downright edible. I curse my traitorous body for still having a reaction to him. Obviously my girlie parts missed the message about him being the enemy. Ignoring the heat building in my belly, I search for the right words to convey the hurt I feel, but nothing seems right, so I stay quiet.
He sighs. "I am so sorry you had to find out everything the way you did. I wanted to tell you myself, but I was afraid of how you would react.” He lifts a hand to my cheek, brushing his thumb across it gently. I don’t move, not accepting his touch, nor rejecting it either. His eyes close half-mast as he continues, “I screwed up. I waited too long and now the exact think I feared has come true."
So many thoughts and questions are bubbling up in my mind. I’m having a hard time deciding which one to grasp onto first. I can faintly hear Sasha and Tony in the living room talking amongst themselves. I know they are listening in. I wouldn’t expect anything different. I’m thankful they are staying back and letting me handle this my way. It is not very often Sasha keeps her options to herself. Her self-control is not normally so disciplined. I am sure Tony is to thank for that.
I pull back from his reach, no longer wanting to feel his heat mingling with mine. I’m don’t want to hear his excuses. He doesn’t get to play the victim. I cross my arms over my chest and get ready to stand my ground.
"Don't give me that line of bullshit, Daemon," I hiss. "You had plenty of time and hundreds of opportunities to come clean with me, and you never did. Does Gary even know that you have been dating me or was this some set-up between you two from the very beginning? Did Gary ask you to humiliate me as some sort of revenge for me leaving him?"
Once the questions start spewing from my mouth I can't seem to stop them. My hurt is quickly morphing to anger. My entire body feels electrified and alive as I shake with a blinding rage that is starting to take me over. I have never felt anything like it. It is both terrifying and freeing at the same time.
"You actually think I would try and hurt you on purpose?" He asks raking a hand through his already tousled hair. My heart beats faster remembering just how silky his hair felt running through my fingers. I twist my own fingers together in front of me, fighting off the craving to reach up and brush back, a stay strand of hair that has fallen on his forehead.
"I don't really know what to think anymore," I answer honestly.
Leaning his hands on either side of the door frame he leans in towards me. "I hate having this conversation standing outside for all of the world to overhear. Can I please come in?"
I glance around, just now taking notice to the few nosy neighbors of mine, who are unsuccessfully trying to appear nonchalant, as they eavesdrop on our conversation. Shame on them. Peeking through their half-closed blinds and absently tending to an impetuously perfect garden, is not being inconspicuous. I swear some people have no sense of personal space. Kind of like the sex-on-a-stick standing in front of me.
Ignoring the roaring alarms going off in my head screaming to me that I am making a big mistake, I nod a small yes, and move aside so he can come in. "We can talk in the living room," I murmur, closing the door soundly behind him.
Sasha and Tony look up from their seats on the couch as we stroll in. Neither seems surprised or happy to see Daemon in my home. The atmosphere surrounding all of us, is anything but comfortable, as Sasha pins Daemon in place with her icy gaze. As much as I would enjoy letting her have a chance to put him in his place, I really just want to get this conversation over with so he will finally leave.
"Do you two mind giving us a moment?" I hesitantly ask, peering at them through pleading eyes. I have no reason to ask anything of them after the many tears of mine they have wiped in the last twenty-four hours, but here I stand, doing just that.
Tony stands and offers his hand to Sasha, and helping her up. Walking past us he stops and plants a chaste kiss on my cheek. "We will be in the kitchen. Yell if you need anything, babe," he says giving Daemon a heated look.
Daemon's eyes narrow on me and I can see the wheels in his head spinning. I am not sure what he is thinking. Whatever it is, it can’t be good. His breathing has increased and a tiny vein in his neck protrudes every time he clenches and unclenches the muscles in his jaw.
"What is your problem?" I hiss, once my friends are out of earshot.
Without any warning he stalks towards me. I instinctively walk backwards, taking a step every time he does, until I bump into the wall behind me. Placing his arms on each side of my head, he cages me in. A shiver of anticipation courses through me. I am not afraid of Daemon. I never could be. No matter how much damage he has done to my heart, I know deep within myself, that he would never physically hurt me. He is a liar, not a monster.
Daemon's brows wrinkle with tension. He brings his face inches from mine and holds it there. His breathing deepens as he frantically searches my face. I inhale deeply, enjoying his scent, as it w
afts over me. I steal a glance down at his mouth, and bite down hard on my bottom lip, to keep from learning forward, and capturing his lips with my own.
"Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me there is nothing going on between you and Tony." he rasps angrily.
His words hit me like a cold bucket of ice being thrown in my face. I cannot believe he actually thinks so little of me. I am not some cheap floosy that would stoop so low, as to throw myself at my best friend, hours after being with another guy. Tony is more of a brother to me than a friend, and as good looking as he is, I could never see him as anything more.
What a bastard!
Without any hesitation, my right hand cocks back, and sweeps harshly across his cheek. The loud sound of flesh hitting flesh echoes through the room. I wince and immediately start cursing while shaking out my throbbing hand. I blink in surprise. I have never hit someone before. I wish I could say I enjoyed doing it, but I don’t. I hate that he’s pushed me this far. I hate even more that I allowed him to get under my skin, once again.
"You’re a stupid bastard," I seethe.
Taking a precarious step back, he stares back at me, a jarring look overtaking his perfect face. Score one for me. I’ve shocked the cunning, Daemon Scott. I watch as his jaw clench hard and his fingers lift, rubbing at his freshly reddened cheek. My moment of triumph is quickly diminished as his eyes darken and a predatory look replaces his shocked one.
I’m not backing down. This is my house and hell will freeze over before I bow down to Daemon again. Fuming, I ball up my fists, and tilt my head, meeting him eye to eye. “First of all," I spit out. "Tony is a friend. One of the best besides, Sasha. And second, you no longer have the right to question what I do or with whom I do it with. You lost that right the moment you chose to openly lie to my face."
His Jaw ticks with anger. "The hell I don't," he yells back. "You have every right to be pissed off at me right now, but make no mistake, you are still mine. Mine!" he barks, invading my space and pushing himself up against me.
"How very caveman of you, Daemon. Plan on pissing on my leg also?" I ask, venom dripping off my every word.
"Don't push me, Kelly," he warns. I can't stop my eyes from eating up the way his chest heaves with every excessive breath he takes. Even when he’s mad, he is beyond beautiful.
His close proximity is causing to me to lose sight of the whole reason I let him in my home to begin with. Shaking my head in resignation, I step around him. I need a chance to clear my head and get my priorities back in line.
I rub at my throbbing head, trying to ease my growing headache. "I’m too tired to argue with you right now, Daemon," I sigh. "I need to back to my friends. You obviously weren’t breaking down my door for the fun of it. My patience are thinning, just tell me what you came to say. "
Shoving his hands down into his pockets, he scorches me with his eyes. The silence quickly turns unbearable and I find myself fidgeting. It’s a habit I abhor, and yet I always find myself doing it in awkward and unnerving situations.
"Any day now, Daemon," I snap. I’ve never been the most patient person in the world, and as I stand here waiting for him to throw more at me, I can feel the threads of what is left of it, dwindling down even farther.
"I met Gary my last year in College through a buddy we mutually knew. We weren’t immediate friends, but he was a hell of a tutor, and helped me out a few times when I was having problems keeping my grades up in Physics. After college, we didn’t initially keep in touch, but on a few occasions we would run into each other.” His eyes cut to me nervously. “When Gary called me up asking for a favor, I knew very little about you, except that you were a girl he had been with since high school. He didn’t talk about you much.” He stops talking and gives me a moment to let everything he has said sink in. I’m not surprised Gary’s friends didn’t know about me, we hadn’t gone out and hung with friends together since high school. We weren’t that type of couple.
“I was actually shocked that he had never brought you around before. We all went out to unwind a lot back then, and not once did you ever show up.” His intense green eyes land on me. His gaze does not waiver, making me conscious of how close we are standing to each other. “If you had been my girl, I wouldn’t have let you leave my side. I would have made sure everyone knew that we were together. I wouldn’t have hid you. Everyone would have known that you were mine," he adds, with sad smile.
I roll my eyes. I don’t buy that for a minute. Knowing Daemon, he would have probably have me cuffed to his bed for eternity. He slowly begins pacing back and forth. I can’t hide my smile. Seeing him nervous is slightly amusing, but as he continues to wear a hole in my carpet, it slowly begins to grate on my nerves. The only reason he would be this nervous is if he is about to tell me something bad. Really bad.
I don't know how many more surprises I can take. There should be a limit on how many a person can spring on you within a 24hr period. I think my limit is reached!
"When Gary called, he told me that you were recently graduated and were looking for a job as an interior designer. I don’t know if he ever told you or not, but he believed in you. He thought you were very talented. He actually said, that you deserved a job that would help you grow in your field, he was afraid you would cave and take a position that would squelch your creativity. At that time, my business was just beginning to take flight, and I already had a few good connections under by belt, so I agreed to help him. The next day, I called Cherie and made the deal."
He glances up at me expectantly like he wants me to reassure him that I am fine. Not happening, Bucko!
"Keep going," I say, keeping my voice flat and devoid of emotion. “I know there has to be more to it than just that. If this deal was a secret, than why did I get assigned to your account?”
Nodding he continues. "I swear my meeting you was a complete accident. I had no inclination to know anything about you. After I made the deal with Cherie, I easily wiped you from my mind. You would of stayed that way too if you hadn’t strolled into our conference that day and knocked me in the face with the door.”
I smile as he absently touches his nose. The same nose I made bleed like a son of a gun. My face heats at the memory.
"That rates as one of my most embarrassing moments," I sheepishly admit. "You didn’t make it easy on me either,” I huff, remembering how rude he was towards me that day. “After the meeting, I was headed back to my office, pretty sure that I’d just lost a large account for the company. I was afraid they were going to force me out of my new office, and back into that small cubicle with no view, that I had before."
“I was furious when I realized who you were. Like I said before, meeting you was not on my agenda. Cherie set us up. For whatever reason, she thought we should meet.”
My brows dip in confusion. “Why?” I ask throwing my hands on my hips, “It was her secret to hide as well. She had nothing to gain by us meeting and you had no reason to me mad at me. Besides giving you a free nose job, I didn’t do anything to you. If anyone should be mad, it’s me,” I yell. “You and Gary had no right to play God with my career and make decisions for me regarding my life.”
“That wasn’t my intention,” he counters loudly.
Running a hand over his face in frustration, we stand facing each other, both mad, and breathing hard. I feel unhinged as I contemplate thoughts ranging between slapping him again to climbing up his body like a monkey after a banana.
These thoughts can’t be healthy.
Still locked in our silent, stare down, Sasha silently steps into the room. Wedging herself in between us, she faces me. I sigh, knowing it isn’t fair to put Sasha in the middle of our problems. She’s dating his brother for crying out loud. The last thing she needs to be doing is taking sides on our stupid fights.
“You okay, babe?” Her voice is hard as glass as she glances between the two of us.
“I’m fine.” I answer, waving her off.
“We’re good,” he confirms, not taking his eyes of
f me.
My face heats. “Sorry if we bothered you. Were we that loud?”
She smirks, giving me a wicked wink. “No, baby girl. I forgot my phone and needed to return some calls.” Reaching down, she plucks her phone off the charger near the couch before strutting back to the kitchen.
The moment she is gone, Daemon grabs me and pulls me against him. My voice and breath lodge in my throat, as his body temperature warms and encases me.
“I wanted you,” he whispers softly.
“What?” I ask, confused and reeling from being so near to him.
“From the moment your cheeks turned variable shades of pink, and you started spewing stupid apologies, I wanted nothing else, than to throw you up again a wall, and fuck you until the only thing babbling from your lips, was my name. The fact that you were Gary's girlfriend made it worse. Gary is a good guy, but he didn’t deserved to have you. He’s weak. Even if he tried for the rest of his days, he would never be good enough for you," he deadpans.
His words make my head spin. Did he think I was still with Gary when we met?
I blink. "And you think you’re good enough?"
"No," he admits bowing his head. He studies his hands as if they hold some infinite answer. If they do, I wish they would share it with me. Answers are something I am very low on at the moment.
"I will work every damn day to be the man you deserve. I will make sure you have everything you could have ever need or want. You deserve it all and then some," he says with such force that I don't doubt him for one minute.
My head jerks back and I glare at him. He really does not understand the gravity of what he has done. "You already gave me everything, except the one thing I asked for," I reply bitterly. "I asked you to never lie to me, which you did it right from the start. Everything we shared is tainted. I can’t trust you.”
Daemon closes his eyes. He looks pained and I even after everything that has happened between us, I hate knowing I made him feel that way. It takes everything in me not to retract my words.
