"Okay," he whispered, his lips less than an inch from her ear. "Turn around. I have another surprise for you."
Another surprise? She doubted she could handle many more. She turned slowly, allowing her hair to slip from her fingers and cascade down her back. She was once again struck speechless as Damon fell to one knee with a small velvet box in his hand.
He cleared his throat and began to look slightly nervous. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips at seeing him looking so uncomfortable.
"Last night I really didn't get to do this properly." He motioned towards the bedroom. "This isn't exactly the way I'd envisioned proposing to you either, but," he sighed, "It is what it is."
"This is perfect Damon." And she meant it.
His body relaxed slightly as he took her left hand in his. "Katrina, when I think back over my life. And I've been doing that a lot lately, the only time I really felt happiness was when I was with you. You were my best friend, my first love..." He chuckled, glancing up and catching her eyes, "My only love. I swear to you now that you'll never want or need for anything again. You, and if we're lucky our baby, will be my world. I want to give you the world Katrina. I've loved you from the day we met and I'll love you for the rest of our lives and beyond."
Oh God. The tears. She fought them back, knowing the make-up she'd spent a half an hour to apply would be for nothing if she let the flood gates open.
"So." He opened the case and she gasped. She'd never seen a diamond so perfect. He pulled the ring from the case and stuffed it into his outer jacket pocket. "So will you, Katrina Alexander, do me the immense honour of being my wife?"
"Of course. I love you Damon. Of course!" He slipped the ring onto her finger and stood.
Oh, here we go!
"Damon Garratt, you bastard." The tears began to stream down her face trailing long streaks of black in their wake. She sniffed and grabbed for a tissue, trying to salvage her make-up. "You've made me ruin my make-up!"
He chuckled, pulling her into his arms. "I'm sorry baby."
"You are not!"
He laughed louder.
Sliding her hands up his chest she laced her fingers behind his neck and pressed her body tight against his. "Are you sure there's no way we can skip the thingie and just stay here?" She kissed the side of his neck lightly, and he groaned.
"Wish we could. Besides, you look stunning. We don't want that to go to waste."
She kissed his neck a second time, hoping to entice him.
"Not going to work woman." Despite his words, his cock told a different story as it began to harden against his stomach. He groaned a second time as her hand slipped between them to stroke the ridge of his shaft over the layers of clothing. "No. No, no, no." Damon pulled away and stepped out of her embrace. He tapped the bridge of her nose. "Later. Besides, we won't stay long. We have a long day tomorrow, and the following day..." His voice trailed off leaving her anxious to hear what he had in mind.
"Which is..."
He shrugged. "I'm not at liberty to say, Miss Alexander."
"Damon!" She heard the high pitched whiney note her tone took and winced, but he didn't seem to be bothered.
His grin widened and he shook his head, determination in his gaze. "Nothing you can do will change my mind, so you might as well finish getting ready. Don't want to be late."
Katrina sighed and turned towards the large mirror connected to the double dresser. Oh-my-God, I look a mess. Her smeared make-up made her look like a crazed clown.
"Ten minutes sweetie. Then we gotta leave."
Ten minutes to fix this! She groaned and prayed she could get cleaned up fast enough.
Chapter 13
Damon could feel the nervousness and tension within Katrina as she clung to his arm and they entered the ballroom.
"I'm freaking scared Damon," she whispered as they began to descend the black marble staircase that lead to a ballroom with roughly three hundred people fraternizing. There were twenty-five tables set up with twelve place settings per table. Dinner was to be served in a half hour with an up-and-coming blues band providing the music for the evening, after the supper.
"Why?" He glanced down at her frowning.
"Look at all the women. They're gorgeous. And they all look so..." She nibbled at her lower lip, considering her next words.
"Snotty?" he offered.
She laughed, her body relaxing somewhat next to his. "Yeah. But they're all nice people right?"
Damon's eyes surveyed the crowd with seriousness and then shook his head. "Most of them are pompous assholes, but they're business associates and people that can be useful so we have to endure I'm afraid." She looked up at him and caught his gaze. "And play nice."
She rolled her eyes at him. "I work as a server; I spend a good chunk of time pretending to like people I can't stand each week. Nothing new here. But it feels like they're watching us."
"Besides, they're not watching us. They're watching you," he leaned down and whispered.
"Oh and that's supposed to make me feel better?"
He shook his head. "Nope."
"Why watching me?"
"Cause I never bring a date to these things and you're easily the most stunning woman in this place."
"Why not?"
He frowned. "Why not what?"
"Why do you never bring dates to these things?"
"Because I rarely date. Never had time." He lowered his voice substantially and leaned into her. "Oh, and they don't know about the cancer so lets keep it that way."
Her smile fell, and he hated his words were the reason and that he had to remind her of his condition, but if some of the people in the room knew of his medical problems then it could cause him some issues with a number of the big deals he had in the works. Their continued ignorance on the issue was imperative.
"Okay."
"But, the engagement is completely open for discussion, and as soon as they see the ring, I assure you they won't be reserved enough to not ask."
"Damon Garratt, did you give me the ring just so I could show it off?" she teased.
He laughed. "I gave you the ring so they would stop suspecting I'm gay."
Katrina joined in his laughter as they reached the ballroom floor. "You're joking. Why would they ever think that?"
He wished he was. There had been one event where he'd been propositioned by a male business associate. It had been awkward to say the least and he was just grateful the other man had been drinking rather heavily. They brushed it off as something the other man said out of drunkin' stupidity. "Hmmm. Well, I never show up with a date to any of these things. No one has any knowledge of any girlfriends in my history. It's not that hard of a conclusion to jump to."
Her grasp onto his arm tightened and she snuggled tighter to him as the first couple approached them - his first in commend Kevin Gilbert and his wife Judith.
"Damon, how are you?" Kevin extended his hand to Damon, but his eyes were on Katrina. "So this is your friend from Bangor?"
Damon nodded. "Kevin and Judith, this is Katrina Alexander, soon to be Katrina Garratt."
Kevin's smile faded into a tight grimace. "What do you mean?"
Damon would have laughed at Kevin's reaction if it hadn't been so insulting, but he was sure this was only the first of similar reactions. "I mean, I proposed last night and she said yes. So we're getting married."
Kevin's eyes shot over to Katrina. "Congratulations. That's great news." His wife mimicked his sentiment, but with a little more truthfulness in her congratulations.
"I think so."
"Katrina, do you mind if I steal Damon away for a moment?"
Katrina shot Damon a terrified look. Giving her hand, resting on his arm a reassuring squeeze, he nodded.
She gave Kevin a smile and nodded. "Of course." She reluctantly released his arm.
"Don't worry Damon, I'll keep her busy while you two talk shop." Judith, a tall, slender woman of her mid-twenties stated slipping an arm around Katrina's shoulder
s.
Katrina and Damon locked gazes for a moment and the fear in her eyes lessened slightly when he mouthed, I love you. Turning his attention back to Kevin, the two men walked out of earshot. Damon didn't have long to ponder what Kevin's concern was, he lunged right into it.
"When did this happen?"
"Last night."
"Rather fast, don't you think?"
Damon chuckled. "Considering I should have done it a decade ago, I wouldn't say so."
"It's going to be a long engagement?"
"For sure. We can't get our marriage licence until tomorrow, so we wouldn't be married until Tuesday. So there's going to be a couple days before the wedding."
In the process of taking a sip of his drink, Kevin began to choke. His eyes - which had begun to water from his choking fit - jerking up to meet Damon's in disbelief. "You can't be serious! You're getting a pre-nup I assume."
A part of Damon felt he should be angry at Kevin's intrusive questions, but he cut him a little slack. It was a shock and under other circumstances he imagined he'd be as shocked as Kevin was. Perhaps even asking similar questions.
"No pre-nup."
Damon was about to speak, then thought twice about it. Damon could see him considering his next question. "Do you think it's wise not to? What if she's taking advantage of your," he cleared his throat averting his gaze and glancing over at the two women chatting, "of your... situation."
Damon took a deep breath in and slowly released it, giving himself a moment to gather his thoughts before saying something he shouldn't out of anger. Grasping the other man's shoulder he leaned into him and their eyes locked. "I'm going to make this very clear to you. Katrina is not taking advantage of my condition. I'm marrying her because I love her and I have no desire to explain our relationship any further than that, so I expect her to be treated with the respect that you would treat me in. She's going to be around a lot and learning about the company, catching up to speed on every aspect. I expect you'll assist with her with whatever she needs."
"You're serious?" A look of distress crossed his features and gleamed in his blue eyes.
"Have you ever known me to joke when it comes to my company?"
*****
"So, what do you think, so far?"
Katrina sighed as she slipped into Damon's arms and held tight to him as the blues band played a soft, sexy melody. "I'm actually exhausted. All these people... They seem so..."
"Phoney?" he offered, his lips close to her ear and his voice so low that only she could hear. The warmth of his breath tickled her neck and sent a tremor of need through her.
She nodded. "Very. Though I will admit that I kinda enjoyed the look of envy in the women's eyes when they found out we're engaged." That was an understatement. She'd loved it - relished it.
When they were growing up, her family had lived paycheck to paycheck. She never did without, but she never had the brand names or the finer things many of the girls had. She'd spent a lot of time envious of the other girls, things they had and vacations they got to take with their families. Tonight she got to be the woman who had everything, but most importantly, who had the most amazing man on her arm. She felt like the prom queen. And it was all because of him.
He pulled back and smiled. "So you're happy?"
Happy couldn't begin to describe what she was feeling, despite the dark cloud that was looming over their relationship. "Very happy." She pressed herself a little tighter to him and unable to resist herself and unconcerned about the people around her, she brushed her lips across his.
"Mmmmm. Well, the dinner is over and I think we've made a long enough appearance that if we wanted to take off I'm sure no one would notice."
Katrina looked around them; several sets of eyes were watching their every move - Kevin and Judith in particular. "Oh, I think they'd notice."
"Let me rephrase this. I want to leave and don't care if they notice. But we can stay if you're having a good time and would like. Keep in mind you'll be attending thousands of these things with me in the coming years."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled against his neck. Years of this. Of him. She couldn't think of anything she'd want more. "Then let's get out of here."
His body relaxed, he released her and slowly put some distance between them. "Fantastic. I was hoping you'd say that. This past hour all I could think about was taking you home and getting you out of that dress." Grabbing her hand he led her to the exit as he pulled his valet ticket from the inner pocket of his jacket.
He passed the ticket to the young man at the door, who thanked him and disappeared into the parking garage.
"Shouldn't we have least said good-bye to Kevin."
Damon huffed and gave his head a curt shake.
Katrina had noticed his demeanour with Kevin had gotten rather cool after they'd taken off to have a brief discussion. It made her wonder what was said between them, though she didn't want to ask. If he wanted her to know, he'd tell her. Maybe it was business, but she suspected it had to do with her and their quickie engagement and wedding plans.
Which brought her to the question of what he had planned for the wedding? A small ceremony on the edge of a cliff overlooking an ocean at some country club. A simple ceremony in front of a judge in Houston? She was anxious to find out and he seemed to be rather closed-mouthed about his plans.
"So where are we getting married anyhow?" It was a long shot in the dark, but what the hell; she'd give it a try.
He glanced down at her and a smirk touched his lips. "Oh, that's for me to know and you to find out."
Before she had a chance to inquire further the valet pulled up with the top down on Damon's canary yellow Lamborghini Aventador.
"I think this is my favourite car of yours Damon."
"Car of ours," he corrected as they reached the car and he passed the valet a tip. Katrina had no idea how much he gave the young man, but whatever it was the valet seemed thrilled to get it. He opened the passenger door for her and she slid in. Closing the door once she was seated, she watched him as he walked around the front of the car to slip in behind the wheel. Like a hundred times before now, she was amazed at how amazingly sexy he'd become. She'd seen the women at the event watch him with lust in their eyes. All he would have had to do was say the word and she was sure the vast majority of them would have happily left their dates and bent over any table just for a fast, hard fucking from him.
And he was hers. All hers.
Within ten minutes they were travelling down the highway, with the warm night air blowing her hair wildly around her head and into her face. Her eyes lowered to his hand on the shifter and then to his lap and more importantly what was contained within his black trousers.
Her hand slid onto his leg, half-way between his knee and his groin. His body tensed under her hand and he glanced over at her, eyebrow raised. "If you're trying to seduce me into telling you where we're getting married then it'll take a little more convincing than that."
"Is that a challenge Mr. Garratt?"
He shrugged, shifting his eyes back to the road. "I'm just saying... That information is vaulted."
Katrina's hand slid a little higher on his thigh. "Vaulted? Are you sure?"
Chapter 14
Damon's cock jerked alive in his pants as her hand crept higher and higher on his leg. "You know it's dangerous to be teasing a man who's driving."
She shot his a sassy look and cocked a brow up at him. "That so?"
"It's a safety issue," he teased.
She swiped her tongue over her lower lip, making it shine, calling to him, urging him to kiss her hard and deep. He took a deep breath in, trying to ignore the feelings sweeping over him. It was an impossible task. He surveyed their surroundings as her hand made it to his groin and cupped his balls, squeezing gently.
"Kat," he groaned, "Stop or I swear to God I'll stop this car and fuck you on the damned hood." It wasn't an idle threat he'd been fighting his erection all night, especially when the
y'd begun to dance and she had rubbed her body up against his. At the time he hadn't been sure if she'd been doing it on purpose or by mistake, but he was suspecting it had been on purpose. It would serve the little bugger right if he followed through with the threat.
Ah-hah! There's a spot coming up! She gave his balls another squeeze and he flicked on the blinker, more out of habit than for the benefit of other drivers. The highway they were on was somewhat out of the way and rarely used, but it was the quickest way back to his, correction, their ranch.
"What are you doing?" Katrina didn't move her hand, but her caressing his balls stopped as she sat up straighter in the passenger seat. Alarm began to register in her eyes and he grinned.
"Going to show you what happens when you tease," he explained as the car slowed into the parking lot of an abandoned gas station. The gas station was a little Texas Chainsaw Massacre in style, but it would do.
Katrina snatched her hand back and laced her fingers on her lap. "Seriously, what are we doing here? It's creepy."
"Adds to the excitement, don't you think? Besides, if I notice any large men wearing someone else's face skin as a mask I'll pull out and get us out of here."
Giggling, she gave him a slap on the shoulder. "Come on Damon. Let's get out of here. I promise I'll behave until we get home."
"Too late now, Kat." Damon slowed the car and parked it out of sight of the highway, the worn and neglected brick building blocking the view of them from anyone passing by on the highway.
"But what if someone comes? We almost got caught at the lookout."
"I'm pretty sure Mark isn't in Houston," he teased shutting off the car and undoing his seat belt.
Kat rolled her eyes at him, but a flicker of desire appeared in her blue eyes.
"Since I'm such a nice guy, I'll give you two choices. Either you can be a good little girl, get over here and fuck me or we get out, I hike up your dress and fuck you from behind over the hood."
An Heir For The Billionaire Page 10
