quiet and contemplative.
A few minutes later, we were sitting down to eat the stew, paired with some thick, crusty bread and a glass of red wine. I felt comfortable and relaxed as Damon and I chatted, the wine helping me loosen up. I thought this was why I was brave enough to broach a new topic.
“Do you remember the day we first met?” I asked, chewing on a delicious piece of bread I’d just dipped in the stew.
“Aye,” Damon replied.
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Back in the car you said the reason your relationship with Lizzy fell apart was because of your inability to trust. But that day, even though you were hesitant at first, you seemed to trust me without even knowing me.”
Damon nodded, swallowing a bite of bread, elbows resting on the table. “You’re right — I did trust you, but it’s hard to put into words the reason why. It was just this feeling you gave me. You had the kindest eyes I’d ever seen, and this is going to sound strange, but it was almost like being offered help from a child. You had this way about you that made me feel at ease, like I didn’t have to worry about you having ulterior motives because you just seemed so…so guileless.”
His tenderly spoken words made me catch my breath as I held my spoon in midair. It felt good to know he’d had that instant level of comfort with me. And for a man like Damon, who had every reason to be wary of strangers coming into his life and trying to take advantage, that meant a lot.
“Oh,” was the response I finally gave him.
Damon reached across the table to take my hand in his. His touch was warm and inviting. “The way I feel about you, it’s unexplainable, but it just is. It’s different from how I felt about Lizzy. It took me a long time to warm up to her, but with you I felt immediately endeared, curious even. I wanted to know you, but I’m just so bad at talking to people that you probably thought I had no interest.”
“I could tell you were just shy. I’m not the most confident person in the world, either.”
“Yes, but you’re not closed off like I am. You’re open to people — you even embrace them without question at times. I wish I could be like that, more open to new things.”
“You are, you just don’t realise it. The very fact that you accepted this role and came all the way to London proves it,” I said.
He seemed to like the idea of being braver than he thought, because he gifted me a small but beautiful smile. My heart thrummed, and a warmth suffused my chest.
We ate the rest of our meal in companionable silence. Afterwards, we helped each other clean up, while Charlie scarfed down some of the leftovers. The remainder of the evening we spent in the living room. It had a large, panorama-style window that looked like it had been built more recently than the original structure. I wondered if Damon had completed the renovations himself. It perfectly showcased the view as the day slowly darkened to night.
There were two couches. I lay on one, listening to an audiobook and letting my eyes drift to the warmth of the fire. Damon sat upright on the other, his ankle crossed over his knee as he read a paperback of some crime thriller. I thought that in another life I could be happy here, happy to spend quiet evenings like these with a man like Damon.
It was late enough when Charlie came and decided he was going to join me on the couch. I chuckled and let him settle his big head on my lap, absentmindedly stroking his fur as I continued listening to my book. I noticed Damon watching us, a wry smile touching his lips. He said something to himself as he shook his head, but I couldn’t hear because I had my earphones in. Still, reading his lips, it looked a lot like lucky bastard.
That made me grin, right before a ball of desire formed in my belly. I wanted to be with him tonight. I wanted to tangle our bodies together and have him make love to me until I fell asleep from exhaustion. Being alone like this only seemed to heighten the way I felt for him, and I wasn’t sure I could last much longer not touching