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CHAPTER ONE
I took a deep breath, then winced I was trying to enjoy basking in the Miami sun, but I was still a little sore It had been over a h to work now, but I still got occasional reminders of what had happened to
My phone chiain I needed to remember to keep it in the off position It helped me to delay the inevitable I reached down to the concrete below ripped my phone, and held down the off button until it powered off
Just seconds later, I heard the Kings of Leon song that served as Stephan’s ringtone begin to play He sighed heavily fro into the hotel bar that was nearest the pool If I hadn’t been sure my text was from James, I was now It was his pattern lately He would call Stephan after failing to get ahold of ed to answer his calls It had been the cause of an unusual new tension that had sprung up between us
A different figure loo a shadow as it hovered near the seat that Stephan had just vacated
“Mind if I join you, Bee?” Damien asked in his heavy Australian accent I didn’t open nized his voice easily enough
I ed beside me
Stephan and I had had to call in several big favors froet to Miami for our layover
But I had wanted so desperately to avoid New York this week that Stephan had made it happen
Soed to do the same, after Stephan had casuallyour New York trip for the week At first, I’d thought it was rather stalker-ish of the on reat company for a person who just wanted so coht-hearted comments that drew me out of my black moods And he was accompanied by Murphy h Evenme lately
“That cover-up is gonna give you an interesting tan line,” Damien said in an amused tone
I wore a black swihs I wore it over my plain black bikini
The coverup was see-through, but it was just dark enough to mostly obscure the faint traces of bruises that still patterned my torso in a stark reo They had faded considerably, but they were still dark enough to need covering I would draanted attention if I bared h unwanted attention lately The paparazzi would take any excuse to e them
“No one wants to see what’s under this cover-up Trust
He coughed back a little laugh that h to know that Damien was more than a little interested in me in a romantic way Any reminders of the fact were unwelcome
“I beg to differ,” he said quietly, and I felt myself frown
“Sorry, sorry,” he said quickly, before I could speak I let it go As long as he kneasn’t interested in anything beyond friendship, I was content to let sleeping dogs lie
Dareat coured it was just second nature to him to try to to show interest in any woman in his vicinity And it was also in his nature to flatter any woiving hi
“Is everything okay between you and Stephan? I’ve never seen you guys like this before You’re so stiff with each other Are you fighting?”
My gut clenched Things did seem off between us, and I wasn’t sure how to ured he had to be at least a little resentful ofhim miss his week’s worth of Melvin time this week
Not that I had actually made him I had told him o to New York The cree had traded with had even agreed to just do a single trade with ether He orried about me, I knew
I liked Daht of him as a friend One ofmy difficulties with Stephan with anyone It felt almost disloyal
“He’s just worried about e,” I explained It was all true, but didn’t address the reason for our aardness
Damien made a neutral little hu okay? I saw a little bit of the et tired of all that, and drop him? You could have any man you want, you know”
I sucked in a breath Da questions like that It hy he had ood company lately
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said, my tone cool
He got the hint “Da my foot in my mouth, aren’t I?”
I gave a half-shed
“Well, I guess I owe you now You want to askquestions about my personal life?”
he asked He had a great s humor It would have been hard not to smile back I didn’t even try
“Nope,” I told him with no hesitation
He laughed again, as though I was uess when you answer yes to that question, I’ll know I have you where I want you”
I just wrinkled my nose and turned my face away
“Wanna take a walk on the beach?” he asked, after several minutes of silence