My Exception (My Escort #2) (11 page)

D
amon’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.

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 meetings 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?”

Before I could interrupt to tell her she was wrong, she handed me over a key. “Are you able to give Damon his key to his apartment and tell him thanks? If he needs me, he can call me again anytime,” she said with a bewitching smile.

I couldn’t help but feel a sudden jarring pull on my heartstrings. How did she know Damon well enough to call him by his first name?

“Thanks?” I echoed, trying to understand what she could possibly be thanking him for. Why would he give her a key? She was definitely a beautiful woman. I was horrified to think that was where my mind went.
No, I trust Damon
.

“Yes, for the last month,” she said.

Looking down at the gold card, which was evidently Damon’s apartment key, I felt shattered. I had never been to his apartment, but this beautiful woman had. I couldn’t think straight. My mind swarmed with jealousy. I remembered suddenly Hayden’s surprise that I had never been over to his place. The realisation that Hayden might have been right left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Have you known Damon for a while?” I asked, trying my hardest to disguise my anxieties and be as friendly as possible.

“For a few years now,” she said, tilting her head slightly with a longing smile. “We first met when Damon escorted me to a few business events. I must admit, I’ve admired him for a very long time. I was so grateful when he invited me into his home. That man is sexy,” she said with a wink. “Oh, look at the time. I must go, but please make sure to pass my message onto Mr. Brogradt.” She waved as she walked toward the elevator, then called, “Tell him I expect another dinner out of him soon!”

Dinner? Every fibre of my body wanted to jump on her and hurt her. Never had I felt such an ugly desire to hit someone before. Right now it took all my restraint to not swing around and lash out. I wanted to curse at her because I felt betrayed by Damon. Could he have possibly been cheating on me?
Cheating on me
. The thought sent a shooting pain through me.

Minutes passed and still I stood there, bent over slightly with my hand to my head. I had to get a grip. Slowly I walked to Damon’s desk, slipping the gold card onto his desk. Near where his laptop usually sat was a photo of him and me. The very first photo we had taken together. Without thinking, my fingers slipped over the photo and knocked it over so I couldn’t see it anymore.

*

My heart and gut felt like it had been pulled out. I actively avoided Damon for the rest of the afternoon, so very grateful for the flight I would hop on tomorrow, even if it felt like I was running away. I was running away from Damon.

The woman had even said that he had escorted her. Oh yes, Damon the escort. He told me those days were behind him. His escorting days had to catch up with us sooner or later.

I knew that if I didn’t answer my calls tonight then there was a chance Damon would arrive at my apartment thinking something was wrong, but I couldn’t face him right now.

My phone starting vibrating in my pocket. Hayden Zilch. I gathered it from my pants and answered. “Hello?” my voice rasped.

“Clove? What’s wrong?” Hayden asked.

There was a long silent pause over the phone and before I could restrain myself, I blurted it out. “I think Damon is cheating on me,” I said, a tear sliding down my face before I wiped it away, embarrassed by the extreme emotion that bubbled in me. Saying it out loud seemed to validate it.

“What?” Hayden growled sharply. “Wait, is this because of some brunette chick?”

My stomach felt like it dropped through the floor. She
was
brunette, that woman I just spoke to.

“Ah shit. I saw a photo of him and some brunette together a few times in the last month, you know, in the gossip articles.”

“Hayden, can you pick me up?” I asked, my voice raspy. “If I pack my things up for our business trip tomorrow, can you pick me up from my apartment this afternoon when you get back? Can I stay at yours tonight before our trip tomorrow, just in case Damon comes over? I don’t want to see him right now.”

“Leave now. I will be there in an hour,” Hayden agreed.

Slowly I hung up on him, my arms feeling like dead weights. The room spun around me.