Tiana (Starkis Family #3) (8 page)

“You’re sure?”

“Of course.”

I was already halfway out the door when he said, “Let me know what time to pick you up tomorrow night.”

I flashed him a quick smile, already regretting my decision to invite him. Damon was back and wanted to see me. I didn’t know what that meant, but I liked the idea of leaving my options open in case he wanted to pick up where we’d left off.
Pathetic
. I’d never been
that
girl, the one who sat by the phone and waited for the call that never came or complained to my girlfriends because my guy was being a jerk. Damon was turning me into someone I’d vowed I’d never be, and I didn’t like it one bit.

It was time to set him straight. Either we’d set some ground rules about how this was going to play out or we’d agree to let our mutual attraction fizzle and die instead of stoking it every chance we got.

Apparently, he’d meant
I’m there
in the literal sense because when my taxi pulled up to the curb in front of my building, his Ferrari was parked out front.

“Thanks,” I muttered to the driver, passing him a bill large enough to cover the fare and tip.

“Thanks. Have a good night, lady,” he muttered.

Whether I would or not depended on Damon.

“Hey,” Damon said, his handsome face splitting into an infectious smile as he jumped out of the car. “I’ve missed you.”

Oh.
Those three little words hit me harder than I’d expected. I’d missed him too, though I wasn’t ready to admit it. I wanted to play my hand close to the vest and see what he had in mind before I revealed what I’d been thinking and feeling since his abrupt departure.

“This is a surprise,” I said, trying to resist the urge to lick him like an excited puppy when I caught a whiff of his cologne as he pulled me into a tight embrace.

“A pleasant one, I hope?” he asked, drawing back. He frowned as he gave me a quick once-over, taking in my short blue dress and high heels. “Did I catch you at a bad time? Looks like you’re dressed for a night out.”

“I had a date.” Ha! At least that sent the message I wasn’t sitting around waiting for him, a container of ice cream on my lap and a tissue box at the ready.

“Hmmm.” It was more of a grunt than an acknowledgment. “Miles?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.” I reminded myself that I was supposed to be the one asking the questions. He was the one who’d left town without a word after leaving me wet and wanting.

“Sounds like it’s getting serious.”

I knew he was testing the waters, hoping I would volunteer more information about my relationship with Miles, but I refused to make it that easy for him. “Enough about me. I want to hear about you. Where’ve you been?”

Instead of responding, he opened the passenger door. “Why don’t we take a little drive, and I’ll tell you about it?”

I couldn’t claim I wasn’t frustrated that he would rather drive than get horizontal, but whatever. I’d let him call the shots. For now. “Sure. Why not?” I settled into the low-slung sports car before fastening my seat belt. I waited for him to round the driver’s side and get comfortable behind the wheel before I said, “So where’d you run off to in such a hurry?”

“I had some business to attend to,” he said, easing into the late-night traffic. “Then I spent a few days on my boat. I just needed to clear my head, gain some perspective.”

“Sounds ominous,” I said, trying to hide my curiosity. It wasn’t as if he owed me an explanation. I wasn’t his girlfriend. We weren’t even sleeping together, yet I had a maddening urge to know everything about him.

“Not really.” He sighed. “I guess I’m just not used to having to live up to other people’s expectations.” He flashed me a quick grin when we pulled up to a red light. “I’m kind of used to being the screw-up. That way no one expects too much of you.”

I laughed. “You graduated top of your class at an Ivy League school and were scouted by several Fortune 500 companies after graduation. I don’t think most people would define that as being a screw-up.”

“Ah, but most people didn’t grow up with my old man.”

He curled his hand around the steering wheel, and I noted his knuckles were turning white. Damon didn’t talk about his father often, but when he did, it was obvious they had a complicated relationship. I could certainly relate.

“Looks like you’re kind of stressed,” I said, setting my hand on his thigh. “You want to talk about it?” I’d intended to let him have it for leaving town without so much as a text, but I could tell he needed a friend. I was flattered he’d reached out to me, and I didn’t want to make him regret it.

“Have you ever done something you wished you could take back?”

I laughed. “Of course. Who hasn’t?”

“I don’t regret much,” he admitted. “That’s not to say I haven’t made a lot of mistakes. I have. But I don’t have many regrets. Whatever happened, I just chalked it up to growing up. But sometimes you make a mistake there’s no way to justify, no excuse to defend that level of stupidity.”

I suspected he wasn’t ready to spell out why he was so upset, so I said, “Sometimes we’re our own worst critics.” I wondered if his trip had anything to do with another woman. Maybe he’d slept with an old girlfriend, someone who was now pressuring him. That would certainly have explained his silence for the past six days. Withdrawing my hand, I asked, “What you did, was it really so terrible?”

“I guess it depends on your definition of terrible.” He breathed deeply. “It wasn’t illegal, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“I wasn’t, but that’s good to know.” I knew Damon was a lot of things, but I’d never pegged him for a criminal. Too carefree? Maybe. A womanizer? Definitely. Dangerous? Only to my peace of mind. He turned into the underground parking garage of one of the most exclusive buildings in the downtown core, and I didn’t have to ask where we were going. “Why are you taking me to your place?”

“You’d rather go somewhere else?” When I shrugged, he sighed. “Look, I know I owe you an explanation for the way I left things the other day, but—”

“It’s okay.” I’d never seen Damon so sullen, which told me this wasn’t the time to pressure him. “We can talk about that some other time.” I’d never thought of myself as particularly understanding or forgiving, except when it came to Mia, but Damon’s unexpected vulnerability had brought out my protective instincts. I wanted to find out what was bothering him and offer to help, if I could.

“I just needed to see you tonight,” he said. “The entire flight home, I just kept thinking that I couldn’t rest, couldn’t breathe, until I held you again.”

Um… what was I supposed to say to that?

“I know you well enough to know you don’t do heavy, Eleni.”

An understatement if I’d ever heard one. “No, I don’t. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be a good friend.”
With bennies, if you play your cards right, Starkis.
“I get the feeling you could use one tonight.”

“How do you do that?” he asked, easing the car into a numbered spot next to the black Range Rover he drove in the winter. Killing the powerful engine, he shifted to face me. “How do you read me so easily? So few people know the real me, yet I feel like you do.”

“It’s not as though we just met,” I said, trying to ignore the intensity in his gaze. “I’ve known you for a while now. I’ve seen you with your brother and sister, heard you talk about your family, met some of your friends, and learned a lot about your childhood, both from you and Deacon. That’s given me some insight into who you are.”

Truthfully, I knew more about Damon than any of the men I’d dated and slept with for months. For the first time, I was considering a sexual relationship built on a solid foundation of friendship and mutual respect, and that scared me. It was easier to sleep with a stranger. There was no expectation of pillow talk, no awkward mornings afterward. But would it be that easy to walk away from Damon? Probably not.

“You know because you cared enough to listen.” He held my hand and slowly traced his thumb over the large silver ring adorning my finger. He smirked. “I watched a show once, some stupid reality TV show, where the couple had to pass a test.”

“What kind of test?” I asked, hypnotized by his raspy voice and musky scent wrapping around me in the close confines of the car. I was turned on and had been ever since he’d left me days before. I would be hard-pressed to resist him tonight. No matter what tomorrow night brought, I wanted one night with him.

He looked up, reminding me of the story he’d been telling and the question I’d asked. “They had to answer rapid-fire questions, you know, to prove how well they knew one another.”

“Hmm, sounds dumb.” I didn’t know where he was going with that, but I was pretty sure he was venturing into territory I considered off-limits.

“Does it?” His eyes imprisoned mine, refusing to allow me to look away. “All I could think was that I want someone to know me inside and out. I want her to know how old I was the first time I had sex or kissed a girl, my favorite book and movie, why I chose Yale, and why I hate ice cream.”

I couldn’t breathe. I knew all those things about him. Fifteen. Thirteen.
The Old Man and the Sea. The Godfather.
He didn’t want to follow in his older brother’s footsteps. Brain freeze. I really knew him. Oh God, how had that happened, and what did it mean?

“Don’t look so scared,” he whispered.

I was rarely scared. Mia often told me I was the most fearless woman she knew, but one thing did terrify me: falling in love. Because I knew that led to being dependant on a man and ending up broke and homeless… like my mother.

“I’m not scared.” It wasn’t until I realized my voice was trembling that I had to acknowledge the hand he was holding was shaking too.

“Why?” he asked. “Why are you so scared of letting someone get too close?”

There was no way he could understand. He hadn’t grown up the way I had. He hadn’t witnessed the systematic dismantling of a human being the way I had. My father’s control had been subtle in the beginning, or maybe I’d just been too young to realize what he was doing. He’d dictated where my mother could go, what she should wear, and how much money she was allowed to spend. She couldn’t have a job or friends or learn the language that would allow her to survive in her new homeland.

“Talk to me, Eleni. Please. You know so much about me, yet I feel like I know so little about you.”

I jumped when a car alarm went off behind us. “Are we going to sit here all night, or are you going to take me upstairs?” I wanted to do what I always did when my past overshadowed the present—close my eyes and get lost in sex.

“Whatever you want.”

I didn’t wait for him to open the door for me. I practically stumbled in my haste to get out of the car, to get some fresh air, to breathe again. A man jogged toward me when I rounded the rear of the car. He was tall and very handsome, with low-slung faded jeans and a fitted black T-shirt. His hair was damp, slicked back off his face, and dark, though I suspected it would be sandy blond when dry.

“Hey,” he said, stopping in his tracks when he spotted me.

Damon was reaching into the car, no doubt for his suitcase.

“Hi,” I said.

The stranger’s eyes traveled over my body slowly, taking in my bare legs before wandering over my breasts and eventually landing on my face. He made me feel exposed and unsettled. Or maybe it was just the painful memories and Damon’s questions that made me feel that way. Either way, this guy’s thorough examination wasn’t helping.

“I’ve seen you somewhere,” he said, snapping his fingers. “You’re a model, right? A lingerie model.” His undisguised interest shifted to leering, making me wish I’d worn an overcoat in spite of the warm weather.

“I am,” I said with a tight smile. I figured he must be one of Damon’s neighbors, so I didn’t want to be rude, but the way he was looking at me made me want to push past him and make a mad dash for the elevator.

“Would you quit gawking at her and turn off that goddamn car alarm?” Damon snapped. “It’s giving me a headache.”

“Relax,” the man said, pushing a button on his key ring to deactivate the incessant honking. “What put you in such a mood, Starkis?”

“For starters, you’re looking at Eleni like she—”

“Damon, please,” I said, setting my hand on his chest as I turned to him. I didn’t realize how shaky I felt until he planted his hands around my waist to support me. “I’m tired. Can we just go upstairs?”

He glared at his neighbor before he said, “Get that car alarm fixed tomorrow. I’m sick and tired of hearing it.”

“Just because you own the building doesn’t give you the right to…”

His voice drifted off as Damon swiped his access card and strode through the back door of the building with my hand in his.

“You own this building?” I asked, taking in the opulence with fresh eyes.

I had been to his apartment before, often after dinner with Mia and Deacon. Damon’s penthouse apartment was downtown, which made it the perfect place for a nightcap, but no one had mentioned to me that he owned the freaking building! I knew the Starkis family enjoyed wealth at a whole other level, but I didn’t think I’d ever get used to the disparities in the world. Some went without the basic necessities while others had so much. It didn’t seem fair.

“Is that a problem?” he asked, looking at me warily.

I felt from my downturned expression that my mask had slipped and I was wearing my emotions. Not wanting to invite further questions, I forced a smile as I stepped onto the elevator with his hand on my lower back. “No, I just had no idea.”

He shrugged. “The old man taught me a thing or two about real estate. I know when to invest and when to pass.”

“And this was a good investment?” How could it not be? The units in this building sold for millions of dollars and probably netted him millions in fees every year.

“I’m pleased with the return,” he said, his lips twisting into a wry smile.

“What’s it like?” I asked, the question slipping out before I could pull it back.

“What?”

“Being
that
rich?” I’d had plenty of wealthy boyfriends, but I’d usually dated them in spite of their material possessions, not because of them. But Damon and his family were different. They represented the elite I was sure had scowled at my lost and broken mother when they’d passed her on the street. They were the type I usually despised, not befriended.