Page 37 of Twice as Tempting

“Good. Really good,” he said as he stepped back to let Donna see.

Kelly turned back around and smiled brightly. “I love it,” she said.

“It looks gorgeous on you, and I’m sure your husband would agree.”

“Gorgeous,” he repeated, but his eyes weren’t on the dress. They were locked on hers, and they exchanged a silent acknowledgement of what he really meant.

“Who does that?” Kelly exclaimed when they were back in Damian’s truck, the dress bag lying on the seat between them. “Why would that woman assume that we were married?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s my outfit,” Damian teased.

Kelly had to laugh. “Cargo shorts don’t yell married, Damian.”

“Well, what about the polo shirt? If I would have been wearing my Rolling Stones t-shirt, she might have thought that we were a couple of young hipsters who were dating.”

Kelly shook her head. “I don’t think your clothes have anything to do with it. I think it’s because we’re at that age where people assume we’d be married by now.”

Damian raised his eyebrows but kept his eyes on the road.

“Not as in you and me specifically, but well, you know what I mean.”

“Relax, Kell. I get your point. Actually, I’m a little surprised that you’re still single. Seems like you would have been swept off your feet by now.”

“Maybe I haven’t wanted to be,” she replied indignantly.

He glanced over at her and shrugged. “Whatever.”

“Well, what about you? We’re the same age, so why haven’t you tied the knot yet?” The look on Damian’s face told the story, and Kelly instantly regretted asking the question. It was obvious that Damian was still affected by his broken engagement whether he wanted to admit or not.

“Marriage and kids aren’t really on my radar,” he replied, his eyes fixed on the road.

“But you’re so good with your nieces. You’re like a baby whisperer. Any time you come within five feet of Ava, she stops crying, and Gracie worships the ground you walk on.”

Damian’s mouth twitched at her description. “I love those girls, but it’s not the same as having your own kids. Honestly, it scares the hell out of me.”

Kelly raised her eyebrows in surprise. She never would have connected the word “scared” with Damian. The man had confidence in spades, so his admission came as a bit of a shock. “Why’s that?”

“It’s like this; if I mess something up when I work on a car, I can always fix it. But if you mess up raising your kid—well, there’s no fixing that.”

“Why would you assume that you’d mess up?”

“I don’t know, Kell. In life, there are certain things that you just know that you’re good at, and I tend to stick to those.”

He took his eyes off the road to shoot her a sly glance, and she understood exactly what he was referring to. “You’re terrible,” she said while a giggle bubbled up.

“But I’m damn good at it!” he replied.

By the time they reached their apartment complex, it was dark.

“Let me walk you to the door,” Damian offered once he had helped her out of the truck.

“It’s right there,” Kelly pointed. “You can wait here until I get in if you want to.”

“Let me walk you up,” he repeated, and he grabbed the dress bag out of her hands.

“Ok, fine.”

They walked up the three flights of stairs to her apartment, with Kelly leading the way. “Are you looking at my butt?” she called over her shoulder.

“No. Not at all,” he said, followed by his gruff laughter.

“Liar.”

When they reached her door, she put out her hand to take the dress from him, but he used it to pull her up against his hard-as-a-brick-wall chest. “I’m going to kiss you goodnight now,” he warned, right before his lips came crashing down on hers.

Kelly was trapped between her door and his unyielding body, and she melted into his kiss. She felt an intoxicating combination of familiarity and newness because it had been so long—too long—since they’d been this close. She opened her mouth and moaned as his tongue met hers, and her body responded to him with the usual passion. Oh, how she wanted to grab his shirt and pull him into her apartment, but a few seconds later, he abruptly pulled back, and she instantly felt the night chill surround her.

“Goodnight, Kell,” he said and handed her the dress bag.

Wait! I’m not done! “Goodnight, Damian,” she said before he turned and headed down the stairs.