“Dinner’s almost done.” He nods, taking off his coat and handing it to me. I hang it up, careful not to crease it. “I got the dry cleaning picked up. Steaks for dinner.”
“Good. I’m starving.”
He steps into the kitchen, dropping his briefcase on the floor, and then takes his normal seat. “Red wine?” he asks as he loosens his tie.
I jump into action. “Of course.”
I pull down two wine glasses, then a bottle of his favorite red. After pouring the wine, I check on the steaks. When I first met Damien, I didn’t know wine had to breathe, but he taught me. “Smells good,” Damien says, startling me.
“Oh. Thank you.” Grabbing the glasses of wine, I set one down in front of him. He picks it up by the stem, swirling it in the glass for a second before tipping it back and taking a sip. His eyes slip closed in bliss, a bit of wine clinging to his lower lip.
My breath catches, and I lean forward, pressing a soft kiss to his mouth, catching the wine before it can drip onto his crisp white shirt.
He hums against my lips, and I pull back quickly. “Your lips are chapped, love. Have you been biting them again?”
I swallow hard. “A bit, I think. I got a late start today, so I was a little worried I wouldn’t get everything done. I had to drive clear across town to get the right steaks for dinner.”
Damien smiles. “All that, and yet I still don’t have one in front of me.”
Shit. I turn quickly to plate up his steak, then add roasted potatoes and asparagus to it before setting it down in front of him with a flourish.
He cuts into the steak and takes a bite. I watch as he chews, then as he swallows. “Perfect.”
I let out a breath, giving him a smile. “Thank you.” I make my own plate quickly, then sit down at the table across from him. “Did you have agood day?”
“It was long.” Damien takes another bite of his steak, chewing quickly. “These idiots don’t know their asses from a hole in the ground. I’m constantly cleaning up their messes.”
I nod, smiling softly at him as I take a bite of my food.
“It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to pick up their slack. Had to push my lunch off because meetings ran late.”
“Must be why you’re so hungry.”
Damien’s eyes snap to mine, and I look down at my plate. “Yeah,” he finally says. “Did you do anything interesting today?”
I take a deep breath, glancing back up at him. “Not much. Ran some errands, got groceries. Picked up your suits.” I chuckle lightly. “I actually thought I lost the ticket again.”
“That wouldn’t have been good.”
No. No, it wouldn’t have been. “Thankfully, I found it.” I push a piece of potato around on my plate. “Then I got things to make for dinner. And came home and made dinner.”
Damien’s quiet for a moment. “That’s all?”
I look up at him. “Yes.”
His eyes bore into mine, a coldness to them that has a chill racing down my spine. “You didn’t talk to Austin?”
The question stops me dead, my blood freezing in my veins. “Why would you ask that?”
He shrugs casually. Too casually. I don’t trust it. “No reason. Did you?”
I swallow hard, my throat convulsing. “Yes.” It’s better to tell the truth, right? It has to be. “It was a quick call. Just a couple of minutes.”
Damien hums. “Interesting. I thought the two of you didn’t speak anymore.”
I glance around the kitchen. I’m not sure how he even knows wedid.I deleted the call like always. I never mention Austin. I never talk to him when Damien’s around. There has to be a reasonable explanation for him knowing. Maybe he just guessed? That’s possible.
Maybe it was a setup, and he didn’t know at all. Maybe I fed right into it.
