I am lost. He didn’t know? “I do. A son. He’s five. And once he was born, it kind of tanked my options career wise.” There is a brief silence between us before I ask the looming question. “Is that going to be a problem?”
Damien sniffs sharply and stands up. Then he turns his back to me and puts his hands on his hips as he looks around the room again.
“I am not a family man myself.”
And if I didn’t know any better, I’d say I just tanked my career twice. I should have known better than to think a man like him would hire a woman with a kid to be an all-inclusive personal assistant.
Chapter 27
Ellie
“But that doesn’t change anything.”
Damien’s words, two statements with far too much space between them, both stop and restart my heart again all within less than five seconds. When I don’t say anything, he turns back to face me again, probably to see if I am still breathing.
“So, you’re not going to fire me?” I ask.
“Of course I’m not going to fire you, Annelise. For one, it’s not ethical. Being a mother is not grounds for termination. Why would it matter to me if you have kids?”
“Well, as you now know, I’m a single mother. I have a sister in town that helps me, but other than that, all my sitters as well as before and after school care are services I have to pay for. That’s another reason money has been so tight for me. Hence the modest rental we live in.”
Damien walks back over and bends down. He takes me by the hands and pulls me to my feet. “There is nothing wrong with where you live. And I apologize for never actually reading your resume. I guess you could say I have a different hiring process. I can usually tell if someone is going to work out just by meeting them.”
“Because of the benefits clause?” I ask. I’m only half teasing, but Damien is dead serious when he answers me.
“No. Not completely anyway. You walked into my office with confidence. I could tell you were nervous, but I could also tell that you wanted the job. Not just that, but you knew you could do the job. Your attention to detail was impeccable. Your focus was second only to mine, and you haven’t disappointed me since. Inanyway. So no, Miss Bates. I regret to inform you that you are stuck in a contract with me for the foreseeable future.”
My lips crawl into a slow smirk, and I fight the tears burning the back of my eyes. “You don’t care that I have a son?”
“Honestly, I admire you for it,” Damien answers. “It explains why you’re so good under stress, but also why you get flustered when I ask you to work the night shifts.”
“It does make it kind of hard when I have to find someone to watch him on short notice,” I admit.
“I will be more mindful of that.”
The conversation ends after that, sealed with a kiss. I lean into it, body and soul, knowing full well that it’s still not entirely wise to let feelings interfere with the contract, but also not really caring in the moment.
This time, it is me who leads him to the bedroom. I guide him down the small hallway and close the blinds before pulling my faded Ramones shirt off. Damien pulls me in for another kiss, his hands tracing my curves softly enough to make me giggle and raising every tiny hair on my body.
I lay back on the bed, and he tugs my cotton shorts off, kissing the inside of my ankle and up my calf, over my knee and further north. He hovers over my pussy, his hot breath penetrating through my satin panties, making me wet.
“Sorry I’m not in lingerie,” I whisper, waiting for the contact.
“We are off the clock, Miss Bates. Formality isn’t necessary.”
I am not entirely sure what that means, but it makes my heart pitter-patter in my chest like the wings of a hummingbird. I also don’t care right now. Damien continues north, skipping the anticipated contact altogether, and kisses my stomach and the swell of my chest. He is purposely avoiding all the spots that he knows will drive me wild. Maybe he’s trying to tease me. Maybe he actually wants to go slower this time. I’m not sure, but I’m also not complaining.
Damien stands and slowly strips down to his black boxer briefs. I can see his dick under the stretched cotton. He’s hard for sure, but his attention is elsewhere. On me. He sits down on the bed and lays back, and I crawl towards him. This time, I kiss him, starting with his mouth, down his jawline, his neck and his chest. I take my time kissing each ab until I get lower and lower, teasing the skin around his waistline, watching him tense under my touch. I am on all fours, crouching over him. The idea of his cock, hard and smooth and dripping, in my mouth makes me wetter by the second.
“Fuck me,” he groans as I kiss below his navel. His hands reach up to hold my hair back. He drapes it over one shoulder, exposing the other. Then he uses a finger to draw a tiny circle on my shoulder blade, right where the tattoo is. “Mariposa…”
Suddenly I stop. My mind flashes with a memory. A memory of that word coming from the mouth of a masked man in a dark corner of a hotel. It wasn’t the Redwood, but…
Wait.
My eyes dart to his hip. To the star-like pattern. Another memory surfaces in my vision. It can’t be. Can it?
“What’s the matter, Ellie?” he asks, propping himself up on his elbows. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
