Bethany"I have some work I need to do tonight," Damon barked as he glanced over his shoulder.Bethany shrugged and kept her thoughts to herself. Dinner had been fun in momentary spurts when Matt wasn't giving Erica stiff responses, and Damon wasn't mumbling half-ass responses. She should have just gone to dinner with Matt by herself.Damon walked into the room and pulled off his jacket, tossing it on the bed and working on his tie. She wanted to move around him and help undress him sensually, but he wasn't in the mood to be bothered with anything, least of all her."Have you met everyone from this Zarpeth team?" She tried to start a casual conversation as she opened her suitcase and pulled out some comfortable clothes.He glanced up from the desk he hovered over and smirked. "I'm the CFO of the company. I put the team together.""Okay, Mr. Sensitive. Shit. I was just wondering who all was on the team. It was an ice breaker of sorts.""We can talk about it at breakfast tomorrow. I hav
Damon"Now that you got your sex? What the fuck does that mean? She didn't want to fuck?" he growled as he took the stairs all the way to the bottom floor of the hotel. She was being so incredibly sensitive, and it was getting old.It was because she was young, that and the fact that their relationship was so new. Why the hell did he propose? It only seemed to add another layer of weight to their already crumbling foundation.Because I love her. Do you?"Yes," he mumbled and walked into the executive club as a pretty redhead at the hostess stand glanced up and smiled warmly."Evening, Sir. Would you like a table with a connection or no?""Damon. Over here, man." Ben's voice caught him off guard, and he moved over a little and lifted his hand to wave at his old friend.Where he needed to get a few things done, the night was young. He could have a drink or two with Ben, catch up and then try to work through some of his ever-expanding to-do list. Besides, he owed Ben a bit of an apology
Damon"Hi, boys. My friends over there and I were wondering if you might like to buy us a drink." She smiled as Ben grunted."Nope. We're gay. Can't you tell?" He lifted his eyebrow and glanced across the table at Damon. "Women nowadays. Jeez."Damon chuckled and lifted his glass to the girl. "Thanks for the offer, but no thanks.""Wait. Are you?" The girl shifted her eyes back and forth between Damon and Ben."We don't kiss and tell." Damon finished his drink and pulled out his laptop as she walked away, mumbling about how all the good ones were taken."You're welcome." Ben tapped the table between them."Thank you?" Damon popped open the computer and ran his finger down the screen to open the programs."Yeah. I was saving you.""From what? A hot woman?" Damon smirked and turned his attention back to the screen."No, from making a mistake. You're with Bethany now, right?" Ben coughed. "You know that's a big ass mistake in the making, right?""We had this discussion already, and you d
BethanyHe wasn't in the room the night before when she got back, and she didn't have the desire to go after him. A sadness settled on her that still held her tightly as she woke Saturday morning. The text from Ben she'd failed to see the night before showed that the team decided to meet up at six that morning. It was almost eight by the time she woke up.Damon wasn't anywhere to be found, but his suitcase was open, and the smell of his skin was on the bed next to her. She got dressed quickly and called Ben as she walked from the room. Her issues with Damon would have to be solved later that evening when she could get him alone for a heart-to-heart. Hopefully kissing and making up would be a part of it, but nothing was happening in the bedroom until she got him to come to the table on why he was being such an unbearable ass."Good luck," she muttered as Ben picked up the phone."Hey, Bethany. Sorry about the late text. No worries about not making the six o'clock pow-wow, it was a diff
Bethany"Let's just start by saying that I'm disappointed." Damon glanced around the oval table they sat at.Bethany had yet to get over the shock of having Philip on the team and seated next to her. They hadn't had more than a minute to say hi to each other before Damon walked into the quaint conference room and caused the mood to shift dramatically.The pretty blond across the table was new to her and had to be Damon's childhood friend, who scary enough looked like a softer version of his ex, Bridget. Sickness rolled through Bethany's stomach as she tried to keep her concentration on Damon. There was no reason to let his words smack her around seeing that she wasn't part of the team that had failed to do their job well."Patrick. Why don't you stand up and introduce yourself, and tell the team what's going on so that they understand fully the shit storm that your team is pulling them into."A dark-haired Hispanic guy stood up and smoothed his shirt as his hands shook."Right. I'm Pa
DamonBethany walked into the bathroom; her shoulders rolled in slightly. She was hurt. Fuck.Of course she went to the one place I can't get to her. Did she not remember him holding her the night before as he apologized for their long evening apart? He was stressed. Did she not get stressed and pull back from all of humanity until she figured things out? Surely she did. Why wasn't he granted the right just to be who he was instead of who she expected him to be? That change would come over time, but fuck, it wasn't instantaneous.Damon waved his hand to silence Patrick and Delilah and moved back, letting the woman into his office. Having to share his space with anyone but Bethany, even workspace sounded like hell on earth. As long as Delilah could remain professional and keep the chattiness to a minimum, they would be all right."Sorry about all of that." Bridget's sister walked in and laid her briefcase on her desk. "Is she-""None of your business." He walked to his desk and sat do
Damon"Pull you back?" Her blue eyes moved across his face as he leaned back a little, but kept his hands locked on her hips; his front pressed to hers."I didn't mean it like that. Don't get even more sensitive. I just needed a minute with you." He leaned down to kiss her, but she turned her face away."Move. You're not at all the man I fell in love with. Back. Up.""What? No. I'm exactly who you fell in love with. You're expecting someone different to show up because I gave you a ring, but that's not how it works. I'm still me. If you don't-""Don't you dare say it," she barked as tears filled her eyes."Beth. Come on, baby. You know I love you. I was there last night wrapped around you. I'm stressed, and shit is hitting the fan. If you didn't work here, it would be a different situation altogether." He trapped her face in his hands and leaned down, taking ownership of her soft lips. She fought against him for a second before moaning and melting into him.The kiss was long and deep,
BethanyMaybe she was overthinking it. A few weeks back he'd been more of an ass than ever, and she'd been fine with it. For some reason, she half-expected him to change simply because of the engagement, but she hadn't changed much, right?She packed up and walked out of the conference room after everyone else had skipped off to dinner thirty minutes before. Damon had texted sometime just after lunch for her to meet him out at the street around seven. After a long day of trying to catch up to where everyone seemed to expect her to be, a hot bubble bath and TV sounded good, but that wasn't happening.As long as there wasn't another fight to deal with, she'd be good. Too much more and she was liable to crack and chuck the ring at him. There was only so much someone could be expected to put up with, even someone head-over-heels.She took the elevator down and stifled a yawn as she walked out of the building. A sleek black Mercedes much like Damon's sat parked in front of the building as