Bethany"You guys get everything sorted out?""They did." She crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair. "Are you going to this outing tonight?""Yeah. It's just to a local bar.""Another club?" Bethany mumbled, rolling her eyes."No. Just a bar. We're going to have a few drinks. I'm going. You should come with us.""I'll see. I was hoping to catch up with some old friends back on campus.""Damon an ass while you guys were there?""He was pretty stressed out. He had his moments.""I hear he and his girlfriend are having issues. I would just steer clear of him. He always acts like this when he's upset about stuff." Ben smoothed his hand down his chest, flattening the tie before standing. "Anyways, keep that on the down-low, but I know you have to interact with him a lot, so don't take anything personal."His girlfriend? Was Ben referring to her and he didn't know? Bethany was aware that she was far from his girlfriend, but surely the senior associate in front of her wasn't talking
BethanyShe didn't think to stop by her office before going to his, her focus simply on setting things straight between them. She needed to know if she was the girl Ben mentioned or if Damon was playing a bigger game than even she had even imagined.Bethany walked off the elevator as Linda, his receptionist, looked up and smiled. Bethany's eyes averted toward Damon's office as the door opened and a pretty blonde she had seen before walked out. The girl waved and smiled to Linda as she fixed the smudge of her lipstick on her bottom lip. Her clothes were a little disheveled or appeared to be.Stopping cold in her tracks, Bethany's eyes followed the woman, who seemed out of place in the middle of their office. Her heels were a little too high, her dress a little too red.This had to be the other woman.Linda said something, but Bethany didn't hear her as she turned and walked to Damon's office. She reached out and pushed the door open, slamming it behind her.Damon turned around, his han
BethanyBeing back on campus felt good, felt right. Bethany breathed in deeply, the heat in Texas stifling, but the smell of fresh-cut grass and honeysuckle made it worth dealing with. She wasn't looking forward to working for one of the business professors for the next semester, but it was a requirement of the master's program. She would just buckle down and get through it and keep her eyes on the future.The future.It seemed as though Damon was willing to be a part of that plan. She honestly couldn't fathom it without him in it, and yet they still had so many obstacles to jump over to get there. The fact that they were about to be family was the largest, but working together and both being so damn bullheaded were competing for a close second.Bethany moved back as a large group of girls piled out of the business building, one of them turning to give her a once-over. She chuckled and slipped into the coolness. Wanting anything other than a man had not occurred to her, but it was bec
Bethany"There's the girl of the hour!" Krista walked toward the car as Bethany got out, a smile lifting her mouth at the sight of her best friend."Has it only been a couple of weeks? Feels like for-fucking-ever." Bethany wrapped her arms around the other girl and sank into the hug."Can't text or call nobody? Too busy being important?" Krista moved back and tugged at a strand of Bethany's long hair."You too, butt nugget." She winked and walked toward the apartment. She would be staying with Krista most days of the week, some at Kent's place and hopefully some in the arms of her handsome stepbrother. Bethany reached over and ran her hand down the back of Krista's hair."You totally got some low-lights put in your hair."Krista opened the apartment and moved back. "I did. I just felt like it was too blonde. With it being so short and gold, everyone kept calling me Tinker Bell."Bethany laughed and let her eyes scan the living room before sinking into the old beat up green couch she h
BethanyWorry clouded her thoughts as she drove to Damon's house. The situation with Krista and Jake was so odd. It was hard to imagine it happening, and yet it seemed to be. Maybe Krista had been obsessed with Jake for much longer than either of them imagined?Her phone buzzed in the seat next to her, and she pulled it out as she parked the car in front of Damon's place.Damon: Where are you? I'm getting impatient. Bethany: Here. Why does that not surprise me?He opened the car door as she yelped and hit her knee on the steering column."Because you know me so well after only a week and a half?" He lifted his eyebrow and moved back. His white button-down shirt was open, the swell of his beautiful chest and abdomen muscles on full display.She got out, not able to wait another second to touch him. Sliding her hands around his waist inside his shirt, she lifted to her toes and pressed her lips to his with a soft moan. He wrapped his arms around her and tilted his head, deepening the k
Bethany"It's like a fire," she started as she reached up and pushed his shirt from his shoulders, reveling in the beauty of the beast before her. "A sharp, stabbing jolt of electricity. It starts in my stomach and races along my skin, leaving me hot and wet, needy and willing to do anything just to feel your hands on me.""Good, baby. Keep going." He bent over her, pressing his body to hers. The soft brush of his lips along her throat almost undid her, the strong tick of her pulse in her neck only getting worse as he whispered along her skin."It's not just your words but seeing or even thinking about you. I want you to explore me, to teach me and open me up. I need to be beneath you, bent over for you, on my knees for you.""You do, baby. I need you too," he whispered against her ear as his fingers slid between them, pressing softly into her wetness above her slacks as he growled against her throat."I want to drown in your scent and bathe in your depravity. I don't know why you cho
Bethany"What did you mean by 'a training ground'?" Bethany asked before lifting her sandwich to her lips. She sat in one of his T-shirts, her body bare beneath it. Soft music played from the TV as they snuggled into the couch together."Exactly what it sounded like. You're not used to a man wanting to take pleasure from you, both his own and yours." Damon licked mustard from his finger before glancing over at her. "If I'm going to settle down with one woman, I want her to get used to me taking what I want.""Sounds greedy to me." She shrugged, not minding it at all. The idea of him settling down with one woman and her being that woman left her heart racing. What she wouldn't give for that to be the future."It is. Life's too short not to be though." He moved her legs off of him and stood, his slacks the only thing he wore. "Plus, it's not like I'm taking something from you that you don't want to give. I'm talking about opening you up to the possibility that as your man I know what yo
Bethany"I wasn't going to say anything, but I know being transparent and open is important to you, so I promise you one thing ... no secrets between us, at least not from my side of the relationship."He pressed another kiss to her neck and slid his hand to her stomach, pulling her back toward him as he slipped one of his legs through hers and wrapped himself around her tightly. He didn't have to say anything. His action spoke volumes. He wanted love as much as everyone else did, and like half the population walking around lonely, he was scared. How could he not be?"I still hate her, Beth.""I can imagine so." Bethany reached back and ran her fingers along his thigh before pulling from his hold and turning to face him. She lay down on her side, snuggling into him as she nuzzled her face into the sexy smell of his chest."I wish I could just tell Dad, but what good would it do?"She looked up as he reached down and brushed her long hair back, his eyes on her but looking far away from