Seven Nights of Sin - Lacey Alexander [46]
It was all she could do to keep her jaw from dropping. “Really?”
He gave a slight nod. “Her name was Angie, and she was a nice Greek girl from the block. We’d dated since we were sixteen and…”
“And what?” she asked when he trailed off.
“It was kind of like the insurance business. I didn’t want to be there, but I felt stuck.”
“Oh.”
He looked back to her. “I did love her once—but I had to go. Smartest thing I ever did. And a lesson learned.”
Brenna bit her lip. “What was the lesson?”
“That being tied down in any way makes me feel…well, tied down. So since then, I just don’t do it. I’m happier that way. And I don’t risk hurting anybody.”
“Sounds wise,” she said, trying to ignore the slight churning of her stomach. And it did sound wise, so why was her gut twisting? It wasn’t exactly a news flash that Damon didn’t get into commitment or relationships. He was basically telling her what she already knew.
Only maybe hearing it out loud made it sound a little different.
Because maybe she really liked him.
Not just liked sex with him—but liked him. Being with him, talking with him, learning from him, laughing with him.
“Tell me about your ex,” Damon said, catching her off guard with the request. When she didn’t answer right away, he added, “Unless you’d rather not.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t mind. I…met Wayne five years ago, and he seemed like my dream come true. We married after a year—big, traditional wedding, all the trimmings—and then a year after that his company transferred him from Ohio to L.A. So we moved out here and all seemed well. I guess, over time, I felt us growing apart a little, but I chalked it up to both of us being busy—me with my job at Blue Night, him with his systems development job, and he’d joined a health club and was working out a lot.
“Then one night he went to the gym, but forgot his cell phone. I noticed a missed call, and thinking it might be something important, I listened to the message. I heard a woman saying she was running late, but that she’d be there soon and that she had on a new teddy under her jogging suit.”
“Damn.”
She nodded numbly, lost in the reverie. “Yeah—damn.”
“What did you do?”
“I went to the gym. And I found them working out together and confronted him. He told me everything—that he’d met her there, that they’d hit it off, that one thing had led to another. She was married, too, and a mother of three.”
Brenna appreciated Damon’s grimace.
It allowed her to share her feelings on this particular subject. “I know sex is great and all, but there are a couple of things I hold sacred: marriage and family. I mean, why even bother with those things if they’re not what you want?”
He nodded. “Exactly. Which is why I don’t have ’em.”
“So you can see why I couldn’t forgive him.”
He glanced over at her. “He expected you to?”
“That’s what he wanted. But…once that trust was so totally breached, I knew I’d never feel the same way again.”
“I don’t blame you, babe,” he said, then leaned over to give her a little kiss, which she really needed at the moment. “But I’ll tell you a secret.”
She moved closer, glad they were leaving the subject of her ex behind. Their breakup couldn’t have contrasted more with new Brenna. “What’s that?”
“His loss has definitely been my gain.”
They kissed again, then Damon’s eyes fell shut, leaving Brenna back with her own thoughts—and her own words: Once that trust was so totally breached, I knew I’d never feel the same way again. Wasn’t that how Damon would feel if he found out about her deception, that she was stealing the job he loved and had done so well for so long? Somehow, she’d almost forgotten about it today—so much excitement had passed between them, making it easier and easier to brush anything negative aside.
She knew she was committing all manner of sins with Damon, but the lie was far worse than the others, and as she eased out of bed, walking naked to turn off the stereo and lamps, she suffered a more heartfelt sense of guilt than she had up to now. Because