Damon (25 page)

~CHAPTER
20
~

Dane was sitting in the chair five days later when she came back from x-ray
. T
he pregnant woman looked like she was having a good time watching some sort of game show on the room’s television
. H
er laughter could be heard down the hall.

“Pi watches these things like it’s her job
. I
can see the fun in it, but not the why
. P
eople a
re very strange, are they not?
I’ve come to see how things are going
. I
was told not to ask you how you feel
. I
guess that’s a sort of touchy subject for you.”

Charlie was going to snap if one more person inquired about her health
. S
he was fine
. S
he was in a hospital with a broken leg and other injuries, not at home with a cold
. P
oor Byron had gotten the brunt of that little hissy fit when he’d inquired after her yesterday.

“I didn’t mean to take it out on Byron
. H
e was just…he was just there
. I
s he mad at me?”
Charlie wouldn’t blame him if he was
. S
he’d yelled at him for a good ten minutes before he left
. A
dozen roses had shown up an hour later from him, but he hadn’t been back.

“No
. H
e told me to tell you that he left because he was afraid that if you caught him laughing, you might have hurt him
. B
yron has the best sense of humor of anyone I know
. I
think it’s because he’s the middle child or thereabouts
. N
o, he doesn’t anger easily
. I
’ve come to talk to you about some things
. A
re you up to being quiet until I finish?”

Charlie was sure she wasn’t going to like this conversation any more than the one she’d had with Devin earlier
. S
he’d had to give him a signed affidavit to get into her safety deposit box at her bank in Nevada
. C
harlie couldn’t believe that Connor’s dad, Brody Gibbons, was trying to sue her for joint custody after all these years
. A
nd claiming that she hadn’t told him about Connor.

“I suppose
. D
id all you women become bossy when you married the Grants,
or is it just natural to you?
I don’t much care for it myself.”

Instead of being insulted, Dane laughed
. S
he leaned over as best she could, pulled out a box, and laid it on the edge of the bed
. I
t was a laptop
. W
hen Dane stood and began pulling other things out of the bag, she continued speaking.

“I think it’s necessary for us to be bitchy
. I
f we didn’t, I doubt the men would let us leave the house without police escort
. A
ll of us are much stronger
than they give us credit for.
You’ll learn
. T
his is a gift from Jamie and me and before you get your panties all twisted up, you need to know that as you work for me, you’ll need to keep track of my incoming emails and other things
. I
t’s loaded with everything and there is a printer for you at the house
. I
’ve also downloaded a scheduler for me
. T
hat way you can keep track of stuff I have to take care of so I’m not overworked
. Y
ou won’t be either.”

Charlie could see that
. S
he wasn’t happy about the comment concerning her panties, but decided to let it go for now
. A
s Dane explained things, she set up the computer and plugged it in.

“This cell phone is yours too
. I
think it has everything too, though I’m not sure how it works yet
. Y
ou play with it here and we’ll go over what we don’t understand next time we can go out together
. I
have one just like it
. J
amie programmed in all the phone numbers and there’s a list of them here in this folder
. T
he phone number is here too
. I
’m not sure, but I think you should get one for Connor too
. M
aybe not this fancy, but you can figure it out.”

Charlie looked at the phone
. S
he’d never had a cell phone before and wondered who on earth she’d call on it
. S
he didn’t say anything, just laid it beside her as Dane handed her another folder.

“Devin is the family attorney with his wife Ronnie
. I
know you’ve been told about this Gibbons person and Connor so I won’t go into my opinion of his sorry ass
. B
ut Devin thought you might want to look this over
. H
e flew out to Nevada to get your stuff from the bank this morning
. H
e said that he’ll be in to talk to you tomorrow
. T
his is the information he gathered on Gibbons.”

Charlie opened the file and looked at the first picture
. S
he hadn’t seen Brody in nine years and they hadn’t been good to him
. F
or a reason she didn’t want to think about, she was actually happy about that
. T
urning to the next page, there was a newspaper clipping that had a picture of Connor and her at the charity event
. T
hey were standing next to Damon and Dane
. C
harlie read the caption under the picture.

“Society is out in full swing tonight in all their finery
. D
amon Grant with date, Charlotte Kirkpatrick, and son Connor, are seen here with billionaire Dane Grant just before the gala began
. R
umor has it that Ms. Kirkpatrick is engaged to the millionaire doctor.”

“That ran in all the papers the next afternoon
. R
onnie thinks that’s why this Gibbons person is trying to get with Connor now after all this time
. H
e smells money
. I
f you read the report on him, it seems this man has been down on his luck for some time
. H
e also had three other children that he’s reportedly the father of too.”

Charlie looked up at Dane
. S
he couldn’t think past the caption
. D
ane was a billionaire and Damon a millionaire?
Shit!

“I don’t…that is, I…d
on’t have…you’re a billionaire?
You seem so…I don’t know…regular
. I
mean, you don’t seem like a snob at all
. T
hat didn’t come out right either
. W
hat I meant was—”

“It’s okay, Charlie, I know what you mean
. I
do have a great deal of money, but I’m still just plain old Dane Grant
. I
’d much rather have my grandmother back than all the money, but she made sure I was well provided for
. M
y mother and I never got along either, so you and I have that in common
. Y
ou’ll find that we all have something to relate to one another with.”

The two women talked about Gibbons for a little while longer the
n about the upcoming holiday.
Dane gave Charlie a credit card and showed her how to set up an account to order on line.

“The card is yours
. D
on’t say
anything about it, all right?
Consider it an advance on your pay checks
. Y
ou’ll have to order your Christmas online or find what you want so just pay for it and when you come to work, we’ll work out a payment schedule for it
. I
f you order something locally, one of us will pick it up for you, otherwise have things sent to my house
. I
promise not to peek in the boxes.”

Christmas
. C
harlie hadn’t thought of buying gifts for anyone. When she started to say that she didn’t have a clue what to get the new people in her life, Dane saved her again.

“Here is a list of stuff the kids want
. T
he things we’ve already gotten are marked out
. I
know it’s a bit overwhelming, but it’s a lot of fun
. W
e go to Margaret’s house for Christmas Eve and open gifts on Christmas morning
. D
amon said you might be out by then.”

“The doctor said maybe Christmas day
. I
don’t know what to say
. T
hanks seems so…it seems so inadequate
. Y
ou’ve, all of you have been so nice to Connor and I
. I
don’t know if I’
ll ever be able to repay you.”
Charlie could feel the tears threatening again and turned away.

“You just make Damon happy
. T
hat’s all we want
. H
e’s the greatest man I know, well, besides James
. B
ut you keep making him smile and laugh and that’ll be payment enough for all of us.”

Dane left a little while later
. S
he said the baby was really making her tired a lot and wanted to take a much needed nap before Jamie got home from class
. C
harlie settled back in the bed and began her shopping
. I
t was the most fun she’d had in ages.

~~~

Three weeks later on Christmas Eve morning, Charlie got to go home
. S
he still had the cast on and would for several more weeks
. T
hen there was the hurt ribs still mending but much better
. B
ut everyone was thrilled to have her home
. C
onnor hardly left her side all morning long and Charlie needed a break
. S
he smiled at Damon when he walked in.

“Connor, Byron is here
. T
ell your mom bye and get out of here
. A
nd remember what I told you.” 

“Yes, sir
. B
ye, Momma. Have a good nap.” Then he was gone. 

Charlie looked at Damon
. “
I’m back now and while I appreciate you keeping an eye on him the past month, I think I should take over his care now
. P
lease don’t take this the wrong way, but I—”

“Don’t say it then
. B
ecause I can see what’s brewing on your face and it will piss me off
. I
didn’t come up here to fight with you.”

“Then why
did you come up here?
Connor and I were having a perfectly good day and you sent him off
. A
nd there wa
s nothing brewing on my face.”
Charlie blushed
. S
he blushed because she was “brewing,” as he’d put it
. A
nd though she was glad for the reprieve, Connor was still her son.

“I came up here because we have the house to ourselves for the next few hours
. I
came up here because I want to make love to you. It’s been a very lonely month without you in my bed
. I
came up here to see if I could persuade you to let me taste you, make you come in my mouth
. I
thought I’d make you scream again.”

Charlie’s body heated at his words
. H
er pussy wept for his mouth, his cock, anything that he wanted to touch her with
. S
he had to press her thighs together or embarrass herself by reaching down and touching herself.

“I…what about my cast?
I think…
it’ll be in the way, won’t it?
Damon, I don’t think that we should try anything like that
. I
mean it’s…I have a cast on my leg.”

“Yes, I can see that
. B
ut it’s not your leg I want to taste
. O
pen your legs for me, Charlie
. L
et me see if you missed me as much as I missed you.”

Charlie had no control over her body
. H
er thighs parted as if he were pulling them apart
. W
hen she stopped with them just a few inches open, he moved the skirt of her dress up further and pressed his hands between her legs and pushed them wider
. S
he watched his hands skim up her legs and back down
. H
er moan was out before she could stop it
. S
he pressed her hand over her mouth.