Shattered Hart (14 page)

Talk about being saved by the bell.  Once again, my dick is writing checks that it shouldn’t be.

Leaning in to kiss her lips, I gently run my hand down Brooke’s face.  “Your sister just saved us from making a huge mistake.  I know you’re going to be mad now, but someday you
will
thank me for walking away.  You deserve so much better.”

Stepping back, I take in her look of frustration.  It will serve me right if she hates me and never speaks to me again.

“Just friends.
That’s all we can ever be.”

The look she gives me is equal parts sadness, anger and bitterness, and my stomach churns just from the look.  Turning on my heel, I all but run from the suite. 

I think that I got through these last few
week
s just being
‘friends
’ with Damien by sheer force of will alone.  There have been many times that I’ve silently applauded myself for how well I believe I’ve managed to pull this off.  I’ve got acting chops that I never knew about.

I’ve tried to go out with my new roommates to meet guys. I even went on a date with a guy from my business math class.
No one else has even come close to measuring up to how I feel towar
d Damien.
I think that
,
at this point
,
I’m just hurting myself with this.
  He
isn’t
going to change
,
and
I need to channel my lustful cravings in another direction. 

I can see
that
Damien
is struggling to
adhere to his hands off policy
.
  W
e’re still together a lot
, and he watches me like a hawk
.  I need to either get over him or make him stop pushing me away, but I’m not confident in my ability to do either.

Tonight I’m headed out with Damien, his sisters and mine to a local dance club. 
My sister has been off lately
,
and I’ve been worried
,
so I was
quite
relieved when Damien texted to let me know that
she agreed to come out with us tonight.
 

She is
n’
t saying why,
but I can see that she’s clearly been
in the dumps lately
. No
amount of me asking what the heck is going on has gotten an honest answer out of her.
  I’d assume it was guy troubles if it
were
n’
t
for the fact that, like me, my sister
has
n’
t
dated anyone in forever.
  At this point I’m worried that she’s being sucked back into the funk she was in after our parents died.  No matter what, tomorrow morning I am taking her to breakfast and getting out of her what’s happening. 

I’ve chosen a sexy little white dress that drapes beautifully over my body, accenting all of the right areas.  The front of the dress is form fitting
,
but
the real wow factor comes from the back
of the dress, which leaves
almost
my entire back
total
ly
exposed.
It’s
borderline indecent, and I love it.

Tonight
I’v
e styled my hair up
to accent my naked back
.  My
make-up is
dramatic but fresh.
  Paired with my Jimmy
Choo
crisscross
platform sandals, the look is fresh and dynamic
.  F
inishing it all off with a spritz
of my favorite raspberry
body
mist;
I survey myself in the mirror and smile. 

Saying goodbye to my roommates, I
go
out to my car and
drive
off for Damien’s house.
  I make
excellent
time, getting there a bit earlier than everyone else. 
I
smile to myself when I realize that I’m going to be able to spend a few minutes alone with him before the others turn up.

Even after all this time, I still get butterflies when I see him.  His appeal to me is pote
nt
,
and
it packs quite a punch
. 
Tonight
he
’
s dressed
all in black and I hold myself still as I take it all in without turning to liquid.  Damien is too gorgeous sometimes. 

Smiling at him in
my most unaffected way
, I
give him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before stepping across the threshold. 
As I sail past him
,
I smirk to myself when I hear his sharp intake of breath when he
gets a load of
the back of my dress.
 

Taking a seat on the edge of his leather couch, I smile bri
ghtly at him as he stares at me and I pretend not to notice that anything is wrong.

Making a choking sound
,
he gestures to my dress.
  I arch an eyebrow at him like I
do
n’
t
understand
what
he’s
getting at
while my inner diva silently applauds my performance.  Stomping over to where I’m sitting he takes a seat across from me and gestures again before speaking.

“Are
you
trying to give me a heart attack with that outfit?
Dammit
Brooke,
there is no fucking way I’m letting men ogle
you
all night in that.
 
No fucking way.
 
You
need to go home and get changed. 
That dress is indecent.”
 

It’s hard, but somehow
I keep a
totally
straight face
while
I shake my head at him.  “Damien, please. 
You
’
re
acting like an old fart.  I love what I’m wearing
. 
I look damn
good
,
and
I’m not changing out of it.  If
you
do
n’
t
like it, keep your opinion to yourself. 
At last check
,
you
a
re
n’
t
the fashion police.”

He gapes at me for a moment before regaining his composure, and I can tell that him off guard
with my reaction to what he said
. 

“I’m not an old fart dammit
.  I
didn’t
say I
d
on’t
like what
you
were wearing. 
You
look
incredible,
and
you know it. 
Don’t
twist my words honey.  I’m just worried about what’s going to happen when men see
you
in th
at.  I’m going to be beating guys
off of
you
all night. ”

I give him my most exasperated look.  “Unless
I ask for help, keep your over
bearing
big
brother comments to yourself. 
I’m not trying to stay single forever
.
I don’t
want you scaring people off.
”

Fortunately right at that moment the door opens
,
and
Dominique walks in with Delilah hot on her
heels, saving me
from further
discussion
with
Damien.  Jumping from the couch I go and hug the girls. 
They look
crazy sexy,
and I shake my head at how beautiful these two are.
The Hart gene pool is ridiculously
good
.

We all head in to the kitchen and sit on the stools at
the
island
as Damien grabs each of us a bottle of water. 
We’re waiting on
Rina’s arrival so that
we can leave,
and
we have a few minutes to sit and shoot the breeze.
  My contribution to the conversation mostly revolves around how unhappy I am in the apartment
I moved in to for this semester
. 
My roommate Lydia is just ridiculous
,
and I’m constantly on alert because she
’
s got people
that my other roommate
and I do
n’
t know in and out of the apartment at all hours of the day and night.
 
I’m
very
much looking forward to moving out of the apartment at the end of the school year, even though that
's
still a couple
months down the line.

The
conversation
concludes
when my sister arrives and we all take turns hugging and kissing her. 
I
’m so glad to see her out
.
 
She’s
been down lately, but she looks sexy as hell tonight.
  We all spend a few more minutes talking and then Damien ushers us all to his Escalade.  Sabrina sits in the passenger seat
,
and
the rest of us climb in to the back, giggling and laughing as we all continue talking.

The club we wind up at is the new “it” club in LA and
it
i
s
impressiv
e
.  We start out in the VIP lounge
where we have a few drinks and talk some more, and then we head out to the dance floor. 

I’m so happy to see my sister unwinding and smiling,
behaving
more like her usual self. 
I’m even happy that she’s consumed four apple-
tinis
.  She needs fun. 
All of us are
enjoying
a
marvelous
time
,
and the hours fly by as we dance.

Leaning in to me Sabrina yells, “I’ll be right back.  I’m going to go
get
some water.”

I smile and give her
a nod
as I continue dancing.  A
minute
later Damien grabs me and says, “Where did Rina go?  Is everything ok?”

I nod and lean in to answer him, taking in his sexy as sin scent as I do so.  “She’s
OK
.  She went to get a drink or something.”

Shaking his head at
me
,
he
says, “
You
know how I feel about any of you going off on your own.  Stay with the girls, I’m going to go with your sister.”

Watching him walk away, I smile.
He
’
s so ove
rprotective
.
 
It touches my heart that he cares so much.
Dominique, Delilah and I keep right on dancing.  I love these girls so much.  They’ve become almost as
vital
to me as my sister is. 

Ab
out ten minutes pass before Damien comes back.
He puts
his ar
m around my shoulder and pulls
me to him so
that he can speak in to my ear
,
and
I shiver with awareness.  I struggle to get my bearings as
he lets me know that Sabrina has the beginnings of a migraine and that
he
’
s
going to take her home.

I immediately tell him that I’ll leave and go with him, but he tells me that Sabrina
doesn’t
want the rest of us to leave.
  He stands firm when I tell him that is ridiculous, and he goes so far as to tell me that if we insist on leaving
it
’
s
only going to upset my sister. 

Eventually I agree to stay
,
and
he smiles at
me
with what looks like relief.  Leaning in again he tells me that Spencer is on his way
. He
hands me
our
licenses, instructing me to pass them along to Spence when he arrives.  Takin
g me in to his arms for a
hug, he brushes his lips across my forehead in a kiss and then turns and says goodbye to his sisters.