Page 13 of Remembering Passion

His expression remained unchanged.

“Okay,” I said with a shake of my head. “Let me work.”

“I’d never stop you.”

Wasn’t that what I worried about, part of why I walked away?

“Gabriella,” Mr. Phillips said, miming a dance step or two.

Damien reached for my hand and whispered, “If he grabs your ass, I’m taking him down.”

Mr. Phillips was probably a hundred thirty-five pounds soaking wet. If he grabbed my ass, I could take him down myself.

Two hours later, as the lights brightened on the mostly empty ballroom and my feet ached from the shoes, I smiled at Niles and our associates. We’d done it. Not only had the night gone well, but we’d exceeded our fundraising goal.

“How about a drink?” Niles asked.

“I’m exhausted. And” —I looked down and back up— “these shoes need to go.”

“I never asked. How was your flight?”

My gaze went to the handsome man leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest and his ankles crossed. “I was upgraded.”

“Seems like your lucky day.”

“Seems like it.” I laid my hand on his arm. “Goodnight, Niles. Send me the numbers in the morning. I’ll put it all together and we can regroup on Monday at the office.”

Niles nodded. “See you, Ella.”

Sitting at a table as hotel employees stripped tablecloths away and moved furniture, I slipped my feet from my shoes and sighed. As I looked down at my feet and wiggled my toes, an expensive pair of leather loafers came into view. When I glanced up, Damien was standing with my clutch in his hand.

“I’ll trade you,” he said, handing the small purse to me.

Maybe I was too tired to argue. Or perhaps it was nice to have someone wait for me. Whatever the reason, I took the clutch and passed my shoes to Damien. As I stood, he offered me his arm.

“This is nice,” I said as we made our way out of the ballroom and down the empty hallways.

His lips came to my hair with a soft kiss. “I never forgot how great you are, Ella. But watching you tonight, I’m damn impressed and proud of you.”

It was a simple statement, yet hearing it warmed me from within.

How does he have that ability?

A simple statement: I’m proud. Good girl. And my mind was goo.

Once inside the empty elevator, I laid my head against his arm. “I think I could sleep standing up.”

I gasped as in a smooth, fluid move, Damien lifted my chin, pressed himself against me, and sandwiched me between the shiny wall and his solid chest. With his intense gaze on me, his nostrils flared, and his square jaw clenched.

My lungs burned as my breathing hitched. “Damien, I can’t—”

Moving his touch from my chin to the back of my neck, Damien took my lips possessively with a kiss that stole the remainder of my thoughts. Our faces moved as our lips battled each other’s and sounds of lust filled the air.

In only seconds, my body awakened. Sparks grew to flames as a wildfire rushed through me, tightening my nipples, twisting my core, and dampening my pussy. Without hesitation, my hands came to his lapels, grasping the material, pulling him closer, me closer, us closer.

My thoughts were scattered as his kiss consumed me.

It wasn’t until the elevator stopped that we broke free from one another.

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