Page 77 of Remembering Passion

After?

Damien’s hand was again in the small of my back. “Did you hear that? There are people who like me.”

“Miracles do happen.”

He leaned close and whispered, “I’m ready to be reimbursed for this coat.”

Warmth filled my cheeks as my core twisted.

“See you tomorrow,” I said to Julia as Damien and I left the private room.

Soon, we were back on the sidewalk. My face was down, and my hands were buried deep in the pockets as I braced myself for the walk back to the hotel.

“Mr. Sinclair.”

We looked up to see Michael waiting with his car. “Unless you’d like to walk?”

Damien and I looked at one another.

“Ella?” Damien asked.

“Oh, the car. My feet are killing me.”

Michael opened the back door and we both scooted inside.

Once the door was shut, Damien whispered in a deep voice. “Sorry that the shoes aren’t comfortable, but they’re part of the repayment plan.”

“You don’t actually expect me to do what you said, do you?”

Under the illumination of the outside streetlights, Damien’s blue eyes simmered with a spark that caused my blood to heat.

“Ms. Crystal, I’d hate to return to the coalition tomorrow and tell them you’re not a woman of your word.”

“I don’t recall agreeing.”

He laid his large hand over my coat-covered thigh. “You’re wearing the evidence.”

Gabriella

Damien walked me to my hotel room and said good night. There wasn’t even a kiss or a grope. It was a professional parting of ways that, as I stepped into my suite, left me dazed. For a moment I stared at the door, wondering if this was a joke or if he would knock. If it weren’t for his comments about the coat throughout the evening, I would assume that multitasking was off the table. Untying the belt, I slipped my arms from the coat and hung it up in the small closet. As I was about to take off the painful shoes, my phone dinged from the confines of my purse.

A concoction of emotions bubbled within me as I removed my phone and swiped the screen.

One message, from Damien.

“In case you’re having problems keeping up, the work portion of our day is complete. It’s time for multitasking.”

Relief and excitement simultaneously joined the already-concocted mixture of emotions.

Biting my lips, I recalled his words at the store. ‘Wear this coat to my room tonight with those heels and nothing more and your debt is paid.’

Wear the coat with nothing else.

There weren’t other conditions.

Wear the coat.

My cheeks rose as I walked back to the closet.

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