Page 22 of Damaged

“Thanks,” I say. My initial shock of having my door busted in and being caught naked has worn off. I shouldn’t be furious. Jamesdidjust run to try to save my life with nothing but a hammer. It’s kind of funny. Only because I don’t have to pay for the door.

I smile and shake my head.

“What?” James asks.

“This is ridiculous.”

He seems too serious about righting his wrong to agree. “I’ll go so you can get dressed. And I’ll make a call about the door.” He goes into the hallway. “I’ll come back down in a minute and let you know what they say.”

When I’m done getting dressed, James still isn’t back. Another five minutes pass, and no one.

Did he just bail for the night? I’m expecting a handyman to show up, but not James. I go back to the living room and sit withSteve. I don’t have anything better to do, so I start the movie. In a half hour, there’s a knock on the… door?

I stand up to see James smiling with his knuckles extended over the broken door, mid-knock. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist.”

“Ha-ha,” I manage to say, but really, I’m staring at James’s smile. It lights up his eyes. Takes his handsome features from a ten to an impossible eleven.

It’s the kind of smile you can’t say no to. Aget away with murdersmile.

He could rule the world with it, and as far as I know, it’s not even a weapon he bothers to keep in his arsenal. James Callaway doesn’t smile.

“You should do that more,” I say genuinely. He should. It’s warm and inviting. It makes him look like a human.

“What? Break down doors?”

“Smile.” I can’t believe I just said that to him, but I’m becoming addicted to the thrill of challenging a man this powerful. A man who isnevertalked to like this.

His charming smile slowly collapses. The sun vanishing behind a cloud bank. “I don’t often have a reason.”

“If I were you, I’d have a billion reasons.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Do you think money doesn’t buy happiness?” I ask, but not accusingly. I’m truly curious what his take is.

“Of course it does. But only to a certain extent.”

“I’ve heard that. Like once your worries are gone, it becomes an addiction. You always want to make more.”

James shrugs. “Something like that. Power. It changes your brain chemistry. You stop wanting todothings… and you start wanting to conquer them.”

I raise my brow, a teasing smile on my face. “And what’s the difference between doing something and conquering it?”

He gazes piercingly deep into my eyes. The look is enough to shorten my breath. It takes away my mocking look, and I swallow hard.

“Ownership,” James says in his gruff voice.

He lets me take that in for a moment. My skin still buzzes under his gaze. I can’t look away from him.

“You make things yours,” James continues.

Is he still talking about money and business? I don’t think so. Sexual undertones are always there with a man as handsome as James, but right now they’re more like overtones.

“But does it work?”

“Does what work?” James looks at me, waiting for me to elaborate.

“Conquering things. Does it make you feel better?”

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