Page 23 of Audra: The Prequel

He’d thought long and hard about his feelings for Audra, and only one answer made sense. “I think Audra Connor is my future wife.”

There was silence on the other end for several moments.

“I’ve never heard you talk like that before,” his father finally said.

Damon enjoyed the women he spent time with—models, actresses, female athletes, unknowns. Yet no one had captured his interest the way that she did.

“There’s something about her.”

“Well then you better hurry up and call her, because if she’s that amazing, someone else is going to swoop her up.”

“I’m not letting that happen,” Damon said with determination.

“She must be something.”

“She is. She has the best laugh, a beautiful smile, and a great sense of humor. She’s fine as hell, and the fact that she doesn’t care about my career or who I am is kind of nice, you know?”

“I know what you mean. I experienced the same with your mother,” Chadwick said, his voice sounding wistful. “It’s like coming home.”

Warmth filled Damon’s chest. “Yeah. That’s the feeling. Like I’m home. Safe.” He swallowed. That word—safe—had slipped from his lips unexpectedly.

“You doing okay otherwise?” Chadwick asked in a gentle voice.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m cool. Just dealing with the usual stuff on the field and off. Audra’s a temporary distraction.”

“Good to hear.”

For a moment, awkward silence hovered between them like a dark cloud before a rainstorm. Damon knew his father wanted to say more but probably wouldn’t because he knew Damon didn’t want to hear it. The nightmares from the abuse had stopped years ago, but the memories lingered. Unfortunately, he would never fully be free of them. He couldn’t control his thoughts, but he could control whether or not he gave those painful moments any space in conversations with his loved ones.

“Listen, I better go. Thanks for the talk, Pop.”

“Any time, son. Take care.”

After he hung up, the pressure in Damon’s chest eased. He cursed under his breath, hating that he continued to have such an adverse reaction to what had happened to him as a kid.

But life was better now. Much better.

His mind shifted to Audra, and like the sun peeking through the clouds, the memory of her radiant smile pushed aside the last trace of his pain. He breathed easier.

He’d give her a call today. He’d gone long enough without hearing her voice.

Today hadn’t been the best day for Audra. Several times she’d caught herself doodling distractedly on her notepad.

Except for a shortGood nighttext, she hadn’t heard from Damon since Saturday. In the meantime, he’d taken over her mind. As she typed a memo at her desk, she kept seeing his white-toothed smile against milk chocolate skin. She heard his deep-throated, sexy male laugh and felt the tingles from the intense way he studied her, as if he hung on every word she spoke.

He hadn’t even kissed her—well, not a real kiss—but she still felt his soft lips on her skin and the brush of his beard against her cheek.

Why didn’t he kiss her properly!

That’s what she had been expecting when he gazed down at her, and that’s all she could think about now: kissing him. She knew he’d be a good kisser too. With lips like that and all that swagger, no way that man wouldn’t deliver.

With a loud sigh, Audra pushed away from her desk and went to copy a document. She placed the duplicates in an interoffice envelope and dropped them in the outgoing mailbox near the door.

Back at her desk, she sank into her seat and stared at the report on her computer screen. Maybe he didn’t enjoy himself.

Audra buried her face in her hands.Get back to work!she screamed inside her head. And that’s what she did, forcing Damon from her mind and concentrating solely on the work at hand to preoccupy herself.

After lunch, she had a quick meeting and then returned to her desk to see a missed call on the phone in her drawer.

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