Page 22 of One Night Collision

Chapter

Sixteen

Maggie

I’m just staring at him, blinking like a deer in the headlights. “Did you break the law?”

“Define break?” he says.

“Assault?”

“No,” he says.

“Destruction of property?” I ask.

“Define destruction. The cow shit smeared on that rug was an improvement,” he answers with a cocky grin.

I can feel my heartbeat speeding up. His inner redneck may well be the death of me. “Breaking and entering?”

“Just entering. Didn’t break a damn thing, much as it pains me to admit it,” he says.

I’m torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to throat punch him for this cocky alpha-hole shit he’s got going on right now. “I cannot believe you did this. Why?”

He cocks his head to the side, looking at me as if I’m the lunatic for even having to ask. “Because he’s had it coming for a long goddamn time, Maggie… and him using my parents to try and fuck you over—to fuck us over—that was the last straw.”

There’s something in his tone, something that raises a red flag. And I’m done ignoring those. I did that with Calvin, and that’s a life lesson I don’t need twice. “Is this really about me and you, or is this about you and Calvin?”

Damien shakes his head at that. “Don’t try to put up walls now, Maggie. If I had just wanted to fuck him over, I could have done that legally and done it a hundred times over. I was very content to live and let that motherfucker live. But he came for you… and for my parents. He came for the peopleI love.And I don’t tolerate that shit.”

My ears are ringing and it feels like my heart is pounding out of my chest. “Love?”

He shoves his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels. From his expression it’s impossible to tell if he’s amused or irritated. “Yes, Maggie. The people I love. That includes you. And just so there’s no confusion, I am in love with you. Romantically. Head over fucking heels. Not as a friend or just as a fellow member of the human race—and you don’t have to love me back… yet.”

I’ve only ever said “I love you” to one other person in that way and it was the biggest mistake of my life. But was it really? Because if I hadn’t married Calvin and gone through those years of hell with him, then I wouldn’t be standing here with Damien Sizemore—with this incredible, amazing, wonderful, and often crazy-making man who makes me feel alive in ways I hadn’t even thought possible. “Full disclosure, counselor?”

He nods.

I step in close and link my hands behind his neck. Instantly, his hands go to my hips, pulling me in even closer. And what I say to him feels so right and so natural that I don’t have to stumble over words or feel like I’m jumping off a cliff with no notion of where the hell I’m going to land. Because with Damien I will never have to wonder. “I love you, too. So please don’t gobreaking any more laws that are going to get you thrown in jail. Otherwise, I’m gonna be really pissed.”

“With a good lawyer, we could probably still get conjugal visits,” he says with a laugh. But then he leans in and kisses me, his mouth moving over mine in a way that makes everything else insignificant. Nothing gets to come between us. Not Calvin. Not my insecurity. It’s just him and me, and I can’t think of any other way I’d want it to be.

“I think I know one of those… a good lawyer. He’s pretty good in the courtroom. But I think he might be better in the bedroom. Want to put that to the test?”

He backs me up toward the narrow hallway and through my open bedroom door. Then we’re tumbling backwards onto my bed and my ancient robe and very unsexy pajamas are just vanishing. “You’re pretty good at getting women naked.”

“I’m highly motivated,” he says, just before his lips close over mine.

I might have, at any other time, come up with some smart-ass remark. But he’s robbing me of the ability to think with the wicked things he’s doing with his lips… and his teeth… and sweet lord above, his tongue. All I can think about is having him naked too. I start tugging at his clothes. I’m pretty sure I rip his shirt and it probably cost more than my car payment, but I have zero fucks to give. And neither does he.

—-

Afterward—breathless, sweaty, and completely satisfied—I’m lying there in his arms. He’s ordering pizza through an app on his phone. We’re both starving and neither one of us is willing to get dressed. I’m not sure I’m willing to get out of bed.

“You’re off tomorrow, right?”

I nod. “Well, mostly. I’ve got to do some paperwork, but it shouldn’t take long. Why?”

“Because I want to take you to the farm… and introduce you to my parents this time around,” Damien says. “If you’re ready for that.”

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